Dharamsala - Eight Tibetans have been arrested in Jomda County by Chinese authorities earlier this month, according to a Tibetan member of parliament with contacts in the region.
Monlam Tharchin, a Tibetan parliamentarian who is also a member of the parliament’s Standing Committee, said the eight Tibetans were arrested following arguments between local Tibetans and Chinese authorities who had questioned the Tibetans’ decision not to do any farming activities around this time.

Earlier this month, officials and police from the County held meetings with the Tibetan residents of Khagang township and “harassed them”. The officials from the local administration including the police demanded that the Tibetans justify their act of dissent. The Tibetans, however, were defiant and did not cooperate with the authorities who then arrested the eight Tibetans. The names and other details of those arrested are no yet known.

Following the Chinese government crackdown on Tibetan protesters, the authorities went on offensive against Tibetan farmers in eastern Tibet who had defiantly undertaken a “Farming Boycott Movement” to protest against China’s repressive measures.

Chinese authorities had arrested and severely beaten several farmers who defied authorities' order to till their farmlands in many parts of Tibet.

Phayul[Monday, October 19, 2009 22:21]