By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 28: A Tibetan monk from the restive Ngaba region has reportedly been held incommunicado for over a year and seven months. Rinchen Tsultrim’s whereabouts and condition is unknown at the moment.
According to information provided by a fellow Tibetan from Ngaba in India, he was detained along with two other monks from Ngaba county’s Kordo area in eastern Tibet’s Amdo region in the so called Sichuan Province, on August 1, 2019. While the two monks were released after few days, he has been held since. His family received an official letter almost eight months later on March 23, 2020 where no details were provided other than to say that Rinchen Tsultrim is a traitor.
The 29-year-old monk was earlier detained on two occasions by Chinese authorities in 2018 for communicating with exile Tibetans via micro-messaging apps, after his personal phone was examined. Tsultrim was later barred from using any micro-messaging apps.
The unnamed source also said that in 2019, he was held again for communicating with an exile Tibetan on the occasion of the 11the Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima’s birthday.
His website containing a range of compositions has been shut down and he is victimized for sending out many Buddhist texts from outside Tibet to people in Tibet through post.
Chinese authorities have also used Rinchen Tsultrim’s profile picture on Wechat of his sister in India at an educational workshop to label her as being active in political activities in exile. The same source added that his family is in danger and under constant pressure by Chinese authorities.
Rinchen Tsultrim became a monk at a young age at the renowned Nangshe monastery of Bon religion. His family is a humble farming family from Ngaba region. His father, Tashi Dhondup and mother Tsomo have five other children.
