Lhasa( Tibet): A 30-year-old Tibetan writer and former teacher has been detained by the Chinese authorities on the grounds of contacting exiles living outside China. As per reports, the Tibetan writer, Palgon, was arrested from his home in August 2022 and has been untraceable since then.
According to the sources, there’s no information regarding where he has been held at the moment. Further, it added that the family of the writer was not even informed or provided any appropriate justifications for his arrest other than Palgon’s contact with people in exile to offer prayers to Dalai Lama.
Palgon belongs to the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China’s Qinghai province. He previously served as an elementary school teacher in Prefecture’s Pema County. Following his resignation, he continued to work as an independent writer.
This isn’t the first such instance of China making unjustified arrests. Over the last few months, China has indulged in arresting monks, writers, young protesters and various other Tibetan figures in a wide-ranging crackdown.
Moreover, no information is provided about the reason for detentions, and the individuals are forced into incommunicado for months without even being sentenced.
The Director of the India-based Tibetan Policy Institute, Dawa Tsering, stated that the arrest is clear evidence of China’s attempt to suppress the Tibetans from communicating with the outside world.
“The Chinese government does not want the international communities to know about the harsh policies that they have been implementing on Tibetans in terms of religion, culture, and language”, quoted Tsering.
As per Tibetan media outlets, China has claimed Tibet to be part of its mainland, thereby denying its historic individual existence, which is totally based on an illegitimate agreement signed in 1951. Reportedly, the Agreement on measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, signed on May 23, 1951 was signed by a person who didn’t possess legitimate authority.
