China arrests Tibetan woman for keeping Dalai Lama’s photo at home

06.07.2022

Human Rights Researcher

Tibet Team,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On June 23rd, 2022, Chinese police arrested a young Tibetan woman who was found keeping a photo of the Dalai Lama. The arrest occurred during China’s crackdown on all sorts of religious displays ahead of the Dalai Lama’s birthday – the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet – turning 88-year-old on July 6th, according to the Tibetan calendar.

The woman, named Zumkar (in Tibetan འཛུམ་དཀར), was arrested at her home where police discovered a photo of the religious leader on her altar, a sacred part of every Tibetan household, where sacred objects, such as statues and holy scriptures, are kept and prayers are offered. The news of her arrest was only made public on July 1st when Tibet monitoring and research group Tibet Watch published the news days after the arrest had actually taken place. 

Zumkar, a 27-year-old mother of two, was promptly taken away by Chinese police from her home in Tsarang (in Chinese Zharen) Township, in Amdo (Anduo) County of Nagchu City in northern Tibet. Four days later, on June 28th, the woman was transferred 500 kilometres away to Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, with no updated information on her current whereabouts. The woman, of nomadic parentage, was described as a pious Buddhist and a committed observant of religious activities. 

Despite the Dalai Lama’s effort to seek genuine autonomy for his occupied homeland by negotiating settlements for the last decades, China condemns the spiritual leader by labelling him a separatist. Tibetan Buddhism has long been under threat by the Chinese government, which is promoting the ‘Sinicization’ of Buddhism through policies aimed at interpreting religious beliefs in accordance with Beijing’s ideology. Bringing Buddhism under the control of the Chinese Communist Party provides a better and enhanced control of Tibetans and their religious practices for Beijing leaders. 

Nowadays, as Zumkar’s case indicates, Tibetans are being persecuted for their religious beliefs while the Chinese Government commits more human rights violations. Under international law, freedom of religion or belief is safeguarded and promoted by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. These international human rights instruments promote and guarantee freedom of religion and freedom from coercion by being able to worship religion “either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest […] religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance” (Art. 18, UDHR). 

Sources and further reading: 

Tibet Watch (2022, July 1). Tibetan woman arrested for keeping Dalai Lama’s photo at home. https://www.tibetwatch.org/news/2022/7/1/tibetan-woman-arrested-for-keeping-dalai-lamas-photo-at-home.