The release of writer Dhi Lhaden after four years of imprisonment raises concerns regarding his physical and mental well-being, exacerbated by the limited accessibility of information about his current situation. Having endured two years of incommunicado detention since 2019, he was charged with “disrupting social order,” a common accusation against human rights activists, and secretly sentenced to four years in 2021. Despite his expected release this year, it was delayed by two months, perceived as a result of cautious measures by Chinese authorities to control information flow. Lhaden’s unjust trial, preceded by isolation, potential coercion, and torture, further adds complexity. As a former monk and writer, his works illuminated the Tibetan perspective, encompassing hopes, wishes, and the overall plight.

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The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has learned about the release of Tibetan writer, teacher and environmentalist Kunchok Tsephel on 18 March after serving more than 13 years at two different prisons including Dingxi near Lanzhou city in Gansu Province. Tsephel’s 15-year prison term had been reduced by almost two years after he saved the life of a fellow prisoner and collected ‘points’ for exhibiting ‘good behaviour’. 

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The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released yesterday the second book written by underground Tibetan writer Dhi Lhaden, the courageous former monk and intellectual based in Amdo, Tibet.

Originally composed in Tibetan and titled Tungol Trimtug (‘Resistance Through Cooperation With Law’), it has been translated into English with a new title ‘The Art of Passive Resistance’. This is Lhaden’s second book, translated and published by TCHRD.

In this book, Dhi Lhaden explores themes such as the rule of law, freedom, peace, equality, non-violence, and looks to public figures known for their approach of peaceful resistance such as the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and George Washington.

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In his essay, Soul of Poetry, the influential Tibetan poet, Yidam Tsering (1933 – 2004), likened the poets to nightingales who sing through their poems the hopes and aspirations, pain and agony, of their people. Her further wrote, “as long as the people live a life of million years, the poet will be able to sustain a life of million…

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