Tsang Monastery: One Tibetan Monk Arrested, A Leader Commits Suicide

Zega Gyatso was arrested while seeking medical treatment. Geshe Shersang Gyatso, the monastery’s managing director, took his life after heavy police interrogation.

By Lopsang Gurung

September 15, 2025

Geshe Shersang Gyatso (1973–2025), left, and Zega Gyatso, right. From X.

In the highlands of Qinghai Province, nestled in the rugged terrain of Tongde County, Tsang Monastery once stood as a beacon of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual resilience and cultural continuity. Today, it is a symbol of something far darker: the systematic dismantling of Tibetan religious life under Chinese rule. The recent arrest of Geshe Zega Gyatso, the long-standing surveillance of his brother Khedrub Gyatso, and the tragic suicide of the monastery’s managing director, Geshe Shersang Gyatso, form a harrowing triad of repression that demands global attention.

This is not merely a story of three Tibetan dissidents. It is the story of a people whose faith is being criminalized, whose leaders are being broken, and whose sacred spaces are being transformed into instruments of ideological control.

On July 2, 2025, Geshe Zega Gyatso, a respected monk of Tsang Monastery, was arrested in Xining City while seeking medical treatment. The official charge? Allegedly “sending money abroad”—a vague accusation that Chinese authorities have yet to substantiate. His family has been denied all contact, and his whereabouts remain undisclosed.

Zega’s arrest was not an isolated incident. It occurred in the shadow of the 90th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, a date that Beijing views with suspicion and hostility. In the weeks leading up to July 6, Chinese security forces intensified surveillance across Tibetan regions, raiding monasteries and searching for forbidden photographs of the exiled spiritual leader. Tsang Monastery was placed under lockdown. Monks were subjected to daily political indoctrination sessions, and those under 18 were forcibly expelled.

Zega’s detention appears to be part of this broader crackdown. According to sources close to the family, the accusation of remitting funds is likely a pretext. The real motive may lie in his spiritual allegiance and connection to the Dalai Lama—an affiliation that Beijing treats as subversive.

To understand the full scope of the persecution, one must look back to 2008. That year, during the Tibetan protests that coincided with the Beijing Olympics, Zega’s younger brother, Khedrub Gyatso, was arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations. His crime? Marking the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising—a date etched in the collective memory of Tibetans as the beginning of their exile and suffering.

Khedrub was imprisoned and later released, but his freedom was illusory. Since then, he has lived under constant surveillance. His family, including Zega, has been subjected to repeated interrogations, police summons, and accusations of maintaining contact with Tibetans in exile. The authorities have branded them as “suspicious persons,” a designation that strips them of fundamental rights and renders their every move suspect.

The surveillance is not passive. It is active, invasive, and psychologically corrosive. It disrupts daily life, isolates individuals from their communities, and instills a pervasive fear. For the family, it has meant living in a state of perpetual anxiety—never knowing when the next knock on the door might come.

Tsang Monastery. Source: International Campaign for Tibet.

On August 18, 2025, Tsang Monastery suffered another devastating blow. Geshe Shersang Gyatso, the monastery’s managing director, took his own life. He was 52 years old.

Shersang’s suicide was not a private tragedy. It was a public act of resistance. In the weeks preceding his death, he had been subjected to intense police scrutiny, ideological indoctrination, and relentless pressure from Chinese authorities, which had pushed him to the brink.

Sources within the monastery describe his death as a final protest—a desperate attempt to draw attention to the unbearable conditions under which Tibetan monks are forced to live. His passing is a stark reminder that repression does not merely silence voices; it extinguishes lives.

Shersang hailed from Arik Village in Malho Prefecture and belonged to the Gyudpa College, one of Tsang Monastery’s five educational branches. He was known for his quiet leadership and unwavering commitment to the monastic community.

The transformation of Tsang Monastery from a spiritual sanctuary to a surveillance hub is emblematic of Beijing’s broader strategy in Tibet. Religious institutions are no longer places of worship but battlegrounds for ideological control.

During the Dalai Lama’s birthday month, Tsang Monastery was subjected to daily searches. Photographs of the Dalai Lama were seized, and monks were forced to attend political meetings before engaging in religious rituals. The message was clear: devotion to the Dalai Lama is a crime, and spiritual practice must be subordinated to state ideology.

Young monks—those under 18—were expelled en masse. This policy, which has been implemented across multiple monasteries in Tibet, is part of a systematic effort to sever the transmission of religious knowledge and identity. By targeting the youth, Beijing aims to erode the future of Tibetan Buddhism.

The monastery’s lockdown, the ideological indoctrination, and the expulsions are not isolated events. They are part of a coordinated campaign to dismantle Tibetan religious life and replace it with a sanitized, state-approved version of Buddhism.

The international community’s deafening silence makes this story even more tragic. While governments issue tepid statements and human rights organizations publish reports, the persecution continues unabated. The monks of Tsang Monastery are not just victims of Chinese repression; they are casualties of global indifference.

The arrest of Zega Gyatso and the suicide of Shersang should have sparked outrage. These men are not statistics. They are human beings—leaders, teachers, brothers. Their suffering demands more than sympathy; it requires action. Instead, it has been met with silence.

This silence is not neutral. It is complicit. It enables the continuation of repression and signals to Beijing that its actions will not be met with consequences.

The story of Tsang Monastery is a microcosm of the Tibetan struggle. It is a tale of faith under fire, of lives shattered by authoritarianism, and of a culture fighting to survive in the face of annihilation.

The world must not look away. It must witness, speak out, and hold those responsible accountable. If we fail to defend the monks of Tsang Monastery, we fail not only them—we fail the core principles of justice, dignity, and freedom.

Source: bitterwinter.org