Tibet : Monks below 18 forced to disrobe

[phantom59]

In monasteries the situation is worsening.Tibetan monks who have taken their vow since they were very young, and have matured to 18 years of age are sent back home where they are forced to live as regular people.This situation leads to them being unemployed with no sustainable skills to support themselves or their families.As they are no longer allowed to live in the monastery, life becomes very hard for them.

Apart from this, those who are already 18 years of age, and wish to become monks must take permission from the chinese government which is very difficult to obtain.Even though, monasteries allow the undertaking of the ascetic vow at any age, the chinese bureaucratic procedures make it challenging for Tibetans to claim such a basic right and choice of life.

A Monk from Kirti Monastery, Nagba county came forward to say that since a few years there has been a gradual and concentrated increase in the number of army establishments around the monastery and nearby towns. The area is under constant surveillance, night and day. Monks who live in the monastery, have had their mobile phones confiscated by the chinese government

http://www.dossiertibet.it/news/tibet-m ... ed-disrobe

[phantom59]

Security officers have detained two Tibetan monks who wrote books critical of Chinese policies in Tibet and are holding them in an undisclosed location where they may face torture.Tashi Dondrub and Kelsang Gyatso, known also by the nicknames Mewod and Gomkul, were taken into custody on July 14 at Palyul monastery in the Kardze Prefecture.

Tashi Dondrub is from Yulshog in the Samkha subdivision of Riwoche county in the Chamdo prefecture, and is the president of a literary group called The State of our Snow Mountains,”.Kelsang Gyatso, a prominent member of the same group and chant leader at the monastery, comes originally from the Nangchen region. Students and family members of the two men are deeply worried about their welfare,because all those arrested in the area are subject to torture

http://www.dossiertibet.it/news/tibet-t ... s-detained

[Blue Garuda]

In monasteries the situation is worsening.Tibetan monks who have taken their vow since they were very young, and have matured to 18 years of age are sent back home where they are forced to live as regular people.This situation leads to them being unemployed with no sustainable skills to support themselves or their families.As they are no longer allowed to live in the monastery, life becomes very hard for them.

Apart from this, those who are already 18 years of age, and wish to become monks must take permission from the chinese government which is very difficult to obtain.Even though, monasteries allow the undertaking of the ascetic vow at any age, the chinese bureaucratic procedures make it challenging for Tibetans to claim such a basic right and choice of life.

A Monk from Kirti Monastery, Nagba county came forward to say that since a few years there has been a gradual and concentrated increase in the number of army establishments around the monastery and nearby towns. The area is under constant surveillance, night and day. Monks who live in the monastery, have had their mobile phones confiscated by the chinese government

http://www.dossiertibet.it/news/tibet-m ... ed-disrobe

I'm not a fan of children becoming monks until they are of an age when they can make an informed choice, but that's another matter, and in some cultures it is a good life for a child compared with the alternatives.

Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult to provide it, accreditation of these stories by an independent body would add weight to them.

Propaganda is easy to create and it is easy to play on people's emotions without offering a single piece of hard evidence. Does any exist to support this story?

[Astus]

OK, so those kids who were sent to monasteries are now sent back to home. Then they need approval from a government office to become monastics. The first one looks like protecting children - like, if somebody in a Western country forced their children into a Christian monastery, it would not be outrageous at all if the government sent them back home or to some child care home. As for the need of official permission to become a monastic, it's been like that in China for very long now (I mean, hundreds of years).

News of arrest of monks who have written against the government, what is strange about this? It is still a dictatorship, there is no free speech. The monks could have been well aware of the consequences.