Tenzin Choeying, 20, attempted to self-immolate at the Central University for Tibetan Studies in Varanasi in a protest calling for Tibetan freedom. He did so while the Tibetan Prime Minister Sikyong Lobsang Sangay was at the university giving a speech to the faculty and students. The young man is currently in critical condition in the hospital, with burns on over 60% of his body.
The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].
By: Solaray Kusco
Tenzin Choeying in the hospital where he remains in critical condition. When will Sikyong Lobsang Sangay realize that such self-immolations are not the fault of the Chinese, but the responsibility of the Tibetan leadership to stop? How many more injuries and deaths are necessary before they wake up to this truth?
Sad news reached us today of yet another attempted self-immolation. This time, the victim was a 20-year-old man, Tenzin Choeying, who set himself on fire to draw attention to the so-called Tibetan cause. The protest was carried out in Varanasi, during a visit by the Prime Minister of the Tibetan people Sikyong Lobsang Sangay.
Most significant in the reports were remarks that the young man made before he self-immolated. Remarkably, Choeying thanked the Sikyong for the supposedly good job that he is doing. Choeying even had the presence of mind to state that Lobsang Sangay had nothing to do with the protest.
This last statement must surely be something that the Sikyong now takes comfort in, although he knows the failure for a so-called free Tibet and to initiate dialogue with China actually lies with him and his ineffective governance and leadership.
Instead of taking comfort from a 20-year-old’s words however, we request that for once, Lobsang Sangay shows concern for his people. We request that he does not think about assuaging his guilt, and instead focuses on why Tibetans to this day try and kill themselves. In light of this, we ask that the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and all readers to contemplate this: if Lobsang Sangay was doing such a good job, why would a young man find that it is necessary to attempt to kill himself?Surely people only resort to such extreme measures when they feel they have no hope and this is their last resort to make themselves heard.
While 20-year-old Tenzin Choeying lay in the hospital fighting for his life, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay gave a speech to the students and faculty of the university. What right does Lobsang Sangay have to address to anyone on the topic of Tibetan cultural preservation and the so-called Tibetan cause, when his own people are killing themselves, and him and his loved ones have never been forced to make such a sacrifice themselves? How can he ask his citizens to take such drastic acts when he spends more time on photo opportunities, than he does in engaging with China?
Choeying himself said he attempted a self-immolation “only for Tibet” and that it had nothing to do with the Sikyong. But why even attempt to absolve the Sikyong of any responsibility, and why even bring up his name in connection to the incident if Lobsang Sangay was not already in some way a trigger for it? If people are not related to something, they are not related, fullstop. There would not be any need to even mention their names because it would be clear for everyone to see that there is no connection. Yet, before Choeying attempted to take his life, it was Lobsang Sangay’s name which came to his mind, and not the names of his parents or his family. Choeying bore more concern for Lobsang Sangay over and above his parents, an indication of how much Lobsang Sangay’s influence is involved in someone’s decision to self-immolate.
The fact remains that if Lobsang Sangay was doing such a good job, if his work was producing measurable results for a so-called free Tibet, then the young man would not have had cause to try and kill himself.
Lobsang Sangay needs to reevaluate the decisions he is making. A young man who is probably no older than his own children has attempted to kill himself, because the dream that was sold to him turned out to be an unfulfilled lie. As the head of the Tibetan leadership, the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay is hence singularly responsible for his potentially fatal injuries because it is he who, as the leader, is responsible for the failure of the Tibetan dream that he built and perpetuates. It is he who authorizes all marketing, promotion and encouragement of the “Free Tibet” cause. It is he who glorifies a young man’s death, by giving silent approval for the self-immolators’ actions and building memorials to glamorize and commemorate the victims of this violent form of suicide.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan leadership’s website did not even mention news of Tenzin Choeying’s self-immolation attempt. The government was more concerned about the death of a dissident from another country, rather than the attempted death of their own citizen.
What did poor Choeying’s act result in other than grieving parents, and the potential for another mark on the memorial walls dedicated to self-immolators? How many more people will need to fall in harm’s way like this before the Tibetan leadership realizes that their methods do not work, and they cannot and should not keep it up any longer? Their stubbornness and refusal to come up with a more effective solution for initiating dialogue with China will be the death of their people. It is the Tibetan leadership’s silence over self-immolations, their ineffective leadership and their declining international reputation that is killing their people. The double whammy of this combined with the rampant nepotism, corruption, embezzlement and general self-serving behaviour is being felt across their community who are seeing no other option than to burn themselves to the death.
It is stunning that poor Choeying actually thought that the Sikyong is doing a good job with his works. In fact, the news of his act barely touched the international media, such is the lack of public interest and the media’s desensitized state towards these self-immolations. If Lobsang Sangay were indeed doing a good job, the whole world would have picked up on it hours later. And so if he is to survive (which we hope he will), what will his parents tell him, that 60% burns on his body was in vain?
In this alone we can see that Lobsang Sangay’s masquerade as a leader of his people is complete. He fools people into thinking that he’s a good leader, and yet leads them to burn themselves. In any other circumstance, such behavior would be labelled cultish. A prominent example from recent history that readers may be familiar with, that mirrors this whole affair, is the example of Jim Jones and his followers. Jim Jones’ followers adoringly thought of him as a good leader, only to be compelled to commit suicide under his instruction. The only difference between Jim Jones and Sikyong Lobsang Sangay is the number of people that the Sikyong is leading to their deaths if he does not engage with China and change the situation about Tibet any time soon.
And while it is convenient to blame China for these deaths due to the lack of a so-called free Tibet, the Tibetan leadership are equally responsible for these self-immolations through their lack of effective political action for Tibet, and through their silence and failing to tell their people to stop. So although Choeying attempted to absolve Lobsang Sangay of any responsibility, if he dies, it will be yet another death on the conscience of the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay who has to bear the karma of each killing.
It is not as though the Tibetan leadership has no capacity to be more vocal. On many other issues, they have been resolute, even draconian, when it comes to implementing measures that they perceive will benefit them and silence their opponents. For example, when it comes to demonizing Lukar Jam, the Tibetan leadership has seen success in turning Tibetan public opinion against this once-popular candidate for Sikyong, to the point of his car being violently vandalized and his family feeling physically threatened.
With Dorje Shugden practitioners, they have violently imposed the ban on his practice since 1996, leading to the expulsion of thousands of monks and the split of the monasteries, along with the targeted ostracization of Shugden practitioners. And when it comes to adherents of the rangzen (full independence) movement, the Tibetan leadership have demonstrated they are very capable of branding these people as anti-Dalai Lama traitors to the so-called Tibetan cause, only because they choose rangzen over the Dalai Lama’s umaylam (meaningful autonomy).
So people who hold views that differ from the Tibetan leadership’s often find themselves demonized, marginalized and have their freedom of speech taken away from them. The leadership is not beyond harassing a newspaper to shut down its operations! So it is not as though the Tibetan leadership is a shy, docile and retiring one. Their actions in exile over the last 60 years to silence their opponents, is proof positive that they can be very vocal if they wish. So they should step up and tell their people to stop killing themselves, and be much more vocal, resolute and firm in this. If they really care about the preservation of Tibetan culture, then they should care about the preservation of Tibetan life and stop sacrificing people on their perverse altar of self-gain. Staying silent while their people kill themselves is a convenient and easy way of keeping the Tibetan dream alive, with very little effort on the leadership’s part since there will always be someone somewhere in the world who will be shocked and outraged by the loss of Tibetan life.
Thus we close the week with yet more unfortunate news and another young life wasted. Tibetans should stop taking their own lives in vain, and realize that their actions are wasted on a leadership who will not be able to engage with China effectively. And the Tibetan leadership should already make this clear to their people to stop them from committing suicide. We hope that the Sikyong will keep this in mind as more and more Tibetans find it necessary to do what is most taboo in a supposedly Buddhist society, the taking of one’s own life, and actually do something to stop all of these needless deaths before it is too late.
Update July 22, 2017
It has just been reported that Tenzin Choeying succumbed to the burn injuries sustained as a result of his self-immolation attempt on July 14. At the time of his passing, Choeying had 90% burns throughout his body. We offer our condolences to his loved ones and hope no more lives will be lost in this manner. Yet another young Tibetan life has been wasted in such a tragedy. How many more will have to lose their lives in this way before the Tibetan leaders wake up to the fact they are ineffective at accomplishing their goals?
Tibetan Student in India Self-Immolates in Protest For Tibetan Freedom
A young Tibetan studying in India set himself ablaze on Friday at the Central University for Tibetan Studies in Varanasi in a protest calling for freedom for his homeland, Tibetan sources said.
Tenzin Choeying, aged about 20, self-immolated at around 9:00 a.m. in the entrance of a residence hall after dousing himself with kerosene, witnesses told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“He ran [a short distance] and shouted “Victory to Tibet,” said Chime Namgyal, president of the Varanasi chapter of the Tibetan Youth Congress activist group, who later visited the burned student in a nearby hospital.
Several students and Indian staff quickly ran to Choeying to put out the fire, another source said.
Choeying, who is now in critical condition with burns over 60 percent of his body, is being treated in a hospital in Varanasi, Namgyal told RFA.
“The doctor cannot guarantee his chances for survival, but he is able to speak,” Namgyal said, adding that Choeying said he had burned himself because “there are no rights for Tibetans in Tibet.”
Choeying was especially concerned that Tibetans under Chinese rule should be allowed learn their own language, Namgyal said.
Choeying launched his protest while Lobsang Sangay, president of Tibet’s India-based exile government the Central Tibetan Administration, was giving a speech to university students, but the protest was not linked to Sangay’s presence on campus, Choeying said from his hospital bed.
“The Sikyong is doing a great job, and I fully appreciate him,” Choeying said, using the Tibetan title for Sangay’s political role in exile. “I burned myself only for Tibet.”
Choeying’s parents, residents of the Kollegal Tibetan Settlement in South India, were informed of their son’s protest and condition and are expected to arrive soon to see him at the hospital in Varanasi, Namgyal said.
Whole-hearted opposition
In a statement released July 14, the London-based advocacy group Free Tibet called Choeying’s protest further evidence of the ”deep and whole-hearted opposition that Tibetans have to China’s continued occupation of their country and to the human rights abuses that prop this occupation up.”
Both inside and outside Tibet, young Tibetans “feel a sense of injustice that drives them to act and make sacrifices that many of us can barely comprehend,” Free Tibet said.
Self-immolation protests by Tibetans living outside Tibetan-populated areas of China are rare, while a total of 150 have now set themselves ablaze in Tibet and Tibetan-populated counties in western China.
Most protests feature demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.
Source: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/india-07142017123156.html
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Lhakpa Dhendup
August 11, 2018
What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.
Dalai Lama should set things right
August 12, 2018
Dear Dalai Lama,
Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.
By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.
It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.
Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.
You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.
No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.
You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.
You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.
After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.
Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.
The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.
Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.
Ayana
August 16, 2018
Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?
Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.
Ojas
August 18, 2018
Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.
Yoezer
August 19, 2018
While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.
Vardaniya
August 24, 2018
The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
Maya
August 24, 2018
Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.
The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.
Tracy
March 22, 2019
For the sake of money and power, the CTA can do anything and everything to make sure they achieve their goals. They are a murderer, they encourage their own people to self-immolate so they can earn sympathy from their sponsors and they can get more money. In addition, they can also use self-immolation to create unrest in China. The priority of the CTA is to irk China, not to free Tibet.
The CTA is like a leech, they live off India and their sponsors. They don’t use the money they get to help the Tibetans in India. Instead, they siphon the money or launch projects that create disharmony in the Tibetan community. One example of such projects is the production of books and videos that condemn Dorje Shugden.
Many Tibetans now realise that the CTA does not care about them, they only care about their own pockets. Lobsang Sangay was caught misusing the fund and power as the president of the CTA but yet he has no shame and refuses to resign. This really makes people angry.