(TibetanReview.net, May15’24) — For performing a song which expressed a yearning for what was taken to be an obvious reference to the Dalai Lama earlier this year at a public concert, Chinese authorities in a Tibetan region of what is today part of China’s Sichuan province have arrested a Tibetan man in his early thirties. What is more, in his song titled “Tearful Deluge of a Sorrowful Song”, which was sung alongside other artists at a concert on Jan 15 as part of pre-Losar, or Tibetan New Year, celebrations, Gyegjom Dorjee also blasted Chinese leaders as “false,” reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org May 14, citing two sources with knowledge of the situation there.
Dorjee was summoned to a police station in Khyungchu (Chinese: Hongyuan) county in the province’s Ngaba prefecture about a month later and subsequently arrested. His whereabouts have remained unknown ever since, the report said.
The song, which alludes to life under Chinese rule, was stated to liken Tibetans to “birds confined in a cage.” The reference to the Dalai Lama was made by use of the well-known term “Victorious One” (Gyalwa?). China insists the Dalai Lama is a separatist leader. The latter has long given up his centuries-old historical political authority and has for decades sought only genuine autonomy for his homeland under Chinese rule through a negotiated settlement.
The report notes that a video of Dorjee’s performance shows an audience of more than 100 Tibetans clapping and cheering uproariously at the end of his two-minute performance.
“The Chinese government said his song had political connotations and raised concerns about its lyrics,” the report quoted one of the sources as saying.
The source has described Dorjee as a nomadic person with passion for singing and engaging in traditional Tibetan cultural performances; that he has often been called to perform at local events and festivals.
Dorjee’s family tried to get information about the charges against him and his whereabouts from the Khyungchu police station, but were turned away empty-handed, a second source has said.
“They were told Dorjee was being interrogated because of the provocative nature of his lyrics and thoughts, and that there were ‘political problems’ with his song lyrics and ideology,” the source has said.
Dorjee’s lyrics were also stated to refer to “this place of inequities/injustice” and the discrimination suffered by the “red-faced” ones, a folk Tibetan epithet for their own ilk.
“The song expresses the common grievances held by the Tibetans against Chinese rule and criticizes the repressive policies of the Chinese party-state,” Dharamshala-based the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has said in a statement.