Authorities
targetting students from TAR at Larung Gar
first
Phayul August 12, 2016 Tenzin
Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, August 12:The Chinese officials overseeing the
demolition at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy are forcing monks and
nuns from the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) studying at
the institution to return to their homes, according to a report by
RFA.
A Tibetan source told RFA that the officials have so far targeted
those dwellings inhabited by students coming from Lhasa, Ngari,
Nagchu, and Chamdo, which are regions situated in TAR.
Monks and nuns from Driru County in Nagchu were the first to be
forced out by the authorities. They were even warned of serious
consequences upon their family members if they refused to leave,
the source added.
The penalty included ban from collecting Cordyceps, also known as
Caterpillar Fungus, which is of high medicinal value and a major
source of income for the Tibetans.
“The family members of the students from these regions have been
ordered to come to the institution to receive their kin,” the
source said.
The same source said that students from these regions were also
subjected to interrogations and harassment with ‘political
education’ classes for weeks.
However, monks and nuns students from the Tibetan-inhabited regions
outside TAR including Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces have
not yet faced any such harassments and expulsion.
The demolition of Tibet’s largest Buddhist Academy, which aims at
cutting the center’s strength to 5,000 from 10,000 by 2017, began
on July 20 and since the students have been subjected to various
harassments. A nun named Rinzin Dolma studying at the institution
hanged herself in protest on the day of the demolition.
The authorities have also imposed restrictions and heavy monitoring
of communication in the area in order to curb the flow of
information from the demolition site.
Yesterday, the US Government has called for an immediate stop of
all demolition activities at the Buddhist academy situated in
Serthar County in Tibet’s Kardze region.