Demolition of Atsok Monastery begins
Local Tibetans barred from taking photos whilst resident monks live under temporary makeshift shelters
Tibet Watch has learned that the demolition of Atsok Monastery has begun with heightened restrictions on the internet and movement imposed on the local Tibetans of Drakkar County.
In addition to the orders of not taking nor sharing on social media any photos and videos of the demolition of the 19th century monastery and the construction of Yangchu hydropower station, the local public has also been forbidden from visiting both the monastery as well as the planned relocation site.
A source told Tibet Watch about a Tibetan whose identity and whereabouts still remain unknown after police took him away following his social media post about the demolition: “A Tibetan from Dekyi Village (བདེ་སྐྱིད་སྡེ་བ།) was arrested, interrogated and kept in detention in May, last month, for taking pictures of the demolition of the monastery and sharing it along with a picture of Dalai Lama on his WeChat. “
The construction at the relocation site is not yet complete although the monks are living there in temporary makeshift iron shetlers, according to the same source, and all the property of the monastery are known to have been kept in a warehouse of a village of animal husbandry (ཕྱུགས་ལས་སྡེ་བ།) at Palkha Township (དཔལ་ཁ་གྲོང་རྡལ།).
Information supplied by Tibet Watch
