Tibetan Review
December 14, 2014
Jamyang Tsering, in an undated photo (Photo courtesy: RFA)
China has jailed an elderly Tibetan man for one and half years in Chamdo (Chinese: Changdu) Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region for having advised other Tibetans to follow the Dalai Lama’s advice not to worship a controversial 17th century spirit, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) Decd 12. Jamyang Tsering, 77, was arrested from Lhasa in early Jun 2014 and tried and sentenced in early December by a court in the prefecture’s Dzogang (Zuogong) County.
Jamyang Tsering’s relatives are worried as the man suffers from a number of ailments, including abdominal disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other disorders. He himself is said to be concerned about his 86-year-old wife who lives in their home in Lhasa.
The man was reported to have advised as many people as possible to follow the guidance of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader and refrain from worshipping shugden, also known as Dolgyal. The Dalai Lama says Shugden is a divisive and harmful spirit, not the enlightened religious protector that a fringe minority of Tibetan religious leaders consider it to be.
Jamyang Tsering, originally from Chamdo, was tried in Chamdo apparently because he had sought to encourage a group of Chamdo-area students visiting Lhasa to follow the wishes and guidance of the Dalai Lama and to always “hold to their pride in being Tibetan”.
China has on numerous occasions condemned the Dalai Lama for his criticism of Shugden and is accused of supporting those in the outside world who carry out slanderous campaigns against him over this issue.
