China leaders vow to fight “Dalai clique resolutely”

] Jampa Phuntsok, chairman of the so called Tibetan Autonomous Region’s people’s congress standing committee, left, and Tibet's governor Padma Choling, right, at a National People's Congress Tibetan delegate group's discussion session in Beijing. DHARAMSHALA, March 9: China appointed leaders of Tibetan regions have renewed their pledge to fight against the “Dalai clique resolutely” and crackdown on “all secessionist forces and sabotage activities.” The leaders were speaking in Beijing on the sidelines of the ongoing National People’s Congress, which will formally enthrone China’s new set of leaders headed by Xi Jinping. "We will always place maintaining stability as our top priority and keep on crackdowns on all secessionist forces and sabotage activities," Lobsang Gyaltsen, chairman of the so called Tibet regional government, said during a panel discussion. Speaking from the same platform, Padma Choling, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region's people's congress, accused the ‘Dalai clique’ of encouraging self-immolations while failing to provide any evidence. When asked about the nature of the evidence, Choling merely told reporters: “We have evidence, but it is not convenient to tell you now.” The Chinese government is yet to release concrete details linking the incidents to the exile Tibetan community. Jampa Phuntsog, TAR vice-party secretary added that regional authorities will take “strong measures to ensure the region's social stability." The harangue of accusations comes a day after communist party leaders in eastern Tibet made similar declarations saying that their “struggle against the Dalai Lama is long-term and intense" and that they “can not relax at any moment.” Since 2009, as many as 107 Tibetans have set themselves on fire protesting China’s continued occupation and demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile. The exile Tibetan administration has denied all allegations by China and invited representatives of the Chinese government to investigate its offices in Dharamshala, India. Speaking before a parliamentary committee in Canada last month, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, while noting that the exile Tibetan administration has made repeated calls to Tibetans inside Tibet not to resort to self-immolation, said that Tibetans are bound by duty to honour the sacrifices. “As Buddhist or person of faith, we pray for all those who have died, including the self-immolators. And as a Tibetan, we support the aspiration of the Tibetan people inside Tibet including the self-immolators.” The de facto Tibetan prime minister further pointed out that through the fiery protests, Tibetans are saying “occupation is unacceptable and repression is unbearable.” “There is political repression, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, cultural assimilation, and denial of religious freedom (in Tibet) ... There is no space for any kind of protest and there is no freedom of speech for Tibetans. Hence tragically and sadly, they are resorting to self-immolation,” Sikyong Sangay said.

Breaking: Tibetan monk self-immolates in Nepal

An unidentified Tibetan monk self-immolates in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 13, 2013, the day marking 100 years of the declaration of Tibetan Independence by His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama. February 13: A Tibetan monk today set himself on fire today near the holy stupa of Boudhanath in the heart of Nepalese capital city Kathmandu. In a photo received by Phayul, the monk could be seen engulfed in towering flames. No further information is available on the identity of the monk or his condition, although our sources in the region fear for the worst. According to eyewitnesses, the monk was severely burned and was later rushed to a hospital. Further information is awaited. Across the Himalayas, as many as 99 Tibetans have set themselves on fire protesting China’s occupation and demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. The self-immolation today coincides with the 100 years of the declaration of the “Tibetan Proclamation of Independence” by His Holiness the Great 13th Dalai Lama. Exile Tibetans and supporters all over the world have planned major events to commemorate the historic event reasserting Tibet’s independence. In recent years, following growing ties between Nepal and China, Kathmandu has clamped down strictly on Tibetans refugees living in the country. This is not the first occasion when a Tibetan has set himself on fire in Kathmandu. In November 2011, a Tibetan monk Bhutuk set himself ablaze at the same spot. He survived his fiery protest and later escaped to India following a large scale manhunt by Nepali police.

Mass arrest of Tibetans in connection with self-immolations

Tibetans and foreign supporters carry photos of self-immolators during the final day of the four-day solidarity campaign in New Delhi on Febraury 2, 2013.

In a first of its kind mass arrest in connection with the ongoing wave of self-immolation protests in Tibet, Chinese authorities have arrested 70 Tibetans in eastern Tibet.

Chinese state media Xinhua on Thursday cited police in the Malho region as saying that the “criminal suspects” were captured in connection with a “string of self-immolations that have occurred since November 2012.”

As many as 99 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 protesting Chinese rule and demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.

The report cited a senior police official as saying that more efforts will be exerted to “thoroughly investigate the cases and seriously punish those who incite innocent people to commit self-immolation.”

Lyu Benqian, who heads a special police team investigating the self-immolations also blamed “the Dalai Lama clique” for “masterminding and inciting” the protests.

“Personal information, such as photos of the victims, were sent overseas to promote the self-immolations,” the report cited him as saying.

"Some of the victims were frustrated and pessimistic in life, and they wanted to earn respect by self-immolation," Lyu added.

The report also carried stories of several individual self-immolators, claiming that their personal problems were the reason for their protests.

Among those arrested, the report cited one Phagpa, a young Tibetan in Dowa, Rebkong region, who was arrested for attending the funerals of six self-immolators, offering donations to their family members and working to spread ideas related to separatism and "Tibetan independence."

Last month, Chinese courts sentenced a Tibetan Lobsang Kunchok to death with a two-year reprieve and Lobsang Tsering to 10 years on charges of “intentional homicide.” The same day, another court sentenced six Tibetans to varying jail terms of 12 to three years in jail on similar charges.

Following the sentencing, New York based global rights group, Human Rights Watch, said Chinese authorities should “immediately release” Kunchok and Tsering, while noting that their conviction “relied solely on confessions they gave during five months in detention.”

“These prosecutions are utterly without credibility,” said Sophie Richardson, China director. “The Chinese government seems to think it can stop self-immolation by punishing anyone who talks about it. But in pursuing these ‘incitement’ cases, the government compounds the tragedy of these suicide protests.”



HRW noted that it has documented “endemic use of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and coercion of Tibetans in detention.”

“Self-immolations take place in the context of the Chinese government’s long-standing repressive policies in the Tibetan areas that have seen severe restrictions on Tibetans’ rights,” HRW said.

The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration also condemned the harsh sentences, blaming the Chinese leadership as “solely responsible for the growing unrest and deteriorating situation in Tibet.”

“The series of rushed sentences clearly show that Tibetans in Tibet are denied basic human rights,” the exile Tibetan administration said. “It is also evident that these are done in utter disregard to the Tibetan aspiration and deep anguish at the continuing self-immolations in Tibet.”

Exiled Tibetans begin with 120 kilometres march to protest Chinese atrocities inside Tibet

Hundreds of exiled Tibetans began a 120-kilometer-long march from Sikkim to West Bengal, as a mark of protest against incidents of self-immolations caused by Chinese atrocities.

The march is organised by the Tibetan Youth Club of Gangtok.

The president of the Tibetan Youth Club of Gangtok, Chung Chung Bhutia, said: “We are organising this march from Gangtok to Siliguri as a mark of protest against Chinese atrocities on our compatriots in Tibet. Though, China says that they have human rights but Tibetans are not given their rights, which is invoking them to resort to self-immolation. Till now, the number of self-immolations has increased to 79.”

The rally is supposed to end in Siliguri in West Bengal on November 27.

Bhutia said that hundred thousand rupees would be spent on the march and the amount had been donated by Tibetans across Sikkim.

Recently, Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had pressed China to investigate the dozens of self-immolations by Tibetans.

The United Nations’ most senior human rights official had called on China to address frustrations that have led to Tibetans’ desperate protests, including some 60 self-immolations since March 2011.

China has refused, and continues to blocks foreign journalists from the region. It has set up road blocks to some Tibetan areas where there has been unrest.

Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.

Some 78 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since March 2011 in protest against Chinese rule over Tibetan region. At least 64 have died, according to Tibetan rights groups.

The surge in self-immolations in China in protest over its rule in Tibet has heightened tension in recent months. Indian-based rights groups said there had been a massive security clampdown in Tibet and Tibetan areas of China, and in some instances protesters were beaten even as they were ablaze.

China rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region. 

China has ruled Tibet since 1950, when Communist troops marched in and announced its “peaceful liberation”

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising, has accused China of “cultural genocide”. 

Beijing considers him a separatist and does not trust his insistence that he only wants greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Beijing denounces the self-immolations as acts by terrorists and criminals.

The Dalai Lama denies he is a separatist and says he only wants meaningful autonomy for his Himalayan region. He made no direct comment on the self-immolations or to United Nations report that urged China to address deep-rooted frustrations that have led to such desperate forms of protest by Tibetans.