Former Ragya Monastery abbot sentenced to five years, reportedly for performing long-life prayers for the Dalai Lama; two Tibetan-language schools closed
According to the Central Tibetan Administration's website tibet.net on October 19, 2026 (Dharamshala time), Chinese authorities recently sentenced Khensur Lobsang Tenpa, the 54th abbot in the line of Ragya Monastery in Machen County, Golog, to five years' fixed-term imprisonment, reportedly for performing long-life prayers (zhabten) for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was detained on July 5, 2026 — the eve of the Dalai Lama's 91st birthday — and subjected to harassment and ill-treatment in custody. Two Tibetan-language schools in the same area were also closed: Gangjong Tsathang Girls' School and Jasak School, affecting about 1,100 students and 120 teachers and staff. [1]
Why it matters
This report is worth recording for three reasons. First, the reported reason for the sentence is itself emblematic: performing long-life prayers for the Dalai Lama — a centuries-old daily practice in Tibetan Buddhism — treated as grounds for jailing a senior monk for five years, a concrete cut of religious-freedom repression. Second, it shows a 'person plus institution' double strike: the abbot jailed while two Tibetan-language schools are closed and some 1,100 students lose their schooling — a religious leader and language education removed in the same area at the same time. Third, the timing is telling: the detention came on the eve of the Dalai Lama's 91st birthday, and he had already been detained once for the same reason in May 2025, the year of the 90th birthday — suggesting cyclical control around the Dalai Lama's birthday. A conservative note: everything comes from the CTA citing an unnamed 'reliable source inside Tibet'; the charges, the court, whether he had a lawyer or whether his family was informed are all undisclosed, this site could not independently verify the verdict or trial records, and Chinese officials have issued no public statement on the case. This record documents the CTA's reporting — hence 'under ongoing verification'. [1]
Full report
According to the Central Tibetan Administration's website tibet.net on October 19, 2026 (Dharamshala time), Chinese authorities recently sentenced Khensur Lobsang Tenpa, the 54th abbot in the line of Ragya Monastery in Machen County, Golog, to five years' fixed-term imprisonment, reportedly for performing long-life prayers (zhabten) for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was detained on July 5, 2026 — the eve of the Dalai Lama's 91st birthday — and subjected to harassment and ill-treatment in custody. It was his second detention in just over a year: in May 2025, the year of the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday, Machen County police detained and interrogated him for performing zhabten before releasing him. The charges against him and the court that sentenced him have not been made public, nor is it known whether he had a lawyer or whether his family was informed. Born in 1965, he entered monastic life at Ragya Monastery in 1983 and is described as an eminent and diligent scholar. [1]
Two Tibetan-language schools in the same area were also closed: Gangjong Tsathang Girls' School and Jasak School, affecting about 1,100 students and 120 teachers and staff. The news was relayed through a 'reliable source inside Tibet', which also reported that the authorities are harassing Tibetans living near the monastery and intensifying the repression of their culture. The report cites the CTA Human Rights Desk's legal analysis: imprisoning someone for peaceful religious practice violates the freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which China has signed), and Article 36 of China's own Constitution; secret proceedings deny him a fair trial; and the reported ill-treatment breaches the Convention against Torture, which China ratified in 1988. [1]
The Central Tibetan Administration urged the Chinese government to release Lobsang Tenpa immediately and unconditionally; pending his release, to disclose his whereabouts and the charges against him and guarantee him access to a lawyer of his choice, his family and medical care; to investigate his reported ill-treatment and hold those responsible to account; and to reopen the two schools and withdraw the order against Tibetan-language teaching. It also urged the international community to raise the case at the UN Human Rights Council and in bilateral dialogues with China, and called on the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the relevant UN Special Rapporteurs to take it up. [1]
Verification note: this record documents the Central Tibetan Administration's October 19 reporting. The sentence was reported via an unnamed source inside Tibet; the charges, the court, and whether he had counsel or his family was informed are all undisclosed, and this site could not independently verify the verdict or trial records; Chinese officials have issued no public statement on the case. This record is therefore graded 'under ongoing verification', and this site will continue to look for cross-checkable information. [1]
Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or assessments. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.