Nepali police arrest 11 for ‘anti-China activities’

DHARAMSHALA, March 11: Police in Nepal arrested 11 people on suspicion of “anti-China activities” on March 10, the day marked world over as the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day. “Some of the people we arrested were Tibetan but we have not interrogated all of them yet,” police spokesman Uttam Subedi was quoted as saying by reporters. Nepal, which is home to some 20,000 Tibetans, has accommodated Tibetan exiles for decades, but has come under increasing pressure from China to crack down on political protests in recent years. Home ministry spokesman Shanker Koirala told local journalists last week that the government was making “necessary security arrangements in areas deemed sensitive, to foil any untoward incidents.” There have also been reports of a letter being issued to Tibetans activists in the valley by the chief of Kathmandu’s district administration asking them not to publicly observe the March 10 anniversary. However, talking to reporters, the district administration chief neither confirmed nor denied the letter, but said he gave the Tibetans a verbal warning last week against organising a protest “because activities against China violate Nepal’s law.” Nepali officials are yet to return the body of Tibetan self-immolator Drupchen Tsering who set himself of fire protesting China’s occupation of Tibet on February 13 near the Boudha stupa. A senior police official, who refused to give his name, had earlier confirmed to the Nepali newspaper The Himalayan that the body of Druptse was still at the hospital and authorities were waiting for the kin of the monk to receive the body. “Some four Tibetan organisations operating from the Kathmandu Valley came to us to claim the body. But, we did not hand over the body to them after their authenticity and kinship with the monk were not established,” the paper quoted his as saying. Speaking at the March 10 rally in New Delhi, senior Indian political leader and President of the Janata Dal United, Sharad Yadav said that he has written a letter to Nepali PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai, urging him to hand over Druptse body to Tibetan representatives. Since 2009, as many as 107 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.

Tibetan attempts self-immolation in Dharamshala, Thousands march for Tibet

Thousands of Tibetans and supporters rally in Dharamshala to mark the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day on March 10, 2013.

DHARAMSHALA, March 10: A Tibetan man attempted to set himself on fire today in the exile headquarters of Dharamshala during a mass protest rally marking the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day.

Dawa, in his 30s, reportedly consumed and poured kerosene over himself.

Speaking to Phayul, Sangchu Dugbey, an eye witness said: “When I saw him, he was carrying a bottle of kerosene and some girls were requesting, ‘Please, don’t do it.”

“We snatched the bottle of kerosene from his hand after which he pleaded with us to let him self-immolate,” Dugbey said. “He further said that he had decided to set himself on fire after thinking it over many times.”

Dawa was later taken to a local hospital.

Over a thousand Tibetans and supporters marched downhill from Tsug-la Khang to Lower Dharamshala carrying Tibetan flags and photos of Tibetan self-immolators.

Since 2009, as many as 107 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.

The protestors, wearing black-cloth around their foreheads, raised slogans for freedom in Tibet and international intervention in the ongoing crisis in Tibet.

Speaking at the rally, Ravi Thakur, Member of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Lahaul Spiti called on Tibetans to stay united and continue their non-violent struggle under the Dalai Lama, “the only gem in the word.”

Tibetans and supporters in Taipei, Taiwan take part in the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day demonstration carrying photos of Tibetan self-immolators on March 10, 2013.

“Over the past centuries, many outsiders have come and settled in India who have now lost their identity but you people have kept your identity alive and you should never lose your identity. I hope and pray that you will cherish your Tibetanness for many generations to come,” Thakur said.

“I have always stood up for the Tibetan people and will always stand up for you in the future as well.”

Tenzin Jigdel of Students For a Free Tibet said the dynamic of the Tibetan movement has changed and Tibetan resistance has never been stronger.

“There is a new revolution we are seeing inside Tibet … Tibetans inside Tibet are re-asserting their identity and their aspiration has never been stronger,” Jigdal said.

The protest march was jointly organised by the five major Tibetan NGO’s, Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet, National Democratic Party of Tibet, and Students For a Free Tibet.

Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, in his March 10 statement blamed China’s occupation and repression in Tibet for driving Tibetans to self-immolation.

“The prohibitions of peaceful protest and harsh punishments compel Tibetans to resort to self-immolation. They choose death rather than silence and submission to the Chinese authorities,” Sikyong Sangay said.

Chinese authorities issue ultimatum, offer cash prize for “crimes” linked to Tibet self-immolations

Notice by Chinese authorities in Malho, eastern Tibet announcing cash rewards for information on self-immolations. Chinese authorities in Malho region of eastern Tibet have announced cash rewards for those “exposing crimes” related to the ongoing wave of self-immolations and issued an ultimatum warning those who have “committed fault” to turn themselves in. The notices were jointly issued by the Malho People’s Intermediate Court and the Public Security Bureau in the Tibetan areas of Rebkong, Tsekhog, and Chentsa which fall under its jurisdiction. The Malho region of eastern Tibet carried a major part of the casualties in the recent alarming escalation in self-immolation protests and mass demonstrations by thousands of Tibetans, including school students against the Chinese government. Since October, 44 Tibetans have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with the latest being a teenaged schoolgirl Bhenchen Kyi from Tsekhog. In copies of the notices sent to Phayul by a Swiss based Tibetan, Sonam, Chinese authorities have given an ultimatum to Tibetans who have “committed fault,” to turn themselves in before November 30 in lure of “lesser” punishment. The notices, issued in Tibetan and Chinese languages, encourage people to “accept their crimes” of inciting self-immolations, displaying portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during mass funerals of the self-immolators, raising “separatist” slogans, offering condolences to the family members of self-immolators, “unlawfully” taking pictures and videos of self-immolations and sending them out and spreading rumours and indulging in provocative talks. The authorities have warned that those who are caught under these crimes after the given deadline will be dealt severely according to the law. In recent weeks, authorities have engineered a heavy security clampdown in the region, arresting several Tibetans from Rebkong and Tsekhog in connection with the self-immolation protests. Along with the ultimatum, Chinese authorities have employed its age-old policy of sowing distrust in the society by announcing heavy monetary rewards for information on self-immolators and those who “incite” such protests. Cash prizes ranging from 1,000 Chinese Yaun (US $ 160) of 200,000 Chinese Yuan (US $ 32,000) have been announced for information exposing self-immolators, those inciting self-immolations, and those who have visited families of self-immolators to offer condolences. Rewards have also been announced for those who avert self-immolations from occurring at the site of the protest. The authorities further promised to protect the identity of the informants and called the self-immolation protests a “bad influence” on social harmony and stability, not just of the region but also of the entire nation. Similar tactics of announcing cash rewards and offering bribes to families of self-immolators to state that the protests were not against the Chinese government, have been employed earlier in other parts of Tibet as well. A phone call to the Tsekhog Public Security Bureau Office by Phayul yielded little result as the official who answered the call in the supposedly Tibetan office refused to speak in Tibetan and spoke only Mandarin.

More concerned about China than Pak: Indian FM

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. India’s External Affairs Minister today said China was a "major concern," greater than Pakistan, and warned that India runs the risk of being completely overwhelmed by China if it fails to bring its economy on the right track. Salman Khurshid was responding to queries on what was a bigger challenge for India - territorial dispute with China or trust deficit with Pakistan. "China is necessarily more important in terms of our global vision. In terms of economics...in terms of stability and impact of stability that our friendship and understanding can have on Asia and South Asia. As far as Pakistan is concerned, it is more specific," Kurshid told PTI. The minister, who was returning from Myanmar after a three-day visit, called China a “constant reminder” to India that it needs to put its economy on the right track. “We can pretend that China is not there. But China is there and unless we put our economy on the right track, it is going to overwhelm us completely,” he said. "So China is a major concern and Pakistan, in a significant way (is a concern) but not a major concern.” Kurshid further mentioned that "linkages” between China and Pakistan were also important for India. "China is part of a larger picture and Pakistan being part of that picture...significant part of the picture and can ruin that picture if Pakistan does not have right colour.” Earlier this month, a Chinese government-linked company pleaded guilty to illegally exporting high-performance coatings from the US to a nuclear power plant in Pakistan. According to the US Department of Justice, China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction was fined $3m and became the first Chinese company to admit guilt in a US criminal export case. Nanjing-based Huaxing admitted to charges that it conspired to ship the epoxy coating through China to Pakistan's Chashma II Nuclear Power Plant in 2006 and 2007. The Chinese government-linked company was building the site as part of a nuclear cooperation pact signed between Pakistan and China. The US has restricted nuclear-related exports to Pakistan since the country's detonation of a nuclear device in 1998.

Exiled Tibetans express helplessness over rising self-immolations

Exiled Tibetans have expressed their helplessness over the alarming rise in cases of self-immolations and anticipate no positive impact of the new China leadership, as previous governments have fallen back on their promises and adopted repressive policies in Tibet. 

Recent reports from Tibet say that a Tibetan man died after setting himself on fire in Luchu in north-eastern Tibet on Thursday night, taking the total self-immolation count to 80, including 18 in this month. 

On November 15, China’s ruling Communist Party unveiled an older, conservative new leadership line-up that appears unlikely to take the drastic action needed to tackle pressing issues like social unrest, environmental degradation and corruption.

New party chief Xi Jinping, premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang and vice-premier in charge of economic affairs Wang Qishan, all expectedly named to the elite decision-making Politburo Standing Committee, are considered cautious reformers. The other four members have the reputation of being conservative.

Except for Xi and his deputy Li Keqiang, all the others in the standing committee – the innermost circle of power in China’s authoritarian government – are 64 or over and will have to retire within five years.

The Tibetan government in-exile in Dharamshala has already appealed to international organizations to urge China to change give up their repressive policies.

Director of Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Tsering Tsomo, said: “It shows that they are desperate for particularly the people of Tibet. So, because of the repressive policies, because of the strict control over the day-to-day life of particularly the monasteries. They cannot practice their daily rituals, routine, as they like. Each and everything is being strictly controlled by the Chinese people.”

The new leadership will have to quickly get down to business to address several pressing issues – and the Tibetan unrest might not be the top of the agenda – but Tibetan exiles warned that if the situation is left to simmer then it could become a major headache for the new leaders.

The United Nations’ most senior human rights official had called on China to address frustrations that have led to Tibetans’ desperate protests, including more than 70 self-immolations since March 2011.

China has refused, and continues to blocks foreign journalists from the region. It has set up roadblocks 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.

Meanwhile, Tibetan activist and renowned poet, Tenzin Tsundue, while speaking to reporters in Coimbatore, said: “It actually shows how China is insecure in Tibet and how they are losing control, while Tibetans have been suffering under the Chinese occupation, but we are becoming much more united and overall, there is unity and a very powerful non-violent resistance movement is going on under the leadership of His Holiness Dalai Lama.”

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”

Tsundue said that the cases of self-immolation pointed towards a serious crisis in Tibet and that the Chinese government was losing its authority and control in Tibet. 

“It is not three, not even ten, here we are talking about 78 cases of self-immolation and a series of such phenomena nowhere in the world had ever happened, in the entire history of the world. 78 cases of self immolation says that issue of Tibet will not only live on, but there is a serious crisis happening in Tibet and this also shows the Chinese government is losing its authority, its control in Tibet and they are now desperate to do anything possible,” he said. 

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.

Man Dies in Latest Self-immolation Protest, Toll Rises to 81

Dharamshala: - A latest source coming out of Tibet has stated that one more Tibetan has died after setting himself on fire in Tsekhog township, Rebkong county (Chese: Zeku, Qinghai Province) in Malho of Amdho region in north-eastern Tibet.

"Tadrin Dorjee, 29, set fire to himself at the entrance of Dokarmo town office in Tsekhog around 6:30 pm (local time) on Friday, 23 November. He then chanted prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with folded hands. 

Dorjee reportedly died on the spot. He is survived by his parents, and four sisters and brothers.
According to sources from inside the region, "thousands of local Tibetans offered prayers and attended his funeral that night."

The Chinese authorities have cut off all communication, including Internet and phone lines following the incident in the region, the sources stated.

The sources also stated that armed Chinese forces and police in paramilitary vehicles stepped up patrols in the area and surrounding areas, after two separate self-immolation protests Friday alone by two Tibetans in protest against Chinese rule over Tibet.

The latest incident has pushed the total self-immolations by Tibetans inside Tibet to 81, including 5 in last 6 days and 19 within this month alone, according to the exile Tibetan administration.

The self-immolators have called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, earlier this month strongly urged the Chinese government to "promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas, and said she was disturbed by "continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights."

The Central Tibetan Administration on Friday strongly stressed its deep concern over the tragic escalation in self-immolations by Tibetans inside Tibet, as news of the Tibetan self-immolations have been spreading rapidly in the world in recent months.

Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of Tibetans (Tibetan: Sikyong), the democratically-elected leader of the Tibetan people and political successor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, appealed to Tibetans and supporters around to world to form a coalition with as many human rights groups to organise and participate in the Global Solidarity Day on 10 December.

"We also request them to dispatch delegations to visit different media organisations in order to create awareness about the ongoing tragedy in Tibet. Equally important is to reach out to as many members of Parliament, Congress and government officials, Dr Sangay said.

“Despite our repeated appeals not to take drastic actions, self-immolations continue in Tibet. Therefore, I appeal to the international community and governments to stand for justice by answering the universal aspirations of Tibetans in Tibet: the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans,” he further said.

Tibet’s Wave Of Fire: Amdo Mining Camp Witnesses Latest Self Immolation

Tsering Dhondup Self Immolates
near a local mine: Amchok,
(Sangchu County, Lhadrong: Amdo)
on November 20th 2012

Dharamsala: Setting himself ablaze near a local mining settlement, Tsering Dhondup is the latest to take to the fiery form of protest sweeping across Eastern Tibet. Reports have emerged that on Tuesday 20th November 2012, at around 8.30 am (local time) the 34 year old Tibetan layman from Chingan village of Amchok, (Sangchu County, Lhadrong: Amdo) self-immolated near a local government mine. Photos emerging of the protest suggest that Dhondup died at the scene.

Highlighting the extreme pressures Tibetans are facing under Chinese rule, Tsering Dhondup tragically leaves behind a wife: Tandin Tso, and two children. The level of sacrifice individuals are making to highlight the Tibet issue appears to be growing, as well as a pattern of increasing numbers of young men, women and parents using self-immolation as a form of protest.

Reports have not yet emerged of weather Dhondp left a political message or speech before self-immolating, however the region has witnessed similar protests, including Lhamo Tsten on the 26th October of this year, in the same region. The community has since witnessed a steep increase in Chinese military forces, as well as a more visible police presence. Very tight restrictions are also in place to prevent information leaving the region.

 

 

It is reported that Tsering Dhondup was known locally as a kind man, and often spoke emotionally of the Tibet issue. Currently, the monks of Amchok monastery are conducting

Tibetan self-immolator Tsering Dhondup
in an undated photo.

prayers for the layman. It is also reported that many Tibetans are arriving at the monastery to pay their respects.

November has witnessed an alarming surge in self-immolation protests: Tsering Dhondup is the 16th this month alone. With the political handover of power concluded in Beijing, it appears that Tibetans will continue to use self-immolation as a method of non-violent (against others) action to highlight the crisis in the Land of Snows.

Breaking: Tibet continues to burn, 15th self-immolation in November

Wangchen Norbu's charred body,
draped in khatak (Tibetan scarves).

DHARAMSHALA, November 20: In continuing escalation in self-immolation protests in Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire in the Kangtsa region of eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.

Wangchen Norbu, 25, set himself ablaze at around 8pm (local time) Monday near the Kangtsa Gaden Choephel Ling Monastery. He passed away at the site of his protest.

According to sources in exile, Wangchen Norbu raised slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile, release of the Panchen Lama and freedom for Tibet.

His charred body was later carried inside the Monastery premises where a large number of monks and local people gathered to offer their prayers and last respects.

The large crowd raised slogan calling for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and recited prayers for his long life late into the night. Wangchen Norbu was laid to rest at around 10:30 pm (local time).

The situation in a region is being described as “tense” with a large number of Chinese armed forces deployed in the region.

Wangchen Norbu in an undated photo.

Wangchen Norbu is the son of late Tenzin and Khando Tso.

On November 8, a mass prayer service in honour of Tibetan self-immolators was offered at the Kangtsa Gaden Choephel Ling Monastery. Monks and local Tibetans offered thousands of butter lamps and also said prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 

 

 

With Wangchen Norbu's fiery protest, this month alone has witnessed 15 self-immolations.

A total of 77 Tibetans inside Tibet have set themselves on fire since 2009 calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.