Longlife prayers for Dalai Lama removed, ban on phonecalls with outsiders

Chinese officials scraped off a longlife prayer for Dalai Lama carved on a rockface near the besieged Nyatso Zilkar Monastery in Tridu (Ch: Chenduo) County in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

According to information received by TCHRD, the incident happened soon after the 54th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan national uprising on 10 March when monks carved on the nearby rockface a prayer that Tibetan Buddhists recite for the long life of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Below is the prayer in Tibetan along with English translation:

  gangri rawei korwei shingkham su,

Circled by ramparts of snow-mountains – this sacred realm,

phen dhang dewa malue jhungwei ney,

This wellspring of all sustenance and happiness.

chenresig wang tenzin gyatso yi,

Boddhisattava of compassion, Tenzin Gyatso

Shapey sitey bhar dhu tenpar shok,

May his reign endure till the end of existence

In a related development, at a meeting called by Chinese government officials in Tridu County, local Tibetans were ordered not to use their cellphones for contacting people outside Tibet. Any attempts to communicate with outsiders would be immediately apprehended as the government is monitoring all phone conversations, the officials said.

Sources with contacts in the area told TCHRD that the warning issued against cellphone use has deterred many local Tibetans from speaking out for fear of official retribution.

Details are still emerging on the current situation at Nyatso Zilkar Monastery which has been under surveillance since the past year. Recently, popular singer Lolo and Lobsang Jinpa, a monk from Nyatso Zilkar were each sentenced to five and six years in prison (full report here).