By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 27: Rights group Tibet Watch on Wednesday reported that the prominent Tibetan writer Gendun Lhundrup, who had been suspected of being detained, was seen forcibly taken into a black car by a lone street-side vegetable vendor on December 2, 2020 in Rongwo region. A reliable source told the group that this incident took place following a workshop on sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism in Rebgong County during which Gendun had asked related questions about the content of the workshop, which quickly resulted in a verbal altercation between the monk and the facilitator.
Although Gendun’s family was informed about his trial date, which was set on September 27 last year, no information about the trial or his whereabouts has been revealed by the Chinese officials till date. A Tibetan language website Emperor administered by Gendun was also shut down amongst other portals, according to TCHRD. The group found screenshots of the inaccessible website on language advocate Tashi Wangchuk’s Weibo account on October 17 last year.
The report stated that the matter of sinicising Tibetan Buddhism is one of the top priorities under Xi Jinping’s governance. “The implementation of this policy has now reached beyond the confines of the monastery and extended into academia, leading to discussions on the translation of Tibetan Buddhist texts into Mandarin Chinese,” the report stated. A landmark conference on September 30 last year was held at the Tsongon Buddhist University in Xining, where at least 35 academic papers on ‘sinicization’ were presented in the three-day meeting. Over 500 religious leaders including heads of lamas from Rongwo monastery were also present, but the missing monk who served at the monastery as a teacher since 2000 was not seen at this important event.
Gendun, known by his pen name Lhamkok, is a prolific writer who has published numerous books since 1994. The 47-year-old is a highly revered intellectual who is known for his active involvement in the preservation of the Tibetan language in the Rongwo region. In October 2020, Lhundrup released an anthology of poems called “Khorwa” and contributed to the website “Waseng-drak” that promotes freedom of expression for writers and artists without restriction.
