2011-10-27
The blast comes amid widening protests against Chinese rule.
Chinese military patrol the streets in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 15, 2008 after violent protests.
A bomb has exploded at a government building in a town in Tibet's Chamdo prefecture and Chinese security forces have sealed off the area, a Tibet advocacy group said Thursday, quoting sources.
The blast in Karma town came amid rising protests, including 10 self-immolations this year, against Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas.
"I can confirm this," International Campaign for Tibet spokeswoman Kate Saunders told RFA from London, quoting three sources in India's hill town Dharamsala, where Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is living in exile.
One source said words reading “Tibet’s independence” were written in red on the destroyed walls of the office building and "Free Tibet" fliers were strewn within the compound.
This has led the authorities to suspect that Tibetans could be behind the explosion.
“No one is accused or arrested in this connection so far but the entire road access leading to and from Chamdo had been completely cut off including closure of Karma monastery,” the source said.
Karma monastery
The source also said all the monks in Karma monastery, located on the eastern bank of the Dzachu River in Chamdo, had been confined inside the monastic compound, putting a strict control on their movements since the explosion.
According to the source, authorities had also allegedly halted activities of many Tibetans engaged in the production of Buddhist religious objects and artifacts in the area, known for the profession.
Chamdo has been described by the Chinese official media as the "frontline" of the "patriotic education" campaigns favored by the Chinese Communist Party as a means of pre-empting nationalist protests in Tibet.
New measures have been introduced over the past few months to counter dissent and demonstrations.
Chinese security forces have stepped up security following 10 self-immolation and other protests this year against Chinese rule.
In Sichuan province's Ngaba prefecture, the Kirti monastery, home of most of the 10 Tibetans who have self-immolated so far this year, has been under siege most of the year by Chinese security forces.
Hundreds of monks have been forcibly removed from Kirti and taken to secret locations for "political education."
Reported by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
The blast in Karma town came amid rising protests, including 10 self-immolations this year, against Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas.
"I can confirm this," International Campaign for Tibet spokeswoman Kate Saunders told RFA from London, quoting three sources in India's hill town Dharamsala, where Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is living in exile.
One source said words reading “Tibet’s independence” were written in red on the destroyed walls of the office building and "Free Tibet" fliers were strewn within the compound.
This has led the authorities to suspect that Tibetans could be behind the explosion.
“No one is accused or arrested in this connection so far but the entire road access leading to and from Chamdo had been completely cut off including closure of Karma monastery,” the source said.
Karma monastery
The source also said all the monks in Karma monastery, located on the eastern bank of the Dzachu River in Chamdo, had been confined inside the monastic compound, putting a strict control on their movements since the explosion.
According to the source, authorities had also allegedly halted activities of many Tibetans engaged in the production of Buddhist religious objects and artifacts in the area, known for the profession.
Chamdo has been described by the Chinese official media as the "frontline" of the "patriotic education" campaigns favored by the Chinese Communist Party as a means of pre-empting nationalist protests in Tibet.
New measures have been introduced over the past few months to counter dissent and demonstrations.
Chinese security forces have stepped up security following 10 self-immolation and other protests this year against Chinese rule.
In Sichuan province's Ngaba prefecture, the Kirti monastery, home of most of the 10 Tibetans who have self-immolated so far this year, has been under siege most of the year by Chinese security forces.
Hundreds of monks have been forcibly removed from Kirti and taken to secret locations for "political education."
Reported by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
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