Tibtan writer dies after eight years for failing health following release from prison: Report

A Tibetan monk, who was jailed for three years for criticising Chinese government policies in Tibet, died this week in Sichuan's capital Chengdu after suffering ill health for eight years following his release.

Ra Tsering Dhondup, who wrote under the pen name Shinglo Marpo, was a monk at the Rongtha monastery in Khyungchu county in Sichuan's Ngaba, Radio Free Asia reported citing sources

Dhondup was arrested in February 2010 for publishing a magazine "whose content criticized the Chinese communist government," Gendun Tsering--a friend and former colleague of Dhondup's now living in India--told RFA's Tibetan Service.

"He was first detained in Barkham and was later sent to Mianyang Prison to complete his three-year sentence," Tsering said. "He was released in 2013, but he was in failing health, and later he succumbed to liver disease and passed away."

A magazine published by Dhondup had described conditions in Tibet after protests opposing Chinese rule swept the region in 2008, leading to hundreds of arrests and deaths at the hands of Chinese security forces, another friend of Dhondup said, also speaking from exile.

"Ra Tsering Dhondup, another friend, and I myself worked on that magazine together. However, it was published only once," he said.

Because of harsh treatment and lack of medical care in prison, Dhondup's condition had severely deteriorated during the eight years following his release, said Tenzin Dawa, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

The Chinese authorities are also gearing up for increased control over Tibetan Buddhism, where monasteries are forbidden to give traditional monastic education, which forms an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism.

Monks and nuns are, instead, subjected to regular "patriotic education" and other political campaigns that are fundamentally against the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism.

Due to China's occupation, Tibet's environment has been destroyed, the resources have been illegally mined and transported and the rivers have been polluted. Their occupation has led the Tibetans devoid of their basic rights and the human rights situation inside Tibet continues to deteriorate and worsen each passing year under the Chinese Communist Party's oppressive and repressive hardliner policies.

( With inputs from ANI )