Lhasa (AsiaNews/Agencies) - More than 60 men from Gewar village in Tongbar town - where a Tibetan man killed himself in anti mining protests last month - have been detained around June 9. The men are said to be subjected to interrogation regarding last month's protests that led to the death of Phakpa Gyaltsen, 32 (see photo), who stabbed himself twice before jumping to his death to protest a mining project in the region.
Chinese
officials told the gathered Tibetan men that one male member from each family
must go with them to the County seat in Zogang where the Tibetans are currently
held, according to a source. "We hear that they are being regularly
interrogated," he said.
Following Gyaltsen's death, hundreds of Tibetans took to the streets of Tongbar
in protest demanding that Chinese stop all plans of mining in the region. Now,
Chinese authorities are cracking down on local Tibetans using mobile phones or
the WeChat microblogging service to contact outsiders, one source said, adding,
"All communications, including exchanges of photos, are being monitored in
Tongbar town and the nearby villages."
Tibetans have long argued that China's grand projects in Tibet are planned and
implemented without consultation, consent, and knowledge of the local Tibetans.
Protests against mining by Tibetans in various regions of Tibet were reported
in the past. The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration maintains
that Beijing, "under the guise of economic and social development, encourages
the migration of Chinese population to Tibet, marginalising the Tibetans in
economic, educational, political and social spheres."