Tibetan Uprising

Around 8:00am (Beijing Standard Time) on 25 March, the dead body of the 18-year-old monk, Kunga, who was shot dead in the protest on March 24th was brought to Drango Gaden Rabten Nampargyalpeling Monastery in Drango County (Ch: Luhuo xian), Kardze TAP, Sichuan Province, by monks for a mass special prayer session. After the prayer, around 10 AM (BST), more than 400 monks of the monastery held a peaceful protest against the Chinese rule and at the same time vowed to stand up and support each other in case any other monks are killed or detained for protesting. The monks chanted slogans, “Dalai Lama should return to the rightful throne in the Potala Palace”, “Release Panchen Lama”, “Stop current repression in Tibet”, and “Independence and Democracy for Tibet”, as they marched towards the county headquarters.

Along the way, they were blocked by PAP and PSB forces stationed on the bridge in between the county government headquarters and the monastery. The protesting monks managed to push through the blockade, and were joined by some lay people. As they reached the County Market square, security forces began firing live ammunitions and blocked all alleys out of market. The protesters lay down on the road to avoid bullet fire and shouted for the protesters to stand together. Though a few agitated protesters hurled stones at the military trucks, senior monks present in the protest stopped them from carrying on. The monks continued shouting slogans for a couple of hours before being ruthlessly attacked by additional forces of PAP and PSB. According to sources within Tibet, the protesting monks rushed back to their monastery.

The present condition of Tsewang Dhondup, 30-year-old monk who was injured after being shot by Chinese security forces on March 24th, is known to be critical.

As of the midnight deadline, approximately 645 Tibetans from various parts of Tibet had “surrendered” to the Chinese authorities. Only a few were known to have been released without formal charges. The TCHRD expressed concern that China’s issuance of public notices calling for protesters to surrender are “threat[s] in disguise” used to intimidate and create fear among Tibetans.