Dharamshala — A respected Buddhist teacher, Khenpo Kartse has been released from prison after serving two and a half years sentence in secret trial by a Chinese court.
Kartse is an abbot of Japa Monastery in Nangchen county, Yushul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, incorporated into China's Sichuan Province. He was arrested during a night raid in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on 6 December 2013. He was in the city for some work related to the monastery at the time.
Kartse was charged at first for allegedly "harming state security" by the Chinese authorities. He was later falsely accused of harbouring another Tibetan monk — allegedly involved in an "unlawful" incident.
The Tibetan religious figure has been an active member in relief efforts during the devastating Yushul earthquake in April 2010. He is widely known for his work in protecting and promoting Tibetan language, culture, and religion. Thousands of Tibetans have rallied for his release at the time of his detention.
Ven Kartse is a popular senior religious figure and is well respected for his social work and the promotion and protection of Tibetan language, culture and religion. He is the abbot of Jhapa Monastery in Nangchen (Ch: Nángqia?n) County in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province and was tried and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in Chamdo (Tibetan autonomus region) by China.
He was arrested during a night raid in Chengdu, The capital of Sichuan province, on 6th December 2013. At first he was charged for "harming state security."He was later specifically accused of harboring a fugitive monk — linked to a bombing incident — from Chamdo's Karma monastery at his own Japa monastery in Nangchen (Nanqian) county in Qinghai province's Yulshul (Yushu) prefecture.
On 4 June 2016, Khenpo was released from Chengdu prison. Sources have confirmed that Khenpo has not yet been allowed to return to his monastery and his current health condition remains unknown. Sources said that health problems for which Kartse had sought regular medical attention before he was detained went untreated in custody. Thousands of angry Tibetans gathered at his Japa monastery earlier this year to appeal to religious authorities to push for his release. More than a dozen monks from the monastery were also detained briefly for protesting against his detention.
