China Steals Monk’s Ashes at Gunpoint

Chinese officials took the ashes of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche from his family at gunpoint last Thursday, friends of the family say. “The ashes were taken back and not given to the family,” a cousin said from exile in Dharamsala, India. “Police said that they would throw the ashes into the nearby river. The four people don’t know what happened to the ashes.” The monk’s death in a Chinese prison under mysterious circumstances has garnered international attention. The family was not allowed to give him traditional Buddhist funeral rites.