Tibetan school forcibly demolished by Chinese state
Tibetans have been forced to demolish the school themselves, otherwise the Chinese state will step in and seize the land
In photographs from the demolition, Tibetans can be seen removing building materials by hand, alongside others using machinery
The demolition of the Gaden Rabten Namgyaling School at Drago Monastery has left over 100 young students without vital Tibetan education.
In late October 2021, Chinese authorities of Drago County (Cn: Luhuo), in Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, ordered the demolition of Gaden Rabten Namgyaling School at Drago Monastery. Monastery officials were told to demolish the school within three days, as the buildings allegedly infringed upon local land-use laws.
Prior to the demolition, in late October 2021, the police summoned two senior monks of Drago Monastery, Palga, and Nyima, to the County police station and threatened them to convince local Tibetans to demolish the school themselves within four days. They told the pair they would confiscate the wooden panels of the school buildings and seize the land if the deadline was not met
Founded in 1990, the Gaden Rabten Namgyaling School aimed to provide a blend of both traditional and modern education for Drago Monastery's young monks. The school had around 50 small to medium-sized rooms and offered a broad curriculum, with classes in Tibetan language and grammar, Mandarin Chinese, English, Madhyamaka, and other Buddhist doctrines being given prior to the forced closure. Young student monks attending the school were ordered to return to their homes, depriving over 100 Tibetans of vital education and cultural-religious experience.
In photographs from the demolition, Tibetans can be seen removing building materials by hand, alongside others using machinery.
The demolition of the school comes amid wider campaigns of cultural destruction, surveillance, and information crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tibet. Those living in the vicinity of Drago Monastery have been particularly targeted in this regard. Tibet Watch sources - whose identities are protected by anonymity for their personal safety - report that the focus on Drago Monastery by Chinese authorities is likely in response to a series of protests between 2008 and 2012, where members of the Tibetan community expressed anger at brutal and violent policing. During those upheavals, students aged above 18 were orderred to return home and Gaden school’s principal Mr. Tsering was also imprisoned.
The practice of Chinese authorities demolishing Buddhist schools, monasteries, and training academies is an ongoing issue. In 2017, Tibet Watch produced a report on the destruction of homes at the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy. Thousands of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners were displaced by police raids and demolitions by Chinese authorities - with those who resisted eviction facing arrest and imprisonment.