News and Views on Tibet

Tibetan writer detained by Chinese authorities, whereabouts unknown

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Prominent Tibetan writer Go Sherab Gyatso (Photo- VOA)

By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, Apr 5: A prominent Tibetan writer Go Sherab Gyatso has been arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities in late January this year, according to the report published by VOA Tibetan service on Sunday. The report said that the monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, Amdo was arrested in Chengdu city. Gyatso, who authored the book ‘We need to wake up’ in 2007 was arrested on three other occasions by the Chinese government authorities.

There are no information regarding the charges and his whereabouts remain unknown. VOA’s anonymous source disclosed that the Chinese authorities have issued a stern ‘warning’ to Gyasto’s family and friends to refrain from disclosing any information on his arrest. The authorities had further threatened the family of “breaching the law” if one is found complicit in the attempt.

Go Sherab Gyatso’s writings have been hugely popular both in Tibet and in the exile community. The reputed writer had spent years in prison, first in 1998 for protesting Chinese ‘re-education’ programs that resulted in a 4-year of prison sentence.

Later, he participated in the 2008 uprising during the Beijing Summer Olympics and was sentenced for over a year for mobilizing a group of monks from Kirti monastery in Lhasa. In 2011, he was held in Chengdu by the authorities after a monk from Kirti monastery self-immolated in Ngaba.

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