China has put a ban on an annual religious congregation of Tibetan monks in Barkham County, and warned monks of arrest or closure of the host monastery if they went ahead with the event.
Security checkpoints had been built at various areas around the monastery and there is a strict monitoring of people and activities in the area.
On 16 December, around 20 officials including the deputy party secretary of Ngaba Tibet Autonomous prefecture called a meeting of the monks at Tsodhun monastery and said the religious congregation could not be held under the “law”. They also warned the monastic administration of closure of the monastery if it went ahead with the congregation. Monks of other participating monasteries were also warned of arrest and detention if they failed to comply with the order that consisted of 9 articles and 44 clauses.
The officials accused Kirti Tsang monasteries of initiating major protests in the area last year saying that the same event in 2007 was used by the monks to plan the protests against the government in 2008. They even accused the monks of coming under the influence of Kirti Rinpoche, a revered Buddhist lama based in exile whom they accused of instigating the monks to protest against the government.