By Phuntsok Yangchen

DHARAMSHALA, November 7: In continuing crackdown and arbitrary detention of Tibetans in the Wonpo region of Dzachukha, eastern Tibet, Chinese security personnel have arrested one more monk of the Wonpo Monastery.

Munsel, a monk of Wonpo Monastery was arrested by Chinese security personnel on November 4 for unknown reasons.

Speaking to Phayul, Jampa Younten, a Tibetan monk from Sera monastery in south India, with close contacts in the region said that Chinese authorities had earlier summoned Munsel, along with other monks from the Wonpo Monastery, to visit the local office.

“The monks were subsequently arrested but Munsel was in Kardze at that time for a medical check-up,” Younten said. “However, on November 4, Munsel visited the local Chinese office and since then he hasn’t returned back.”

Upon enquiry, the disappeared monk’s family members were told by the authorities that he has been taken to the nearby region of Sershul.

In the month of October alone, more than 30 Tibetans were arrested from Wonpo region. The arbitrary detentions continue following a Tibetan flag raising protest by Tibetans in September this year.

Tibetans in Wonpo had pulled down a Chinese flag and replaced it with the Tibetan national flag at a school in Wonpo on September 7 this year. Leaflets carrying the words ‘Freedom for Tibet,’ written in red ink were also found scattered in the school premises.

No arrests were made after the flag raising protest but officials vowed to probe into the incident.

The situation in Wonpo is being described as “very tense” following strict surveillance by a large number of Chinese armed forces specially deployed after the protest.

In the same region, earlier this year in February, Tibetans had pulled down a Chinese flag at a flag raising ceremony.

In April 2008, during the pan-Tibet uprisings, monks at the Wonpo Monastery had refused to hoist the Chinese flag at a flag raising ceremony on the top of their monastery. In the increased repression and house-to-house raids that followed, a Tibetan woman named Tri Lhamo committed suicide soon after Chinese security personnel barged into her home and tore down and trampled upon photos of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.