The Chinese Communist Party ordered a series of demolitions of structures of religious significance and detentions of Tibetans resisting them in Draggo (Chinese: Luhuo) County in eastern Tibet. The demolitions came a year after the CCP established in late 2020 “Xi Jinping Thought on Rule of Law as the guiding thought for law-based governance in China,” reflecting an even more repressive approach to Tibetan Buddhist religious practice that organizes itself outside CCP control.
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) report reveals that the demolitions, which began in late October 2021, resulted in the destruction of three enormous Buddha statues, a row of 45 prayer wheels and a monastic school in the county between October and December 2021. Many local Tibetans who resisted or showed discontent toward the authorities were detained. Amid the information clampdown, the names of at least 11 Tibetan detainees could be ascertained, although the real number of detainees is believed to be much higher.
The Gaden Rabten Namgyal Ling monastic school was the first to be demolished, beginning on Oct. 31. Thereafter, a 99-foot enormous Buddha statue constructed in October 2015 was demolished beginning on Dec. 12. A 45-foot Guru Padmasambhava statue at Chanang Monastery, located 15 kilometers away from the 99-foot Buddha statue, was demolished around the same time. A three-story high (around 40-foot) Maitreya (future Buddha) statue housed inside Draggo Monastery was demolished beginning Dec. 21.
All the demolitions took place within a 15-kilometer radius between Oct. 31 and Dec. 21, 2021.Although the number of detentions related to the demolitions is believed to be much higher, names of at least 11 Tibetans could be ascertained from information published by multiple Tibetan exile media outlets and NGOs.
They are: 1. Pelga (abbot of Draggo monastery, male), 2, Nyima (administrative head of Draggo monastery, male), 3. Nyima (monk affiliated to Draggo monastery, male), 4. Tashi Dorjee (monk affiliated to Draggo monastery, male), 5. Tsering Samdup (lay person, male), 6. Lhamo Yangkyi (female), 7. Trolpa (son of a Thangka painter, male), 8. Lobsang Tsomo (nun, female), 9. Asang (female), 10. Dotra (male) and 11. Nortso (female).
The ICT said that to date, Nyima (the administrative head of Draggo monastery) and Lobsang Tsomo (a nun) are known to have been released from detention, as reported by Radio Free Asia and Tibet Times, respectively. Lobsang Tsomo was released after serving three months in a “re-education center” in Dakyab county in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region. Nyima was released after about four months of detention. The status of the remaining detainees is unknown.
The authorities detained the Tibetans for a variety of reasons ranging from communicating to the outside world to pinning photos of the statues as their social media profile pictures. For instance, Lobsang Tsomo and Tashi Dorjee were detained for communicating to their relatives or contacts abroad. Asang, Dotra and Nortso were detained for pinning photos of the statues as their profile pictures on WeChat, a Chinese social media app.
