(TibetanReview.net, Apr16’24) — Chinese authorities in Markham (Chinese: Mangkang) County of Chamdo (Changdu or Qamdo) City in Tibet had arrested on Apr 10 four Tibetans for involvement in protest against an official’s illegal confiscation and sale of the local herdsmen’s land and the sale thereof to businesspeople.
While the official has since reportedly been arrested for corruption, neither the land nor any compensation has been made over to the affected Tibetan families who therefore pleaded with the authorities, failing which they protested, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Apr 15, citing three local Tibetan sources and a video of the incident.
The protest and the pursuant arrests of the residents of Taktsa Village in the county’s Luonixiang rural township took place after their appeals against the landgrab and demand for compensation remained unheeded. The report said many other Tibetans were slapped and beaten at the scene of the protest and arrests. A video of the incident is stated to show over a dozen Tibetans pleading with the Chinese police, raising both their thumbs in togetherness in a gesture of pleas for mercy.
The report said the video shows Tibetans, young and elderly, kneeling before Chinese police personnel who were clad in black uniforms. While some of them wailed, others were stated to be seen pulling and tugging at the police uniforms, pleading to be heard and helped.
The county official had illegally sold the land in question in 2023 without the knowledge of the 25 affected Tibetan families. It was only when the businesspeople who bought their land sent people to evict them early this month that the Tibetan herdsmen came to know what had happened, the report said.
The Tibetans pleaded with the authorities, asking that they be at least compensated for their lost pastureland, but to no avail.
It is not clear yet what the arrested herdsmen have been charged with. China is known to brand any Tibetan protest over any issue as a pretext for carrying out “separatist activities”. The more likely charge may appear to be one of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, which people involved in democracy and other protests in mainland China are also known to be routinely charged with.
It is also not clear yet what the land taken from the Tibetan herdsmen will be used for and why it could not be restored to them. The victims are stated to continue to hope for compensation for the loss of their pasture and recreational land.
Meanwhile, the Tibetans are stated to be under orders not to talk about the issue or incident with people outside China.
The report said the latest landgrab incident was far from exceptional or rare in Tibetan areas under Chinese rule. It noted that over the past few years, there had been several reports of similar landgrabs that had taken place in Chamdo itself, a mineral resource-rich area.
Incidentally, most of the landgrabs have been related to mining, including for copper, gold and lithium, and also for development projects. In some cases, Tibetans have been forced from their homes, the report said.