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Geshe Sonam Phuntsok
Geshe Sonam Phuntsok was born in
Karze county under the Sitron province in Tibet. His father’s name was
Phuntsok. He became a monk at a very early age and entered the Dargye
monastery at the age of 18. He studied Buddhist philosophy under the
Venerable Khenpo Achung and the great Tantric master Tamdin Gonpo. In
1971, he went into retreat for a few years.
Beginning in 1982,
he taught Tibetan grammar, reading, writing, and also religious texts
to 150 monks in Dargye monastery for six years. Out of the 35
monasteries under Karze, he wrote the historical background on thirteen
of them. He is regarded as a high scholar by the local people.
In
August 1989 the Geshe offered a religious ritual of long life to His
Holiness the Dalai Lama. Eight to nine thousand Tibetans from various
regions attended this religious ritual.
On October 24, 1999 he
was arrested along with his assistants, Sonam and Akya Tsering on the
suspicion of being involved in political activities. His whereabouts
are still unknown.
On October 31, 1999, more than three
thousand people in Karze staged a mass demonstration protesting for the
release of Geshe Sonam Phuntsok and others who are innocent. The
Chinese fired upon the demonstrators, and the number of people injured
is not known. Eighty people were arrested during the demonstration.
In
1989, Tsering Dorjee, Bhutruk, and Lobsang Tashi, monks from Dargye
monastery, distributed 'Free Tibet' documents and put Tibetan national
flags around the Karze district. Three of them were imprisoned and were
brutally tortured.
A Chinese work team visited the Gonlung
monastery to give patriotic re-education, but the Chinese government
was not satisfied with this campaign. In the beginning of March 1999,
the Chinese authorities put restrictions on the enrollment of monks in
the monasteries of Sarthang district.
On July 20 1999, the
monks celebrated the completion of the renovation work of Dargye
monastery. Some monks used red paint to write ‘Free Tibet’ on the main
gate and walls of the monastery. Eleven monks were arrested. The
Chinese work team came to the monasteries to give socialist
re-education to the monks. They told the monks not to get involved in
any political activities. Restriction enforced upon the monks made it
difficult for them to study religious texts and move about freely. As a
result of this difficult life, many of them escaped to India in order
to study.
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