In China, Police Detains 170 Tibetans For Defying Actions On Confiscation Of Grazing Land
China’s police detained 170 Tibetans in a village in Gade County on May 10 for reportedly objecting to the government’s decision to take grazing properties in the area, according to Tibetan Watch, Phayul news reported. The land on which the nomadic Tibetans kept their cattle was given to them with a licence that was valid for up to 50 years. This land was under government authority after the Chinese conquest.
According to Phayul news, “The local police and other authorities in Cheudru Village pushed to investigate local Tibetans’ grassland use certificates and confiscate grassland from nomads if their certificates are out of date.”
As per the report, Chinese officials are seizing lands from Tibetan nomads whose grassland-use licences have expired. The Tibetans in the countryside contended that the land handed to them with usage permission belonged to the people. Last year, the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture confiscated property from nomadic Tibetans and demanded that they present a grassland-use certificate stating that the area belongs only to the Chinese government.
Local Tibetans opposed the directive, asserting that grazing lands should belong to people
Phayul news reported citing the report that “local Tibetans have opposed this directive, asserting that grazing lands should belong to the people. As a result of this resistance, over 170 Tibetans from Gade County have been summoned, detained and questioned at one of the county’s police stations,” it added.
Further, in eastern Tibet, Gade County is part of the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Other Golog counties, including Machen County, Maduo County, Darlek County, Pema County, and Chigdril County, were also given orders to take nomads’ grazing areas if they failed to provide the documentation.