DHARAMSHALA, May 21: A Tibetan man from Khangsar township in Tawu County, eastern Tibet, has set himself ablaze, becoming the 140th Tibetan to self immolate to protest against Chinese government authorities since 2009.
Tenzin Gyatso, 35, set himself afire on Wednesday evening (8PM local time) in protest against massive deployment of Chinese security forces in Tawu County where Tibetans have been planning to celebrate the 80th birthday of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama .
Sources said Gyatso carried out the fiery protest outside the venue of the meeting of governmental officials. Policeman arrived at the site immediately and took away the charred remains of Gyatso. Due to heavy restriction on communication it is not know if he is alive or dead.
Chinese authorities in the county are weary of protests that stem from huge gatherings of Tibetans. Officials from various government departments have carried out various campaigns to “politically reeducate” the Tibetans.
Gyatso is a father of four and married to Sonam Dolma.
The last person to self immolate in Tawu is Kalsang Yeshi.Yeshi died after setting ablaze his body Dec 22 right in front of the police post in the premises of the monastery.
The Tibetan government in exile maintains that the self immolations “represent a new threshold of Tibetan despair and resentment” and attributes the current crisis in Tibet to China’s policies of “political and religious repression, economic marginalization, social discrimination, cultural assimilation and environmental destruction in Tibet.” However, China blames the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama for instigating the self-immolation protests inside Tibet.
