Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Tsering Gyal , the young Buddhist monk who self-immolated by fire yesterday to demand freedom for Tibet, has survived his burns. Immediately after carrying out the extreme act he was taken to the hospital in the county of Pema , and his condition was described as "serious". No one has been able to visit him, however , since the structure was quickly surrounded by police . Gyal , 20, is the 123rd Tibetan to choose this form of protest against Chinese repression in the region.
The self- immolation took place yesterday afternoon in Golog, an Autonomous Prefecture in north- eastern Tibet. About 200 people gathered in the Akyong monastery soon after, where the young monk lives and studies, then went along to the hospital and asked to visit him. The authorities did not grant permission, but given the large number of people gathered they allowed two family members to accompany the monk to the provincial hospital in Siling , where he was transferred this morning because of the severity of his burns.
The
terrible phenomenon of self-immolations in Tibet exploded in February 2009,
when the economic and social crisis deepened exacerbated by Beijing's comtrol
on the Tibetan ethnicity in favour of the han ethnicity who are now the majority
in the region. Instead
of seeking a dialogue with the protesters or the Tibetan diaspora in India ,
led by the Dalai Lama, the central government has chosen to use an iron fist
and has enacted harsh laws against all forms of protest. The
government also accused the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism of
"instigating" the suicides to "force" the communist
authorities' hand. For
his part, the Nobel Laureate has asked on several occasions to his followers in
Tibet "to safeguard life above all else".