Two Tibetan monks arrested by Chinese authorities were held with no word to their family

At least two Tibetan monks, Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima, arrested by authorities in China's Sichuan province are incommunicado five months after being taken into custody, with family members increasingly worried about their well-being.

Beijing: Two Tibetan monks arrested by authorities in China's Sichuan province are incommunicado five months after being taken into custody, with family members increasingly worried about their well-being.

Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima, who are brothers, were arrested on Aug 15, 2021, and are being held in a prison in Tawu (in Chinese, Daofu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). A large Chinese military compound built-in 2012 in Nyikhok, around 4 kilometres away from the large Buddha statue destroyed in Drago, is meanwhile being used as a labor camp for Tibetans, RFA reported.

Around 12 Tibetans are being held there at the moment, including Khenpo Pagha, a monk named Nyima, and a few Tibetan women. The two monks are nephews of Tulku Choekyi Nyima, abbot of Nenang Monastery in Sichuan's Drago (Luhuo) county, where Chinese authorities at another monastery recently demolished two large statues revered by Tibetan Buddhists. Tibetans who objected to the demolition were arrested and beaten, according to the RFA.

ANI