DHARAMSHALA, APRIL 26: A 19-year-old Tibetan monk was arrested minutes after his solitary protest in the streets of Ngaba County today, Kanyak Tsering, a monk at the exile based Kirti monastery here, said.
Lobsang Tenpa, a monk of Ngaba Kirti monastery in Tibet’s Ngaba County, draped around his head a hand-drawn Tibetan national flag and carried a large picture of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama whom Beijing reviles as a “monk in wolf’s robes”.
Lobsang walked along the main street of Ngaba leading towards the County administration shouting slogans against the Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet, said Kanyak. He also called for the long life of the Dalai Lama and his return to Tibet, according to Kanyak. “However, the exact wordings of his slogans could not be known at the moment,” he said.
Chinese police on street patrol immediately arrested him and took him away, said Kanyak. “It is not known where he is currently held.”
Lobsang joined Kirti Monastery as a child and is currently in the ninth grade of the monastic education. His father Ngagchung, mother Dolma Choekho and an elder brother live in village number two of Meuruma Township in Ngaba County.
Ngaba was at the heart of major anti government protests by Tibetans since 2008. Kanyak described the current atmosphere in his native town as being “tense and serious” as the Chinese authorities stepped up security and surveillance in the area forcing the local populace to live under intimidation.
