(TibetanReview.net, Apr01’26) – A Tibetan Buddhist monk who remained disappeared since his arrest by Chinese police in Tibet’s capital Lhasa more than four and half years ago has been found jailed for seven years after a secret trial, reported the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Apr 1. The monk is originally from Golog (Chinese: Guoluo) prefecture of Qinghai province and was on an extended religious visit from his monastery in Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture of Sichuan province.
The monk, Dhargay (or Dhar-gye), aged around 63, is suspected to have been persecuted for having allegedly sent religious offerings to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader despised by China as a “splittist”, and helped some fellow-monks to leave their Chinese-rule homeland.
Dhargay was arrested and forcibly taken away on Aug 5, 2021, along with a relative named Tsering and a nun named Choekyi. Tsering and Choekyi were released after several months, but there was no information on the fate and whereabouts of monk Dhargay.
On Sep 16 last year, tibettimes.net reported that on concerned enquiries, police told local residents that the monk was in good health and bound to be released soon as there were no cases against him.
Feeling assured, the local residents made no attempt to get his case publicized until they learnt of his fate just recently.
Originally from Golog prefecture in Qinghai province, Dhargay was a monk at Sera Thekchen Choekorling Monastery, located in Khekor (Keguo) Township in Serthar (Seda) County, Gardze (Ganzi) prefecture, Sichuan province.
While it is not clear when he had left his monastery, the report said that before his arrest, monk Dhargay stayed in Lhasa for some while, undertaking pilgrimages to the major religious sites in the area, practising meditation, and receiving teachings from learned religious teachers.
He is said to be well-versed in the practice of sanctifying body, speech and mind representations of the Buddha, was considered a dependable person and well-liked by everyone for his honesty. In order to be able to fulfil requests from many believers for sanctifying their religious objects, he was stated to have opened a small shop in Lhasa.