Beatings and arrests while two Tibetans set themselves on fire
Dharamsala
(AsiaNews) - Chinese police have indiscriminately beaten and arrested protesters
after two young Tibetans themselves on fire in the main street of Ngaba
(Sichuan).
At
about 18:50 yesterday, the layman Tashi (about 21) and monk Lungtok (about 20)
of the Kirti monastery have self-immolated in protest against Chinese
oppression in Tibet.
According
eye witness accounts related to exiles, "Tashi and Lungtok set themselves
on fire, shouting slogans and running towards the center of the road" which
the Tibetans now call "the path of martyrs," because of the large
number of self-immolations that have occurred there.
A
group of policemen ran towards them, throwing themselves upon the two young men
and beating them to extinguish the flames. They
were first brought to the Ngaba hospital and then Barkham (Chinese: Maerkang).
Immediately
after the self-sacrifice, a group of Tibetans held a protest and the Chinese
security forces began beating them with clubs and iron-picks. Many
were wounded and a number of them were arrested. One of the
protesters' neck and face were covered in blood. No one knows what became of her.
According
to different sources, monk Lungtok died from burns. It is not known if the
body will be given to family members. Tashi's conditions are not known.
Lungtok
was a student of medicine and astrology at the Menpa Dratsang (Department of
Medicine) of the Kirti monastery. Tashi
was a classmate of Lungtok, but in 2011 he left the monastery.
Since
2009 about 50 Tibetans have decided to self-immolate for the liberation of
Tibet and the Dalai Lama's return to his country. At
least 17 of them were monks or laymen at the Kirti monastery.
Kirti
is a rather young place of worship, led by an abbot that the Tibetans call
"not very well-educated" in doctrine. Suicide
is not condoned in the spirituality of Buddhism in Tibet, but the young Kirti monks
see this as the only way to counter Chinese repression that is stifling their
religion and culture.
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