DHARAMSHALA, March 6: Tibetans and supporters in the Tibetan exile headquarters of Dharamshala carried out a candle light vigil yesterday evening in solidarity with the Tibetans who self-immolated over the past days in Tibet.
In the last three days, three Tibetans – Tsering Kyi, 19; Rinchen, 33; Dorjee, 18, died after setting themselves on fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and freedom in Tibet.
Tsering Kyi a student at a local middle school in Machu, eastern Tibet set herself on fire at a vegetable market and died at the scene on March 3. The next day Rinchen, a widowed mother of four children, the youngest barely a few months old, set herself on fire in front of a special security office outside the main entrance of the besieged Kirti monastery in Ngaba, eastern Tibet. Yesterday, on March 5, Dorjee succumbed to his self-immolation protest outside a Chinese government office in Cha in Ngaba district.
Tibetan Women’s Association, while mourning the self-immolations, paid special tribute to the Tibetan women who have sacrificed their lives protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet in the ongoing wave of self-immolations inside Tibet.
Five Tibetan women, three nuns and two laywomen, have died in recent months in fiery protests.
“TWA believes that the steadfast, undeterred presence of Tibetan women and their resilience in the face of oppression encourages this self-sustaining struggle to rise against injustices and a repressive regime,” the group said in a release.
On October 17, 2011 nun Tenzin Wangmo, 20, from Dechen Chokorling nunnery near Ngaba town set herself ablaze outside her nunnery and died calling for religious freedom and the return on the Dalai Lama.
On November 3, 2011, nun Palden Choetso, 35, from Gaden Choeling nunnery in Tawu, Kardze, succumbed to her burn injuries, raising slogans for the long life of the Dalai Lama and the reunion of Tibetans.
On February 11 this year, nun Tenzin Choedron, 18, from Dechen Chokorling nunnery in Ngaba, passed away after her self-immolation protest near the nunnery, shouting slogans of protest against the Chinese government.
TWA said that it remains “grossly worried” over the lockdown in Tibet and the heavy Chinese military presence.
“We fear for those living under the constant threat of arbitrary detentions, disappearances, and the ruthless military control of Tibetan areas,” the release said.
While urging the Chinese government to address the genuine aspirations and demands of the Tibetan self-immolaters, TWA called for a global intervention in Tibet to save Tibetan lives.
“We ask world governments to apply multilateral pressure and take action against China to end the crackdown and allow free press inside Tibet,” TWA said.
“We call on the honorable Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit the troubled areas in Tibet and assess the situation with a fact-finding mission.”
Since 2009, 26 Tibetans have set their bodies on fire under Beijing’s iron fisted rule in Tibet.
Senior Chinese leaders have called for further restrictions, surveillance, and repression in Tibet even as many parts of Tibet remain under an undeclared martial law.
