China: Monks hold protest against forceful shutdown of monastery in Gansu

Beijing [China] August 5 (ANI): Monks from Hongcheng monastery held a protest against Beijing for forcibly shutting down a monastery in China’s Gansu province.

Gansu authorities have forcibly shut down a Tibetan monastery in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, evicting the monks and nuns while many of them have also been detained by Beijing during this eviction, Radio Free Asia reported citing Ma Ju, a US-based commentator who has been observing the incident.

Videos of this incident also showed a group of monks holding up banners that read “Forcible defrocking of monks is illegal and unacceptable!” while some of them were also sitting on the roof of the monastery shouting down at a group of unidentified people.

Meanwhile, Ma Ju also informed that “authorities are getting ready to eliminate all Tibetan temples and monasteries in Han Chinese area of China,” Ma said.

“Local officials are likely interested in the monastery’s wealth, as it had received a surge in donations during the coronavirus pandemic”, Radio Free Asia reported citing some online comments on the video.

In the recent development, the Chinese authorities are gearing up for increased control over Tibetan Buddhism, where monasteries are forbidden to give traditional monastic education which forms an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism.

Monks and nuns are, instead, subjected to regular “patriotic education” and other political campaigns that are fundamentally against the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism.

Political indoctrination has replaced Buddhist education in monastic institutions where monks are drawn to serve the interest of the Beijing government and are forced to follow CCP’s strict guidelines.

CCP’s authorities are empowered with direct supervision over managing and running the monasteries and nunneries, the statement added.

Apart from that, under China’s occupation, Tibet’s environment has been destroyed, the resources have been illegally mined and transported and the rivers have been polluted. Their occupation has led the Tibetans devoid of their basic rights and the human rights situation inside Tibet continues to deteriorate and worsen each passing year under the Chinese Communist Party’s oppressive and repressive hardliner policies. (ANI)