Monks and nuns from Yangchen Gar Tibetan Buddhist Centre in Palyul county in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture are being forced to return home by the thousands, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting local Tibetan sources. Reports detail that a “political re-education” campaign was initiated by the Chinese Government in May this year, and that the “round-up” has targeted those who have relocated from outside Kham – or Sichuan province – to study at Yangchen Gar.
Yangchen Gar housed around 10,000 monks, nuns, and lay practitioners before the evictions started; now the Chinese authorities have put a cap on the number of residents accommodated at the centre at 4,700 people. A majority of the monks and nuns who lived there have been evicted, escorted to their homelands and forced to attend political re-education classes in detention centres. Where there is an overflow in detention centres in their hometowns they have been relocated to detention centers in Chomda city.
The Tibetan Review quotes a source as saying that the expulsion is part of the Chinese government’s localisation policy which allows only locals to enroll at monasteries. “Monks and nuns are to wear the dress of a layperson […] and denounce their devotion to the Dalai Lama on a daily basis, as well as memorise political propaganda that they are later tested on,” says the unnamed source. These monks and nuns could be held at these detention centres for another several months and have no prospect of being able to re-enroll in any monastery or nunnery. China is said to have around 600 authorities to keep a “tight watch” on the area.
Tibetan nuns are subjected to harsh treatment by officers, reports RFA in an article dated July 11. Nuns showing distress after re-education sessions are being beaten, says their source, “During morning and afternoon sessions of their political re-education, they have to perform Chinese patriotic songs and learn to dance […] And in the evening, they are forced to watch Chinese propaganda films showing Chinese soldiers winning victories in the war between China and Japan.” The RFA source statement continues, saying that after watching these films, nuns break down and cry which their Chinese guards attribute to disloyalty and ill treat the nuns.
RFA reports that between 2017-2018 over 4,000 monks and nuns were evicted from nearby Larung Gar Monastery, formerly the biggest Buddhist Academy, where 7,000 dwellings and other structures have been torn down since 2001.
Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, speaking to RFA, said that Chinese restrictions on Yachen Gar are an “egregious violation of freedom of religion and issues in Tibet are going from bad to worse.”
Reports of the restrictions and surveillances at Yarchen Gar are ongoing with RFA giving details of tight restrictions and more check points set up to monitor the movements of the permitted residents and vehicles, and outside visitors barred from entry. Nuns who have permission to stay in the centre are given a temporary travel permit to and from Yarchen Gar. “A large checkpoint has been set up at the outskirts of Yachen Gar and is staffed by police around the clock to make sure that anyone traveling back and forth has the permit in their possession,” said RFA’s source who continued, saying that Chinese authorities have also put up surveillance cameras at all intersections of Yachen Gar and are even using drones to keep a watch on things”.
Large scale demolition of the evicted nuns’ residences at Yachen Gar is reported to have begun. Radio Free Asia has reported “Chinese work crews [are] tearing down over a hundred dwellings of nuns evicted from the complex in recent weeks, Tibetan sources say”. RFA continues, “Demolition […] began on July 19 and moved ahead quickly, with at least 100 structures now torn down” quoting, a Tibetan living in the area, “The heavy machinery rolled out at Yachen Gar includes excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks”. Yachen Gar leaders have appealed to the Chinese authorities to stop, but to no avail.
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