(TibetanReview.net, Mar15’24) — A popular Tibetan writer and poet taken away by police in Malho prefecture of Chinese-ruled Qinghai province more than three years ago continues to remain disappeared, with his family being denied any information on his condition or whereabouts despite their repeated appeals, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Mar 14, citing two sources.
Gendun Lhundrub, 49, formerly a monk at Rongwo Monastery in the prefecture’s Rebgong county was taken away on Dec 2, 2020, with the police not citing any reason for doing so.
The report said he was under a prolonged period of police surveillance, given their suspicion of him being a dissident and anti-China, before his apparent arrest.
Despite repeated requests, county authorities have refused to provide his relatives any access to him, or any information on his condition or whereabouts, or what the charges against him might be, or even whether he has been tried and sentenced.
Whenever they sought to deliver items to Gendun Lhundrub, county officials told them to leave the same with them to be passed on to him, one of the sources has said, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reason.
Born in 1974 in Rebgong, Gendun Lhundrub enrolled in Rebgong Dargye Monastery at an early age and later studied also at Rebgong Rongpo Monastery, Labrang Tashi Kyil, and Serta Labrang.
He began writing poems in 1994, and in Oct 2022, released an anthology of poems called “Khorwa” (Samsara, or cyclic existence). The report said he also wrote on the website Waseng-drak, saying writers and artists required freedom to express their thoughts and emotions without restriction.
His collection of poems, which include “Black Rosary,” “Melody of Life” and “White Book,” and his literary skills are stated to be highly regarded by Tibetans around the world.