DHARAMSHALA, March 26: Tibetans in exile including Tibetan government officials gathered here for a mass prayer service held for the two monks who self immolated on the same day on March 16, 2014. Jigme Tenzin of Sonag monastery in Tsekhog County, died hours after his self immolation protest outside his monastery on March 16, and Lobsang Palden of Kirti monastery in Ngaba County, died on Friday, March 21.
Hundreds of Tibetans and supporters, including the Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, Tibetan Justice Commissioners, Tibetan ministers, Parliamentarians and school students attended the prayer service held at the Tsuglakhang, the main temple in McLeod Ganj.
The prayer service was presided over by Thomtok Rinpoche, the abbot of Namgyal monastery.
Addressing at the prayer service, Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay raised concern for the escalating rate of self-immolation protest and said, “Kashag (Tibetan cabinet) has repeatedly said that it is not just a number and we should not turn it into number. They are Tibetans just like us and have sacrificed their precious life for the cause of Tibet.”
He also offered prayers for Goshul Lobsang, a Tibetan political prisoner on parole who succumbed to torture injuries last week.
Since 2009, 129 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet to protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies.
