After the most recent wave of anti- Chinese protests and self-immolations, police have detained writer and cultural figure, Gangkye Drubpa Kyab. Following protests which began in 2008, there police have reportedly been detaining writers, singers, and artists who promote Tibetan national and cultural identity. AFP reports:
Drubpa Kyab’s disappearance comes amid a huge clampdown in Tibetan-inhabited areas following several bouts of deadly unrest, and ahead of the March anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
A government official in Seda told AFP that he was unaware of the arrest of Drubpa Kyab. Police in the county did not answer phones on Sunday.
China has imposed virtual martial law in numerous Tibetan-inhabited regions as tensions have escalated, leading to the deaths last month of at least two people in clashes between police and locals in Sichuan, which borders Tibet.
Over the past year at least 20 Tibetans, many of them Buddhist monks, have set themselves on fire in protest at what they say is religious and cultural repression.
See more coverage on Tibet and recent protests via CDT. See also a report about the differences in relations between Han officials and Tibetans in areas of Qinghai vs areas of Sichuan, where many of the protests and subsequent violence have been centered.
