(TibetanReview.net, Nov09’19) – A Tibetan man detained by Chinese police in Shigatse (Chinese: Xigaze) City of Tibet Autonomous Region around Mar 8 this year without giving any reason continues to remain disappeared while his family has their welfare benefits stopped and their movement restricted, said Dharamsala-based monitoring group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Nov 7.
The centre said Wangchuk, 45, was held in Shigatse city while returning from a trip to Tibet’s capital Lhasa.
The family, which has totally remained in the dark about him throughout, is said to suspect him to have been tried and sentenced and to be held in Nyari Prison in Shigatse.
Wangchuk is suspected to have been punished for having shared some books including religious teachings of the Dalai Lama and a Tibetan translation of The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong, the autobiography of his elder brother Gyalo Thondup, on WeChat, the Chinese online social media App.
Following his arrest, the Chinese authorities were reported to have cancelled his family’s welfare benefits, including subsidies and old-age pension of his family members. They are also reported to have been banned from travelling outside Shigatse County without written permission from their local township government while being subjected to constant surveillance and questioning from local authorities.
Wangchuk’s joint family – which includes his parents, wife, an elder and a younger brother, and five children – belongs to Karchung Village of Zurtso Township in Nyalam (Nielamu) County, Shigatse City. They are stated to be small time traders doing business in Lhasa and the border town near Nepal of Dram (Zhangmu).
Wangchug was said to be the family’s main breadwinner.
