Sonam Gyatso was sent to jail for “send money for prayer offerings” the Dalai Lama.
A Tibetan Buddhist monk serving a prison sentence for “sending money for prayer offerings” to the Dalai Lama and the abbot of his monastery was released from prison and returned to the monastery., said people in Tibet who are familiar with the situation.
Authorities arrested Sonam Gyatso on 3 April 2021, while on vacation in Chengdu. on tuesday, was released from Menyang Prison, near chengdu city, in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, after serving his two-year sentence, sources said.
Thursday, returned to Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County of Sichuan with health problems due to torture and ill-treatment in prison, they said.
Chinese authorities arrested Gyatso, to his sister Tsering Lhamo and another monk from Kirti Monastery, Revenge Gendun, for allegedly sending money for prayer offerings to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and head of the monastery through Lobsang Thokmey, the monastery administrator. all of whom live in exile in Dharamsala, India.
Chinese authorities consider it illegal for Tibetans to contact other Tibetans living in exile and are especially sensitive to any contact with the Dalai Lama., who fled to India ago 64 years and has lived in Dharamsala since then. Beijing considers him a separatist seeking to destroy China's sovereignty by pushing for Tibet's independence..
All three were sentenced to different prison terms., although Lhamo was released this April. After his release, He sought medical treatment at a Chengdu hospital because he was weak, said one of the sources who declined to be identified for security reasons..
Gendrun is still serving a sentence of 3,5 years after being sentenced in July 2022. He also strongly opposed the campaign of “patriotic education” of the Chinese government in which trusted Chinese and Tibetan officials forced Buddhist monks and nuns to accept the concept of Chinese unity. and Tibet, a source with knowledge of the situation previously told RFA.
Gyatso became a monk at a young age and studied Buddhism at Kirti Monastery, obtaining the title of Geshe, a higher academic degree in Buddhist philosophy. He later worked in the monastic department and became a mentor to others at Kirti Monastery., where he frequently experienced problems with the local Chinese authorities.
China maintains firm control of restive Tibet Autonomous Region, restricting the political activities of Tibetans and the peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity as Buddhists. Tibetans frequently complain of discrimination and human rights abuses by authorities, as well as policies that, as they say, They aim to eliminate their national and cultural identity.
News source extracted from: https://www.rfa.org
