Chinese authorities have decided to tear down 3,225 homes at Larung Gar by April 30. (Photo : Getty Images)
International human rights organizations are heeding China to stop the demolition of Tibetan Buddhist institutions, according to an article by Human Rights Watch.
In a statement sent by an abbot of a Tibetan religious institution, it was revealed that Chinese authorities have decided to tear down 3,225 homes at Larung Gar by April 30. Larung Gar, the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institution, is home to hundreds of monks and nuns, many of whom have already been expelled from the area due to China’s political re-education project.
Yachen Gar, another Tibetan Buddhist community in Sichuan Province, have also been targeted. Displaced monks and nuns from both institutions have seen traveled back to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), where they live under severe restrictions on their liberty.
“China is aggressively dismantling religious freedom along with religious life at Larung Gar by subjecting many expelled monks and nuns to forced re-education,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
“The restrictions imposed on former residents should be removed so they can exercise fully their rights to religious practice, including freely joining religious institutions and observing religious rituals,” Richardson added.
As of date, one group of nuns and monks from Linzhi in southeastern TAR have been subjected to political re-education as well as public humiliation, according to Human Rights Watch.
A senior abbot from Larung Gar said in a speech on March 23 that many of the monks and nuns who have since left the community “had never wanted to leave… And whether or not they had some place to go, they still had to leave.”
Additionally, the senior abbot said that “the demolitions and expulsions come from the policy of the senior levels of government, and cannot be discussed.”
Other reports have stated that several monks and nuns whose homes were demolished were compensated by Chinese authorities. Furthermore, about 1,200 expelled nuns have also been relocated to temporary camps in the Qinghai and Sichuan provinces.
