Author Topic: Tibetan man sentenced to 13 years for 'inciting' self-immolation of monk  (Read 3832 times)

sonamdhargey

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China claims that Dalai Lama is behind the conspiracy of the self immolation in China to paint a bad picture about China. I wonder how true is the Chinese claim?


A Chinese court on Friday sentenced a man to 13 years for inciting an ethnic Tibetan monk to self-immolate, the latest punishment meted out in a crackdown by Chinese authorities trying to stop a string of self-immolations that has reached almost 100.

Although the monk in China’s western Qinghai Province did not actually carry out the self-immolation last November, according to the state Xinhua news wire, the court found a 27-year-old ethnic Tibetan named Phagpa guilty of “intentional homicide” for trying to get the monk to do so. Phagpa – many Tibetans have only one name – was also judged guilty of “inciting secession” for “efforts to spread ideas related to ‘Tibetan independence.’ ”

Chinese authorities have thus far been unsuccessful in efforts to halt the fiery protests, which Beijing claims are the result of a conspiracy hatched by the “Dalai Lama clique,” a reference to the Tibetan spiritual leader who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959. Ethnic Tibetans in areas where the self-immolations have occurred, however, blame an oppressive atmosphere that they said has been created by a government campaign against their language, culture and religion.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0208/Tibetan-man-sentenced-to-13-years-for-inciting-self-immolation-of-monk

Rihanna

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Two days ago, A Tibetan man who set himself on fire in Nepal’s capital in the latest in a string of self-immolations protesting China’s rule over Tibet has died at a hospital. Oh My God! Is this a trend to self immolate? It may sound noble to some but what a waste of the precious human rebirth. Don't they go to hell to terminate their life in this way? It is suicide to me, however noble it may be considered.

Read this article below:

 NEW DELHI — A Tibetan man walked onto a street on Wednesday morning in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, poured gasoline over his body and set himself on fire. Engulfed in flames, and writhing in pain, the monk became the latest Tibetan to self-immolate as part of a protest campaign against Chinese rule in Tibet.

In Nepal, a small Himalayan nation that is home to thousands of Tibetan exiles, the authorities said the monk was hospitalized in critical condition. Witnesses told The Associated Press that the man, who was dressed in the robes of a Buddhist monk, shouted slogans against China before falling to the ground, as others quickly put out the flames and called for help.

Photographs showed Nepalese security officers arriving as the protester stood in the middle of the street, his body consumed by flames and black smoke.

This latest self-immolation comes at a wrenching moment for Tibetans inside and outside China. Desperate to focus global attention on political and religious repression inside Tibet, yet barred by Chinese authorities from holding any political protests there, a growing number of young Tibetan men and women have set themselves on fire during the last three years.

The protest campaign is approaching the grim milestone of 100 self-immolations in Tibetan areas of China: exiled Tibetan political leaders in India, as well as an advocacy group, Save Tibet, have documented 99 such incidents inside China since February 2009. A handful of Tibetans outside Tibet have also self-immolated, including a man who set himself on fire in March 2012 during a pro-Tibet demonstration in New Delhi. His image, captured by a news photographer, ricocheted around the world.

The protester in Nepal has not yet been identified but he timed his self-immolation to coincide with the important Tibetan festival of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, during which the government in exile has asked Tibetans not to celebrate in solidarity with Tibetans still in Tibet.

The protester set himself on fire near a major Buddhist stupa, or religious structure, that is in the Boudhanath section of Katmandu, where many Tibetan exiles live.

A waiter at the Golden Eye Cafe told The A.P. that the Tibetan man used the bathroom in the restaurant before stepping outside onto the street. Later, the waiter found a bottle of gasoline and clothing in the bathroom.

“He looked like the hundreds of Tibetans who came to Boudhanath today, and I did not suspect he was going to set himself on fire,” said the waiter, Prasant Tamang.

The Chinese government has condemned the self-immolations as criminal acts and has been waging a police crackdown. Last week, Chinese state media reported that at least 70 people had been arrested or detained in a Tibetan region of the province of Qinghai and accused of inciting others to self-immolate. Last Friday, a Chinese court sentenced a Tibetan man to 13 years in prison on similar charges.

Lobsang Sangay, the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile, expressed sadness about the self-immolation in Nepal and said his administration had asked Tibetans not to take drastic actions, including self-immolation. But he also placed the blame for such acts on the Chinese government.

“The occupation of Tibet and repression of Tibetans are the primary reason for the self-immolations inside Tibet,” Mr. Sangay said by e-mail on Wednesday, while he was visiting the United States. “The solution to the tragedy in Tibet lies with Beijing and my administration is fully committed to dialogue and to address the issue peacefully.”

For decades, Chinese leaders have vilified the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, and the country’s state-run media have recently been blaming him for orchestrating the self-immolations. Tibetans have dismissed such claims as blatant propaganda and argued that the self-immolations are the result of repressive Chinese policies that have sharply restructured political and religious rights in Tibetan areas.

“Why do the Tibetans burn themselves?” asked Penpa Tsering, speaker of the exiled Tibetan Parliament, which is based in Dharamsala, India, in a speech earlier this month. “Political freedom in Tibet is nonexistent.”

Nepal is pinched between China and India and for decades has served as a way station for Tibetans escaping from Chinese rule. In recent years, Chinese leaders have pressured Nepal’s government to choke off this flow of refugees and to limit political protests by Tibetans living in Nepal.