Monk Dies Following Dispute with Patriotic Education Instructors

January 26, 2006

Monks at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), found 28-year-old monk Ngawang Jangchub dead in his room in early October, the day after he argued with instructors teaching “patriotic education” classes at the monastery, according to a November 8 report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

Monks at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), found 28-year-old monk Ngawang Jangchub dead in his room in early October, the day after he argued with instructors teaching “patriotic education” classes at the monastery, according to a November 8 report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Ngawang Jangchub apparently refused to comply with a requirement to denounce the Dalai Lama as a "splittist" and pledge loyalty to the Chinese government, requirements under patriotic education, and defended the Dalai Lama's role as a Buddhist leader. In addition, he said that Tibet is not a historical part of China. Ngawang Jangchub reportedly told instructors that he knew he could face expulsion from the monastery for making the remarks, but that he did not regret his words. Monks discovered Ngawang Jangchub’s body the next day, after he failed to report for patriotic education class, and speculated that he may have committed suicide. Officials began conducting patriotic education classes in other Lhasa area monasteries and nunneries in April, according to an October TCHRD report.

The Chinese government and the Communist Party mandate patriotic education to promote Tibetan patriotism toward China and end the Dalai Lama's influence among Tibetans. Officials carried out an intensive campaign of patriotic education from 1996-2000 that reached monasteries and nunneries throughout Tibetan autonomous areas of China. In 2002, the Propaganda Department of the TAR Communist Party Committee distributed a patriotic education training manual entitled, "A Reader for Advocating Science and Technology and Doing Away with Superstitions" (translated by International Campaign for Tibet in When the Sky Fell to Earth: The New Crackdown On Buddhism in Tibet, 2004). The manual asks, "Why do we conduct patriotic education among monks and nuns in the monasteries?," and provides the answer: "Conducting patriotic education among the monks and nuns in the monasteries is an important aspect of strengthening the management of religious affairs by the government. . . . Dalai’s bloc has never stopped penetrating and engaging in splittist activities in our region under the support of international antagonistic forces. . . . The monks and nuns should be religious professionals who love the country, love religion, obey the discipline and abide by the law."

Chinese authorities have detained or imprisoned nearly 100 Drepung monks since 1987, when Drepung monks marched in a peaceful protest that began the current period of Tibetan political activism, according to information in the CECC Political Prisoner Database. Available information shows that authorities detained or imprisoned 20 Drepung monks between 1996-1999, during an intensive period of patriotic education. The CECC has no reports of Drepung detentions in 2000 or 2001. Authorities imprisoned five Drepung monks in 2002 after another patriotic education program, based on CECC analysis of reports than include an August 2002 Reuters report (reprinted in World Tibet Network). Ngawang Jangchub's death at Drepung occurred during the first major instance of political education since the 2002 program.

Additional information about patriotic education and religious freedom for Tibetan Buddhists is available in the CECC 2005 Annual Report.