JAILED FOR WRITING A SONG
"On the heads of a sincere and truthful people,
A black hat has been forcefully put on"
These are the opening words to the song "Black Hat", released in March 2019 by #LhundrubDrakpa , a popular Tibetan musician who sang his truths through his #music.
The lyrics are a condemnation of the #Chinese government's brutal #occupation of #Tibet, describing how Tibetans have "suffered as if hell is on earth",
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how they are "gagged and their language is "hemmed in by a thousand insidious means", and the "sorrow of the people of the Land of Snow".
The title of his song refers to a Tibetan proverb:
མི་དཀར་པོ་ལ་ཞྭ་མོ་ནག་པོ་མ་གཡོགས། 'Don't put a black hat on an innocent person'
– don't condemn a person with false accusations.
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Two months later, a black hat was put on Lhundrub Drakpa when he was arrested without having committed any crime. It was an inevitable response from authorities desperate to silence both Lhundrub Drakpa and his music.
He was #detained for over a year and beaten before being sentenced to six years in #prison. He has not been heard from since, making him yet another one of Tibet's disappeared political prisoners.
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We will not let Lhundrub Drakpa's story or his music go silent. In the run-up to 30 August, the #DayOfTheDisappeared, we reaffirm our commitment to seeing Lhundrub Drakpa released and stand in solidarity with him and Tibet's other #PoliticalPrisoners .
Please contact the local authorities in central Tibet, demanding that he be released.
- Free Tibet
#FreeTibet #FreeLhundrubDrakpa
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Lhundrub Drakpa is a popular Tibetan singer from Driru County in Nagchu, central Tibet. In March 2019, he released his song “Black Hat", which criticises CCP policies, singing how "the voice of the six million Tibetans is gagged" and lamenting the "sorrow of the people of the Land of Snow". By May 2019, he had been arrested. After more than a year in detention, during which time he was beaten, Lhundrub Drakpa stood trial and, in June 2020, was sentenced to six years in prison. His current location is unknown.
anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖