Disappearance

Chadra, a monk from Shabron Monastery in Nagehu region (north of Lhasa), has been missing since mid- February of thisyear. Kunchok Gelek, a monk formerly of Drigung Thil Monastery, says Chadra disappeared after Chinese officials discovered a photograph of the Dalai Lama in his possession.

Chadra is aged in his late twenties and comes from a nomadic family. He was the monk responsible for performing the burial ceremony for the other monks — currently about 100 — of Shabten onastery, says Kunchok Gelek.

Just days after Losar (the Tibetan New Year which concluded on February 10 1997), Chinese officials ransacked Chadra’s room and found that he was keeping a picture of the Dalai Lama in his amulet (a brooch used to hold charms). Chadra and three other monks were subsequently arrested.

There was absolutely no news of Chadra following his arrest until recent unconfirmed reports that he was in Lhasa. “Some people in my hometown say that he might have been killed,” says Kunchok. “Even his close relatives have no idea of his whereabouts and they were not allowed to see him. It is said that he and the other monks must have been found discussing Tibet’s independence. When the officials found the forbidden picture, Chadra was known to have said, ‘His Holiness will always remain my Tsawal Lama (“core teacher”). I still have faith in him no matter what you do’.”

Chinese “re-education” work-teams arrived in Kunchok’s monastery on April 20, 1997 and stayed for two months. “They would make us say things that go beyond our principles and beliefs,” said 23 year-old Kunchok. “They forced us to denounce the one person we hold the most important in our hearts. I decided it was better to leave the monastery even though I knew that this was precisely the work-teams’ intentions. I could not dream of opposing His Holiness the Dalai Lama nor any of his virtues.”

Kunchok, who entered the monastery at the age of nine, left the monastery after 13 years on 8 May 1997. Now in India, he says he has found peace of mind and is happy to be able to speak without having to fear the consequences.

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