Nepalese government is taking serious action.

[Big Uncle]

It appears that Nepal is taking serious action against Tibetans planning self-immolation. I think Nepal do not wish to be embroiled in this whole affair when it clearly does not concern Nepal but when it happens on Nepalese soil, it is up to the government to take swift action to stamp it out. Personally, I don't see how self-immolation is going to do anything for the Tibetan people. So many have died already and I still don't see how this is going to help the Tibetan cause. It would be better to enter retreat or work to bring aid to Tibetans who are suffering below poverty line or any other charitable causes. I thought the Tibetans were Buddhist with an appreciation for this human life.

-------------

Nepali police arrest four Tibetans, Continue to hold Druptse’s body
Phayul[Thursday, February 28, 2013 23:38] (http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=33110&article=Nepali+police+arrest+four+Tibetans%2c+Continue+to+hold+Druptse%E2%80%99s+body)

DHARAMSHALA, February 28: Four Tibetans, including two elderly women, were arrested yesterday in Kathmandu by Nepali police on unknown charges.

The arrests came exactly two weeks after a Tibetan monk, Drupchen Tsering (Druptse) set himself on fire protesting China’s occupation of Tibet in the Nepali capital on February 13. He passed away at a local hospital hours after his protest.

Nepali authorities, despite repeated appeals by local Tibetans, are still holding the body.

The four Tibetans, identified as Sonam Dhondup, 35, Jigme, 35, Tenzin Yangchen, 60, and Tsering, 65, were arrested near the hospital.

Sources tell Phayul that the four were shifted to the Hanumandhoka prison, the biggest in the city, earlier today.

“They could well be kept in custody for no plausible crime until March 10, the Tibetan National Uprising Day,” a Tibetan activist in Kathmandu who didn’t wish to be named said.

The same source added that the situation in the city is “extremely tense” and the area near the hospital where Druptse’s body is being kept has been turned into a fortress.

“Fears over the arrest of local Tibetan leaders and activists over the next few days is very real,” the source said.

Nepalese authorities have maintained that Druptse’s body can legally be handed over only to his parents, family members related in blood or official diplomatic representatives. If these options are not met within 35 days, authorities say they will have legal right over the body.

Druptse had only in January escaped from Tibet and was staying in Kathmandu.

Moments before setting himself on fire near the holy Boudhanath stupa, Druptse had expressed his love for the “beautiful land” of Tibet to a foreigner.

The foreigner, speaking to Dharamshala based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy later recalled that Druptse was “very calm.”

“We arrived at Galleria cafe in Boudanath around 8:15 am. We were to have our breakfast, when a young Tibetan guy, probably between 20-25 years old, came forward to speak to us. He then spoke about Tibet and said that it is a beautiful land and he loved it so much,” said the eyewitness.

Before Durptse left the cafe, he discreetly took out a lighter and asked the eyewitness to take his pictures.

The eyewitness, who had no idea that Druptse was going to self-immolate, said that although “everything happened so fast, but he was very calm."

"I heard a large noise, of people screaming and running away. He was running to the right, engulfed in flames. He didn't scream. The moment lasted around three minutes. Soon, people took out their jackets and sweaters to put out the fire.”

Druptse, 25, had doused his body with gasoline before setting himself ablaze. He passed away on the same day after suffering 96 percent burns.

Druptse is survived by his mother Tselha and father Sangnag Tenzin, who is a reincarnated lama. He is a native of Gyalchung village in Nupsur town of Serta, eastern Tibet.

Druptse earlier told his friends and relatives that he had not been able to do anything for the Tibetan cause in the past but promised to do something constructive for the Tibetan people in the future.

[harrynephew]

It appears that Nepal is taking serious action against Tibetans planning self-immolation. I think Nepal do not wish to be embroiled in this whole affair when it clearly does not concern Nepal but when it happens on Nepalese soil, it is up to the government to take swift action to stamp it out. Personally, I don't see how self-immolation is going to do anything for the Tibetan people. So many have died already and I still don't see how this is going to help the Tibetan cause. It would be better to enter retreat or work to bring aid to Tibetans who are suffering below poverty line or any other charitable causes. I thought the Tibetans were Buddhist with an appreciation for this human life.

That is well said and very true. By burning ourselves in search for liberation of any sort is not gonna get the group or their people anywhere near to reaching their cause. The only thing which we can bank on is to disseminate correct information to help people think and create causes for the truth to come about in due course of time.

I personally think Tibetans should emulate HHDL by practicing patience and extending love and concern to others instead of inflicting harm on themselves. By learning and practicing love and compassion, through the stages of the path we would definitely attain real liberation - ENLIGHTENMENT!

[Ensapa]

Personally, monks who engage in self immolations are setting a very bad example for people as the Buddha never told anyone to self immolate. It goes against the Buddha's teachings completely. The Nepalese are very spiritual people and they do not appreciate at all that these self immolations are happening on their land and they know the value of buddhism and spirituality and that no religion would ever encourage such a thing and they find it outrageous that a monk, an upholder of Buddhism that is supposedly a role model for society burning themselves up. This is the reason why the Nepalese are quite riled and offended with such acts. Doing something for Tibet? Why not study and be a Lama and teach? That would be a smarter way to do something for Tibet rather than burning yourself.

[Big Uncle]

That is well said and very true. By burning ourselves in search for liberation of any sort is not gonna get the group or their people anywhere near to reaching their cause. The only thing which we can bank on is to disseminate correct information to help people think and create causes for the truth to come about in due course of time.

I personally think Tibetans should emulate HHDL by practicing patience and extending love and concern to others instead of inflicting harm on themselves. By learning and practicing love and compassion, through the stages of the path we would definitely attain real liberation - ENLIGHTENMENT!

Yeah, I am sure the Nepalese are all tired of the Tibetan protests and always getting everybody to help them with their struggles. What about Nepal? What about the very kind nation that has allowed asylum to the Tibetan people who fled China. It has never crossed any Tibetan's minds to even contemplate the kindness of the Nepalese because they have completely taken that for granted. Some are so insolent as to demand Nepalese support of their cause. Why should they? Nepal is worse off than India and they have a lot to take care within their own country. Time for a reality check for the Tibetans.

[vajratruth]

It would appear that the Nepalese government is doing the right thing. At least someone other than China is doing something.Just yesterday, the Hindustan News reported that a parliamentarian with the Tibetan government in exile have uploaded a guide to self immolations which is nothing short of calling on more Tibetans to sacrifice their lives for the Tibetan cause. Here we were, waiting for the CTA to take a strong stance to curb more unnecessary suicides and instead of doing that, they now officially glorify self-immolations. What does one say to a government that urges its own people to kill themselves after robbing them of over half a century of hope? The same government that banned a 350-year old religious practice?

More than just the Nepalese government, the nations of the world should come together to condemn the CTA for such despicable and callous show. If anything should be banned at all, it should be this guide to self-immolations, not the Dharma that Dorje Shugden is synonymous with.

See: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=3216.0

[Positive Change]

I really of the opinion that self immolation is pointless and seriously brings about negative connotations of Buddhist and Buddhism in general as it is and always has been a path of peace!

Dedicating oneself to bring about awareness to the world of an injustice or evoke sympathy/remorse within the minds of your enemies is admirable... however, in the case of self immolation, I strongly feel it is a dramatic display of selfish frustration which results in a total disregard for human .

After all that has been said and done... whatever we do has a gauge of how effective it is... self immolation is a clear example of ineffectiveness... why? Well, has it garnered the awareness which translates into action through support? Has it created a change in the mind set of China, the so called "enemies"?

The answer to both is NO... What does this tell you? It is NOT working. Stop immolations NOW!

[kris]

People who self immolate are courageous, in the sense that how many of us can endure the pain of being burned?

However, I personally don't like to see another life being burned away, knowing well that our human life is very precious. There are other ways to make a point without sacrificing a life.

May the people who has died have a swift and good rebirth, and may they be reborn as human again to continue serving others.

[Ensapa]

It would appear that the Nepalese government is doing the right thing. At least someone other than China is doing something.Just yesterday, the Hindustan News reported that a parliamentarian with the Tibetan government in exile have uploaded a guide to self immolations which is nothing short of calling on more Tibetans to sacrifice their lives for the Tibetan cause. Here we were, waiting for the CTA to take a strong stance to curb more unnecessary suicides and instead of doing that, they now officially glorify self-immolations. What does one say to a government that urges its own people to kill themselves after robbing them of over half a century of hope? The same government that banned a 350-year old religious practice?

More than just the Nepalese government, the nations of the world should come together to condemn the CTA for such despicable and callous show. If anything should be banned at all, it should be this guide to self-immolations, not the Dharma that Dorje Shugden is synonymous with.

See: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=3216.0

Wow. this is exactly like what the Chinese accused the CTA of: inciting self immolations. It is not a surprise to me at all that the CTA was behind it, and yet the sikyong denies it repeatedly and even challenged China to come to CTA and look for the files hahahahaha. What a hypocrite. He has also said that all Tibetans must support the self immolations and self immolators and it is their duty. Oh my god. So what he is saying is that it is okay for Tibetans to die for the sake of Tibetan independence  and that the rest of the Tibetans must support this cause because it is a 'sacred' thing. Most of the self immolators are restless youth and there's only one or two ones that are actually over the age of 35. If the sikyong thinks self immolation is sacred, he should be an example and immolate himself in front of the Chinese embassy in India instead of telling people to support the self immolations. Sacrificing restless Tibetans just to get some attention in the media is despicable indeed.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

So sad to read of another self immolation. I am on the same opinion with you, big uncle, that setting oneself on fire is not helping with the cause to free Tibet. Besides creating a negative publicity, it does not bring them any closer to having an independent country. The Nepalese government is making sure the safety of its nation and also all visitors to the holy sites in Nepal are not threatened by more incidences of self immolations. I pray the leaders of the Tibetans would speak out to all Tibetans everywhere to stop all future plans of setting themselves on fire.

[Ensapa]

So sad to read of another self immolation. I am on the same opinion with you, big uncle, that setting oneself on fire is not helping with the cause to free Tibet. Besides creating a negative publicity, it does not bring them any closer to having an independent country. The Nepalese government is making sure the safety of its nation and also all visitors to the holy sites in Nepal are not threatened by more incidences of self immolations. I pray the leaders of the Tibetans would speak out to all Tibetans everywhere to stop all future plans of setting themselves on fire.

That would never happen. The CTA will never say things against the self immolation because they know it brings media attention to Tibet and they are just going to bait more and more young and restless people into self immolating. Most people who self immolated follow a guide: they drink battery water to make sure they die before they light themselves on fire, and they make sure that they are self immolating with people with recording devices so that the news will be carried out of Tibet to Dharamsala and the rest of the world. In other words, the self immolations were orchestrated by the CTA which shows how cruel they are and how little regards they have for the human life.

[vajrastorm]

The Nepalese government is correct to take serious action against perpetrators of self-immolation and those guilty of aiding and abetting it. If left alone or silently condoned, it will make holy cites unsafe for pilgrims and other visitors, as self-immolation is carried out in these places.

Self-immolation appears to be an act committed by people whose emotions have been played on and fanned to a high degree bordering on loss of all sense of sanity. What has self-immolations for the cause of Tibet's freedom done for it so far? Nothing.

On the other hand, we see great Lamas, whose selflessness and compassion for Tibet and  their fellow Tibetans, have caused them to not flee Tibet in the wake of the Chinese invasion.  Instead, they have stayed behind and studied and practiced and spread the Dharma. They have won the trust of the Chinese people and government. Now, they continue to spread the Dharma  to thousands in Tibet. Lama Jampa Ngodrup Wangchuk is one such Lama. He has been known to give teachings on the Lamrim to thousands from the Tibetan plateau. He has even been sent abroad by the Chinese Government to spread the Dharma.

So Dharma continues to spread in China because of these brave masters.Many of them are devoted Shugden practitioners.

 

[Big Uncle]

That would never happen. The CTA will never say things against the self immolation because they know it brings media attention to Tibet and they are just going to bait more and more young and restless people into self immolating. Most people who self immolated follow a guide: they drink battery water to make sure they die before they light themselves on fire, and they make sure that they are self immolating with people with recording devices so that the news will be carried out of Tibet to Dharamsala and the rest of the world. In other words, the self immolations were orchestrated by the CTA which shows how cruel they are and how little regards they have for the human life.

With all due respect, you are right and the CTA would never do something as a result of thinking it thoroughly. Bringing publicity through self-immolation has not helped the Tibetan cause at all and bringing the plight of the Tibetans to the forefront in this way is pitiful but it is really not enough to move any government to change things when they get nothing out of helping the Tibetans. So many Tibetans have died and there's little next to nothing had been done.  In fact, people are just horrified at the wasteful killing. Nobody dares to make a move against the massive Chinese government. Nobody.

Well, Ensapa is so right and I am sure some members of the Tibetan administration will never ever learn their lesson here. Perhaps, they are still hoping that such publicity generated would make a difference and I think back in the 90s, it would have but right now, such publicity has zero impact on China because nobody is powerful enough that China would listen to. Now, that's where the challenge is of being so massively powerful that China would actually listen and obey that authority. The closest authority would be America but because of years of trade deficit, America's authority is rendered impotent.

Perhaps, the Tibetans have to rethink its strategy of how to handle China. What works best with China is usually not heading heads on with China but to find new common grounds to work with. For example, CTA could work on reducing self-immolation with the Chinese government while requesting for self-autonomy or something like that. This is just an idea that could be worked on if I were a member of the CTA. There may be other ideas and common grounds that could work with China.

[AnneQ]

It would appear that the Nepalese government is doing the right thing. At least someone other than China is doing something.Just yesterday, the Hindustan News reported that a parliamentarian with the Tibetan government in exile have uploaded a guide to self immolations which is nothing short of calling on more Tibetans to sacrifice their lives for the Tibetan cause. Here we were, waiting for the CTA to take a strong stance to curb more unnecessary suicides and instead of doing that, they now officially glorify self-immolations. What does one say to a government that urges its own people to kill themselves after robbing them of over half a century of hope? The same government that banned a 350-year old religious practice?

More than just the Nepalese government, the nations of the world should come together to condemn the CTA for such despicable and callous show. If anything should be banned at all, it should be this guide to self-immolations, not the Dharma that Dorje Shugden is synonymous with.

See: http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=3216.0

In my opinion the CTA sounds like Al Qaedah declaring 'jihad' on China by brainwashing impressionable youths to take up the cause to free Tibet from 'infidels', calling it a sacred act and promising them they will die like martyrs fighting a cause that will guarantee them 'Nirvana' So what is the difference between what CTA is encouraging and Al Qaedah's act of terrorism of guiding youths, both male and female, to blow themselves up for a greater 'good'? Sounds to me like CTA is practicing terrorism on another insidious scale, their own brand of Jihad, which at the end of the day, will come to no good for mankind.

[Benny]

"What about Nepal? What about the very kind nation that has allowed asylum to the Tibetan people who fled China. It has never crossed any Tibetan's minds to even contemplate the kindness of the Nepalese because they have completely taken that for granted. Some are so insolent as to demand Nepalese support of their cause. Why should they? Nepal is worse off than India and they have a lot to take care within their own country. Time for a reality check for the Tibetans." : Quote by Big Uncle.

We really have to feel for the Nepalese people , that their kindness is repaid in such a distasteful manner by the selfish Tibetans. What a shameful act of disrespect that is done onto a host country that gave them refuge from harm. If it was some other country , they would not have been given refugee status and would have been detained in refugee camps.

It is even more appalling to know that it is their very own leaders who are "encouraging" them to self immolate. What is worse is that even the sangha is not free from their propaganda.

[Ensapa]

That would never happen. The CTA will never say things against the self immolation because they know it brings media attention to Tibet and they are just going to bait more and more young and restless people into self immolating. Most people who self immolated follow a guide: they drink battery water to make sure they die before they light themselves on fire, and they make sure that they are self immolating with people with recording devices so that the news will be carried out of Tibet to Dharamsala and the rest of the world. In other words, the self immolations were orchestrated by the CTA which shows how cruel they are and how little regards they have for the human life.

With all due respect, you are right and the CTA would never do something as a result of thinking it thoroughly. Bringing publicity through self-immolation has not helped the Tibetan cause at all and bringing the plight of the Tibetans to the forefront in this way is pitiful but it is really not enough to move any government to change things when they get nothing out of helping the Tibetans. So many Tibetans have died and there's little next to nothing had been done.  In fact, people are just horrified at the wasteful killing. Nobody dares to make a move against the massive Chinese government. Nobody.

Well, Ensapa is so right and I am sure some members of the Tibetan administration will never ever learn their lesson here. Perhaps, they are still hoping that such publicity generated would make a difference and I think back in the 90s, it would have but right now, such publicity has zero impact on China because nobody is powerful enough that China would listen to. Now, that's where the challenge is of being so massively powerful that China would actually listen and obey that authority. The closest authority would be America but because of years of trade deficit, America's authority is rendered impotent.

Perhaps, the Tibetans have to rethink its strategy of how to handle China. What works best with China is usually not heading heads on with China but to find new common grounds to work with. For example, CTA could work on reducing self-immolation with the Chinese government while requesting for self-autonomy or something like that. This is just an idea that could be worked on if I were a member of the CTA. There may be other ideas and common grounds that could work with China.

What really made me disgusted was how the CTA could not care less about the lives of the people that they baited into self immolating. Yes, there is just too many clues that lead to anyone at all to believe that the CTA are the ones who is behind the self immolations, no matter how they would like to deny it. China knows and they are angry at CTA because China, although stern in punishment, still loves her people and they have officials that actually care about people and they do not like to see people's lives wasted like this. I dont think that the CTA will change in their approach, mainly due to the fact that they are just seeking a quick fix rather than really think something productive, useful and through for their own long term benefits and welfare.