DHARAMSHALA, January 25: Chinese authorities in eastern Tibet have reportedly arrested a Tibetan man for protesting against forced land seizures from local Tibetans in Nangchen region under an official grassland nationalisation scheme.

According to the Dharamshala based news portal Tibet Express, Gachoe, around 35, was arrested on January 19 for resisting the official policy and taking part in a public-led protest against Chinese government land seizures. Under the scheme, “Protect Grassland Compensation,” Chinese authorities are forcing Tibetans to sell their land for a “minimal” reimbursement. The amount of compensation offered is not known.

However, Tibetans in the region have come up with their own oath “not to take compensation for grassland” and have vehemently declined from taking part in the scheme and rejected monetary offers.

Similar government schemes have been reported from other parts of Tibet as well.

According to the report, on January 23, local Tibetans led a day-long vigil outside the Chinese security office in Nangchen, calling for the release of Gachoe. As of now, details of the protest as well the current situation in the region are not available.

Protests against land seizures by Chinese authorities in Tibet have led to mass demonstrations and at least two self-immolations by Tibetans.

Reports came out earlier this month of an elderly Tibetan woman who had set herself on fire in China's capital city of Beijing in September last year protesting the illegal land grabbing in her native Keygudo region of eastern Tibet.

Passang Lhamo, 62, torched herself on September 13, 2012 after “repeated appeals to the central authorities in Beijing failed to yield any concrete results.”

She was reportedly taken to hospital where she was treated for "severe burn injuries."

Passang Lhamo was forced to head to Beijing after local authorities in Keygudo refused to allow her to retain her ancestral home following the major rebuilding process in the region in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Also last year, a Tibetan mother of two, Dickyi Choezom had set herself on fire on June 27 in Keygudo town during a public protest against Chinese government policies of forced eviction and land seizures. She was reportedly taken to a hospital in Siling following which no information on her wellbeing and whereabouts have been made available.