Self-immolations and the fight for true freedom

[icy]

October 1: The Chinese authorities in Ngaba County have forced the family members of the latest Tibetan self immolator to throw his remains into a river, a Tibetan source said.

According to Tsayang Gyatso, a Tibetan living in exile, some monks of Jonang Se monastery and the family members of the deceased approached the County authorities to collect the ashes of Shichung, the 41 year old Tibetan who died immediately after his self immolations protest in Gomang Thawa township in Ngaba county on September 28.

“However, a day after his self immolation Chinese officials and the police barred them from taking Shichung's remains to their home, compelling them to throw it into the Ngachu river.”

Shichung, a father of two, set himself on fire on Saturday around 4.30 PM (local time) in Gomang Thawa Township in Ngaba County. He lit a butter lamp in front of a portrait of the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama before taking setting himself ablaze.

Sources said that local Tibetans confronted the Chinese security forces numbering over 150 trying to stop the body from being taken away. A major confrontation was avoided, sources said, after local Tibetan elders present there calmed the situation down. However, the Chinese authorities confiscated his body and drove with it towards Ngaba County.

Following his self-immolation protest, around 200 monks of Jonang Se monastery arrived at Shichung’s home and performed the final rites. Local Tibetans also paid their last respects.

The same source also noted that Chinese authorities yesterday barred local Tibetans from visiting Shichung's home, frisked every Tibetan and even confiscated their mobile handsets.

Shichung is survived by his wife and two children.

Since 2009, as many as 122 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet calling for freedom in Tibet and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.

Condemning the Chinese authorities’ act of forcibly taking the custody of Tibetan self-immolators body, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said, “There is a pattern to the way China has been disposing off bodies of self-immolation protesters. In many cases, Chinese authorities had given only ashes to families and relatives of self-immolation protesters.”

“In Tibet today, even the dead are denied their right to a culturally appropriate cremation. Moreover, restrictions have become more severe on families and friends who hold necessary religious rituals in memory of a deceased in self-immolation protests.”

[icy]

Tibet self-immolations: Tsering Woeser and Ai Weiwei collaborate on book
Tibetan poet and Chinese artist publish Immolations in Tibet: The Shame of the World, after more than 120 such protests

Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser and dissident artist Ai Weiwei have collaborated on a book about Tibetan self-immolations, attempting to explain the suicidal protests that have gripped the Himalayan region since 2009.
The book, Immolations in Tibet: The Shame of the World, is written by Woeser with cover art by Ai. A French-language first edition was published on Thursday.

"I think [the self-immolations] are an earth-shattering thing," Woeser said in a telephone interview from Lhasa. "Yet people are silent. Why are they silent? In China, one reason is that the government blocks information, they block the truth, so a lot of people don't know that this is happening. Yet in a lot of places – even in China – people know this is happening, but don't really care."
She continued: "In this book, I want to write about why people self-immolate – to help people understand, to break the silence."

Since February 2009, at least 122 Tibetans have set themselves on fireas a grimin protest and most have died from their wounds. The protesters have been a diverse group, comprised of men and women, monks and lay people, elders and teenagers. There are many reasons behind self-immolations, from the trauma of forced resettlement to surveillance cameras in monasteries. "Self-immolation is the most hard-hitting thing that these isolated protesters can do while still respecting principles of non-violence," Woeser writes.wrote in the book.

Beijing condemns the protests as terrorism and blames them on "hostile forces from abroad" – particularly the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959.
Woeser, one of the few Tibetan authors to write in Chinese, grew up in Tibet but now lives under close surveillance in Beijing. Since she moved to the capital a decade ago, she has posted volumes of poetry and essays online, many of them openly critical of the Chinese government's regional policies. In the book, Woeser describes Tibet as a "giant prison criss-crossed with armed soldiers and armoured vehicles".
After Tibet was racked by riots in 2008, Woeser was placed under house arrest with her husband Wang Xilong, also a prominent writer and activist. Authorities once again confined her to her home in 2012, to prevent her from receiving an award at the Dutch embassy.

Woeser called the book short – about 20,000 words – and said she wrote it quickly, between April and June of this year. Ai's minimalist cover depicts the swirling outline of orange-and-yellow flames; its white background is subtly inlaid with each self-immolator's name, written in Tibetan.
Woeser said that she considers Ai a friend, and called his views on Tibetan issues, which she had seen on Twitter, "very pertinent, and very precise". She asked him to design the cover in late August. "He agreed immediately," she said. "He said of course, the meaning of these self-immolations, whether on a philosophical or a religious level, is beyond what us living people can ordinarily understand. But he said he'd be willing to try."

Woeser said that while publishing the book may carry risks, she refuses to be cowed, drawing inspiration from the people she writes about. "Their courage gives me courage," she said.


Tibetan activist and writer Tsering Woeser has written a book about self-immolation protests, with cover art by artist Ai Weiwei Photograph: Bill Smith/EPA

[Matibhadra]

Woeser said that while publishing the book may carry risks, she refuses to be cowed, drawing inspiration from the people she writes about. "Their courage gives me courage," she said.

Tibetan activist and writer Tsering Woeser has written a book about self-immolation protests, with cover art by artist Ai Weiwei Photograph: Bill Smith/EPA

How sick.

Only an abnormal person could feel “inspired” by foolish self-immolators.

And only a depraved mind could write a book glorifying them, thus instigating even more self-immolations.

[Matibhadra]

True Freedom Fighters:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, September 15, 2013.

Funny. In my dictionary they appear as “True Western Puppets”.

[Matibhadra]

There is confidential news recently that Dalai Lama and some top Chinese officials have met in a neutral country in Europe informally under closed doors to talk about the main issues of Tibet and self-immolation of Tibetans which is one of the growing concern of both parties.  We hope to hear some positive news arising from the meeting and pray that both parties are able to come to a happy conclusion of long outstanding issues faced by Tibet and China.

These “confidential news” sound more like a hoax attempting to clean a bit the image of the Dalai Lama, so tarnished by his failure to outrightly condemn the self-immolations.

What is most ridiculous about these “news” is that they suggest that the Dalai Lama needs some kind of agreement with or request from the Chinese side in order to give up his sneaky support for the gruesome self-immolations. What a shame for a self-styled Chenrezig!

One would make a fool of oneself expecting some kind of outcome of the delusional ”meeting”.

[Lineageholder]

There is evidence that, far from condemning these terrible self-immolations, that the CTA with the Dalai Lama's full knowledge and agreement have glorified the self-immolators, treating them like heroes and saints thus actively encouraging it.

More information is available in the book 'the False Dalai Lama' available for free download from thefalsedalailama .com

[Matibhadra]

There is evidence that, far from condemning these terrible self-immolations, that the CTA with the Dalai Lama's full knowledge and agreement have glorified the self-immolators, treating them like heroes and saints thus actively encouraging it.

Not different from the support given by extremist Muslim clerics to jihadist suicide bombers.

The current “Dalai Lama”, known in his childhood as “the Muslim in robes” because of his Muslim origins, obviously chose the path of extremist terrorrist radical Islam, with his shameless support of self-immolations.

[Blueupali]

If the Dalai Lama wanted to stop the self-immolations, then he could make a statement more like that of the 17th Karmapa:
  http://www.karmapa.org/news/announcement_self_immolations.htm

I am praying that people will stop the self-immolations and try to keep their precious human lives; enlightenment is much more important than the political status of a country.

[icy]

This is an article from truedalailama.com about self-immolations and the Dalai Lama.

IMAGE VERSUS REALITY

In 1998, a Tibetan man named Thupten Ngodup burned himself alive in New Delhi, initiating the chain of suicides that continues to this day.   Now, more than 120 Tibetans have burned themselves alive because of their belief in the Dalai Lama.  It is a sad story that many in the western press refuse to cover.

On August 7, 2013 early in the morning around 7am a man set himself on fire in front of Boudhanath, the holiest stupa in Nepal.    His name is Karma Nyedon Gyatso, birth name Tenpa Druggyal, 35 years old, father Jamyang Tashi, mother Ugyen.  Traditionally Buddhists don’t burn any meat, flesh or even hair in front of stupas for fear of contaminating the blessings of the holy site, which makes this action an even more direct example of how blindly following the Dalai Lama is contaminating the Buddhist religion.  Mr. Karma had attended the Kalachakra teaching given by the Dalai Lama in 2012 and did not return to his homeland in Tibet, but chose to stay in Nepal.  This was most likely due to what he heard at the initiation where the Dalai Lama convinced Tibetans that they are all suffering in China.  If there is prosperity and economic progress he tries to turn it into something negative by creating suspicions about Chinese motives, creating hatred towards the Chinese people.

The Dalai Lama tries to oppress the Tibetan people by keeping them living in conditions much like it was in medieval times.  When people fix their homes, schools and other buildings to bring them to a higher level of safety and environmental standards he claims this is due to China’s influence and uses governmental and non-governmental agencies to speak out against them.  He rallies the people to boycott companies such as the Holiday Inn when they come to the area, forcing them to leave.  In any other country new companies and industries like this are welcomed.  The Dalai Lama is against any modern changes people make to improve their quality of life, this way he can remain in control.

A couple of weeks before he burned himself Mr. Karma went to Dharamsala in India, where the Dalai Lama and his organization are located.  To anyone who pays attention to the activities of the Dalai Lama and his organization it was predictable that something was going to happen in August of this year, perhaps more Tibetans burning themselves or riots in Lhasa.  There was a few months gap where people didn’t burn themselves in Tibet and the Dalai Lama was desperate to start something again.  He made an announcement that Aug 1-20 he will go to the town of Ladakh, near the border of Tibet, to meditate for 20 days for the Tibetan cause and asked the Tibetan people to make specific prayers during that time.  He claimed that during the previous year when he was visiting the same monastery he saw a vision of a white cloud coming from Tibet and then returning to Tibet and that this was an auspicious sign that he will return to Tibet soon, thereby creating a fantasy and false hope for the Tibetan people. He also had people on the internet and WeChat spreading disinformation about there now being two suns over Ladakh and rainbows appearing over the monastery where he was to meditate.  This is how he leads Tibetans through their blind faith.

In mid-July the Department of Information and International Relations sent a letter to all the Tibetan settlements in Nepal, India and throughout the world announcing plans to celebrate on August 8th the two year anniversary of Losang Sangye being in charge of the Dalai Lama’s organization.  They also announced that during the celebration there would be prayers for the people who self-immolated, calling them heroes and saints.  Obviously Mr. Karma also wanted to be a saint.  This was all part of the Dalai Lama’s grand design. The world must know that the Dalai Lama has not spoken out against these acts, in fact he encourages this by organizing huge prayer rallies for them and by promising a better future life.

For example, in 1998, a Tibetan man named Thupten Ngodup burned himself alive in New Delhi, initiating the chain of suicides that continues to this day.  The Dalai Lama visited Ngodup in the hospital, showing approval and support for his actions.  If that wasn’t enough, after Ngodup’s death the Dalai Lama built a statue of him in Dharamsala.  People continue to visit and worship this statue.  He has been made a hero and saint to all of the Dalai Lama’s followers.


follow the link below to read the full article about the statue:

http://www.phayul.com/news/tools/print.aspx?id=33276&t=1

On June 5 former Minister and present People’s Deputy Thupten Lungrik wrote an article in all exile newspapers, magazines and websites aimed at me, Sonam Rinchen, and my article of one year ago called “Some Thoughts on Self-Immolations”.  This article was written in the Tibetan language.  Mr Lungrik compared those self-immolators with Buddha Shakyamuni, calling them heros, and also Buddhas and bodhisattvas.  You can still see this article throughout India, Nepal and on the internet.  He tried to cover up the Dalai Lama and his organization’s involvement with the self-immolations and yet the article itself encourages and promotes these acts, relating the story of Buddha giving his life to the tigers and many other Buddha and bodhisattva comparisons.  I wrote an article in response to all of the editors but I have not yet seen it published anywhere.   It is reprinted below.
                                     ==============================================

Short Answer to address Thubten Lungrik’s article written June 2013 which was published in many newspapers including the Tibetan Times, Tibetan Messenger, Khabda, and others.     By Sonam Rinchen

 

First of all, many of your explanations seem to be supporting my article, proof that I was correct.  I am not sure you intended to do that or that you just can’t destroy the truth.  You tried to cover up the truth but ended up proving and confirming what I said.  In the beginning of the article your argument was that I was criticizing or blaming the self- immolators, but I never criticized or blamed those innocent young Tibetans that burned themselves, I only said they were misled by religious leaders who made them believe they were helping the Tibetan cause.  I don’t know what Chinese leaders are saying about this and I don’t need to repeat what the Chinese said.   I can come to my own conclusions.  If they say the same thing I am saying, it only shows that I am right.

You give the example of Buddha giving his life to save a tiger, but that with compassion.  He was not misled by his leader to kill himself for political reasons. The Buddha gave his life so that the tiger and cubs could live.  119 people burned, who did they save? If the Dalai Lama and his organization were dying of hunger like the tiger and cubs and people burned themselves to save them, that might be an excuse.  But Dalai Lama and his organization have plenty of food and lots of money.  No lives were saved.  It is not the same.  You can’t compare apples to oranges.

My article also points out that the self-immolations helped HH the Dalai Lama raise more money and increase his fame while it harms Tibetans that live in Tibet.  There was no travel ban in Tibet until the self-immolations started.  Now it so difficult for travel and movement in Tibet.  For safety reasons China has to restrict travel and movement because of fire hazards in public areas that could harm self and others.  This makes living more difficult for people in Tibet and as you said many Amdos and Khampas have to go back to their home.  Most of all 119 young Tibetans died and their families are grieving.  Where is your compassion for them?

Also, self-immolating harms Buddhism since now many people in the world feel that Tibetans no longer trust Buddhist non-violence. People burn themselves and think they go to heaven.  In addition to segregating and ostracizing his own people, this is the worst thing the Dalai Lama can do to the Tibetans and to the Buddhist doctrine.  It is hard to believe that this is happening in the 21st century.

Self-immolation is not helping the Tibetan cause.  Isn’t that what your state oracle Nechung is saying these days?  Yes, it is.  Further proof that I was right.  I was right a year ago, you and Nechung are both late.

You mentioned China’s destruction of monasteries, imprisonment of monks and ban on religion.  That was true during the Cultural Revolution, the time of Mao and the Gang of Four. But not only Tibetans suffered during the Cultural Revolution, all Chinese people suffered too.  Did any Tibetans self-immolate to protest against Chinese rule back then?  The answer is no, because the Dalai Lama was not able to communicate with the Tibetan people back then.  There was no Radio Free Asia, no Voice of America, and no other Tibetan language radio.  Pilgrims and smugglers were not going back and forth carrying messages.  So why are they self-immolating now? The only answer is the encouragement of the Dalai Lama.

As I said in my other article, look and compare the previous and current situation in Tibet.  The economic and social situation is actually improving, people have access to health care, education, there is plenty of food, people have economic opportunities, a lot of government funds are spent on preservation of unique Tibetan culture and people exercise religious freedom. For Tibetans in Tibet it has become easier to travel to India.  Your article agrees that more Tibetans travel to India for religious pilgrimages, but not to join exile schools. The reason for this is that schools in China are improving and there is no longer a need to go to the Tibetan Children’s Village. This further proves my article is correct.

You say in the article that border control and customs officers are searching people and confiscating illegal things at the border.  The whole world does this.  Have you never travelled the world before?  All countries protect their borders and confiscate illegal articles being brought into the country.  Some countries have it written on a card handed to you stating if you bring anything illegal into the country there are immense fines and even prison.  This is not only Chinese policy, it is worldwide.  What is your complaint?

You also point out there is police brutality in Tibet.  Unfortunately every country has this too.  How many Tibetans in India have beaten up by Indian police?  Did you ever complain or blame the Indian government for this? How about recent events in Dharamsala where a newly arrived young Tibetan man, a kitchen worker for an official of the Dalai Lama’s security department, was arrested and beaten by Indian police for talking back to his boss who was angry because tea was served late.  This young man did not speak the Hindi language and was unable to defend himself. Did you write an article about that?  What about the 19 year old Tibetan girl in Delhi who was raped by a group of college students and the police are doing nothing but writing a report while Indian media just ignores the news?

Please explain the events described below if it is not encouraging self-immolation:

In 1998, a Tibetan man named Thupten Ngodup burned himself alive in New Delhi, initiating the chain of suicides that continues to this day. The Dalai Lama visited Ngodup in the hospital, showing approval and support for his actions. If that wasn’t enough, after Ngodup’s death the Dalai Lama built a statue of him in Dharamsala. People continue to visit and honor this statue. He has been made a hero to young Tibetans. Since 2008, more than 100 Tibetans have burned themselves alive because of their belief in the Dalai Lama.

In 2010, Tibet suffered one of the worst earthquakes in history. The death toll is estimated to be in the thousands. Chu Zhi Gangdrug organized a large memorial for the dead outside the Dalai Lama’s palace in Dharamsala. Although they pleaded with the Dalai Lama to join, he refused to come. It is hard to imagine what could have been more important than the death of so many Tibetans. Yet, he had time to organize prayers for those who died by self-immolation and read aloud their names and the villages that they came from. After these prayers, more than 100 people burned themselves.

If this is not encouraging self-immolation, then what is the Dalai Lama doing? I don’t have time to write long articles because I am self-employed, I support myself and raise a family, but I will write more things when I have time on rainy days.  I will write an article in Tibetan soon.

[icy]

Is self-immolation instigated and glorified for Tibetan Causes?

GANNAN PREFECTURE, CHINA — Soon after Sangay Gyatso lit himself on fire and burned to death in one of China's ethnic Tibetan areas, police came knocking on his family's door with questions — and seemingly the answers as well.

Was the fiery suicide of the 27-year-old farmer pre-arranged? Didn't he have connections to foreign-based separatists? Didn't the family get a 3 million yuan ($500,000) reward for the self-burning protest?

A cousin of Sangay Gyatso said his family was asked these questions before the government cast the father of two as an incorrigible thief and womanizer who was goaded into setting himself on fire in an elaborate and cruel scheme to fan up ethnic hatred. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation.

"It was all nonsense," the cousin, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, said during an interview conducted in his room at a Gannan prefecture community in the rolling hills along the incline toward the Tibetan Plateau. He sat near a stove used for both cooking and heat. A portrait of the Dalai Lama hung from a molding near a window.

In a rare interview conducted in this ethnic Tibetan region, the cousin told The Associated Press the man burned himself Oct. 6, 2012, at a white stupa near his Gannan village, in a personal protest over the lack of rights for Tibetans. He said Sangay Gyatso was not connected to Tibetan groups abroad.

"There are a lot of lies around Sangay Gyatso and around the people who have self-immolated," he said.

Since early 2009, overseas Tibetan rights groups have reported that more than 120 Tibetans — monks and lay people, men and women, and young and elderly — have set themselves on fire. Most died. The groups say the self-immolations are homegrown protests over China's heavy-handed rule in the Himalayan regions.

They are an image problem for Beijing, which first tried to blank out news of self-immolations. After reports continued to leak out, Beijing struck back with accounts of immolators as outcasts who fall prey to the instigation of the Dalai Lama and supporters who allegedly want to split Tibet from China. The Communist Party-controlled media describe the immolators as gamblers, thieves, womanizers, or suffering from life setbacks or physical disabilities.

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who fled to northern India in 1959, has denied any role in the suicides, deplored the loss of lives and demanded that Beijing investigate under the watch of international monitors. He also says he wants autonomous rule, not independence, for Tibet.

Independent reporting in the region is almost impossible because of Beijing's tight controls. Though foreign journalists can travel to Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, police closely followed a group of Associated Press reporters on a recent trip, preventing them from interviewing most local Tibetans.

Sangay Gyatso's full story remains elusive because his immediate family members remain hushed. His cousin and people who live nearby advised the AP against traveling to Sangay Gyatso's village, saying government informants prevent the family from speaking out.

Gannan sits on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau but outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. It includes Tibetan Buddhism's holiest place outside Tibet, the Labrang Monastery in the town of Xiahe. Tibetans make up just over half Gannan's population of nearly 700,000, herding sheep and yaks against a mountain backdrop.

On a recent morning in Xiahe, prayer wheels spun and believers threw their bodies to the ground to offer prayers. Monks in maroon robes and herdsmen in fur coats mingled in the streets. Foreign and Chinese tourists browsed colorful scarfs in shops.

In some shops, Dalai Lama portraits were displayed in inconspicuous corners. An elderly shopkeeper said such displays were once strictly banned, but the rule was relaxed this year because it had irked ethnic Tibetans. Before he could say more, a civilian police employee following the AP crew told him to stop talking. Other residents looked nervous when approached and declined to speak.

Sangay Gyatso's cousin described him as "a very normal young Tibetan farmer with a very normal life."

Choe Gyamtso, a monk from Sangay Gyatso's village, defended him in an interview with India-based broadcaster Voice of Tibet. He said Sangay Gyatso was a decent man and that the account of him as a thief and womanizer was a lie.

He also said the Chinese government offered a 1 million yuan reward to Sangay Gyatso's family in exchange for their saying that the man self-immolated over disputes with his wife. He said the family turned down the money.

The cousin could not confirm the government offer, but said local officials had alleged that the family had accepted 3 million yuan from India for the man's self-burning act, which he denied. Officials never made such a claim publicly.

Pressure also came down on monks at the local Dokar Monastery, where Sangay Gyatson self-immolated.

Gannan police said late last year that they detained seven people, including three from the monastery, for their roles in Sangay Gyasto's death, characterized as premeditated homicide. Police said the monks knew about the suicide plan in advance, took photos of the self-immolation and sent them overseas to incite ethnic hatred. It's unclear whether anyone was tried.

For decades, Tibetans have complained of the lack of autonomous rule that was promised by the Communist Party since China's takeover of Tibet in the 1950s, and human rights activists say China has trampled on religious freedom and culture. China says Tibet has belonged to it since ancient times, and that since asserting control in the '50s it has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.

In 2008, discontent and ethnic hatred erupted into violent riots across Tibetan regions, including Gannan.

Sangay Gyatso's cousin said local Tibetans are upset over an influx of China's majority Han people, who often get government jobs while Tibetan youth remain unemployed. "We have become a pitiable people that are nobody," he said.

The cousin recalled Sangay Gyatso becoming agitated over what he considered a lack of rights for Tibetans.

"He said he was not capable of doing big things, but said as an individual he could burn himself," the cousin said.

The shocked cousin tried to talk him out of it, but Sangay Gyatso assured him at the time that he was only joking.

After Sangay Gyatso died, his cousin said, "I thought of his words. Oh, he was preparing to do it. ... My heart ached, and I cried."

[icy]

What a sacrilege, another Tibetan self-immolates for politics of the CTA when he could have worked towards his enlightenment for all sentient beings which is eternally sustainable and brings tremendous benefit to mankind. CTA should discourage self-immolators and not honour their death to be heroic if they are sincere to their people and mankind.

A 20 year old Tibetan monk has set himself ablaze earlier today in Tibet's Pema County in Golok.  A monk of Akyong monastery, Tsering lit himself up in protest against the Chinese government and his hardline policies, the same source said. Engulfed in flames, Tsering collapsed after walking a few metres. Chinese police on street patrol arrived at the scene and doused the fire. Tsering was rushed to the county hospital where he is kept under strict police surveillance.

Tsering is the 123rd Tibetan to set his body ablaze in protest against China since 2009.

[Lineageholder]

This is sad beyond words.  I pray for the good rebirth for all self-immolators.

All this suffering and still the Dalai Lama does nothing.  So much for all his empty words about compassion.

[Matibhadra]

All this suffering and still the Dalai Lama does nothing.

Actually he does a lot. He supports and glorifies self-immolation. That's why he's aptly called a criminal.

[icy]

The Dalai Lama said he cannnot stop self-immolations in Tibet and called upon the Chinese to investigate into the real cause.  Is the Dalai Lama inferring where his real power lies?

DHARAMSHALA, November 21: The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama Wednesday said that the self-immolation protests in Tibet are sad and that it was difficult for him to dissuade them. "I can't ask them to act differently because I have nothing to offer them," the Tibetan leader currently on tour to Japan said in his address to around 150 Japanese legislators in Tokyo.

The 1989 Nobel peace laureate said these (self-immolation) events are sad and that it is in protest against the great difficulties they face."These people are prepared to give up their lives, it’s not because they are drunk or beset by domestic problems.”

He called on Chinese authorities to investigate the situation thoroughly to establish why so many Tibet have chosen this path.

Since 2009, 123 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet protesting against Chinese occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies.

[dsiluvu]

By NOT SAYING ANYTHING is just the same as AGREEING and APPROVING of the self-immolations!

I wondered how did these Tibetans gave up on believing in the laws of Karma and their Buddhist faith which never at any point did Lord Buddha say it is justifiable to take ones life for the sake of protesting for a piece of impermanent land? I believe Buddha did say you can give for life for others if necessary and it is with the right motivation to save someone OR to save the Dharma. Never have I ever hear anything about secular life and politics!!!

It is pretty sick how degenerated they've become and really they do not act like Buddhist at all. And to allow this to carry on, is like encouraging more self-immolations! So much wrong views... how depressing... Tibetans are really silly and it shows they cannot think more and beyond! Do they not realise that they are literally destroying their own race and eventually their culture? DO they wish to be extinct???

Those who can think bigger are obviously smarter and they stay alive. They are doing their practices quietly and finding other means and ways to preserved their lineage, culture and heritage. I guess what good are you if you're dead? Silly silly people who die for something they cannot even take with them!

OM MANI PEDME HUM