Rescuing Tibet from Chinese aggression

A 19-year-old Tibetan monk has reportedly died of injuries sustained in Chinese prison on January 19 in Tibet after he was released in a comatose state by Chinese authorities recently. Tenzin Nyima (also known as Tamey) who was a monk from Dza Wonpo Monastery in Wonpo Township in Kardze, in eastern Tibet's so-called Sichuan Province held a peaceful demonstration outside the local police station calling for Tibet's independence.

He was arrested on November 7, 2019.

Four other young Tibetan monks were also arrested for boldly expressing their steadfast solidarity in a social media post saying "the spirit and dignity of Tibetan people is in our blood and can never be extinguished". Tenzin Nyima was released in May 2020 but arrested again on 11 August 2020 for sharing the news of his arrest and contacting Tibetans in exile in India, reports suggest. In October 2020, Nyima's family were told by the police that his health had deteriorated and he was then in a comatose condition. Subsequently he died.

In between, despite his comatose state, Nyima was summoned to appear before Sershul Intermediate People's Court on the afternoon of 10 November to face charges of "inciting separatism". Between November and December of last year, the other protesters in Dza Wonpo were tried behind closed doors by Sershul Intermediate People's Court. Kunsal, aged 20, Choegyal and Yonten were sentenced four years. Sotra was sentenced to three years in prison and Tsultrim, aged 16, was sentenced for one year in prison. All of them were found guilty of "inciting separatism".

Another Tibetan monk, Nyimay, who leaked the information to social media sites was also found guilty of inciting separatism and received the longest sentence – five years in prison. These finer details would not be necessary to outsiders unless one wants to know what is happening in Tibet and to Tibetans.

Tibet is just an occupied land. Its culture, civilisation and traditions have been trampled upon as never before and its people are being subjected to untold misery. Forced labour, concentration camps and disappearances just as in case of Uyghurs are now common themes of life.

Tibetans are being forced out of the Himalayas too as China increasingly looks at the water resources too apart from the rare earth metal resources. Referring to the latest death of the monk Free Tibet's Campaigns and Advocacy Manager, John Jones said "Tenzin's killing is emblematic of the brutality of China's occupation of Tibet and the flagrant disregard for Tibetan life.

The moment Tenzin Nyima was detained he was placed at the mercy of the police; it was effectively a death sentence. China's repression of free speech, religion, movement, association and assembly in Tibet and Xinjiang in 2019 was more severe than in other areas of the country.

China disrupted traditional Tibetan living patterns and customs and accelerated the forced assimilation of Tibetans into mainstream Chinese society through. Tibetans' faced significant hurdles in acquiring passports, and that it was virtually impossible for Buddhist monks and nuns to do so. How long does it take for the world to take up their cause? It is inhuman to turn a blind eye to Chinese atrocities in the occupied areas.