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Ngaba, yet another suicide as Buddhist nun sets herself on fire for freedom
Wagmo Tenzin, 20, set herself on fire to demand freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama. Since last March it is the ninth person to commit suicide.
Lhasa (AsiaNews) - Despite the strict control and repression of the Chinese, the Tibetan city of Ngaba confirms kits fame as the epicenter of the anti-Chinese Tibetan uprising: a Buddhist nun, 20 year old Tenzin Wagmo, set herself on fire to demand freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama. The confirmation of her sacrifice comes from the exiled members of the Kirti (male) monastery (pictured) from which other religious martyrs also came.
Tenzin is the ninth person to kill themselves since last March, but she is the first woman to make this gesture. In October alone there were five episodes of this type, all males monks from the Kirti monastery, which also has an exiled seat in Dharamsala, also home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile.
Sources of the government in exile in India report that the nun set herself on fire near her monastery, Mamae Dechen Choekhorling Nunnery, about three kilometers from the town of Ngaba, southwestern province of Sichuan. The statement said the woman, wrapped in flames, walked down the street for about eight minutes, singing and shouting slogans against China and for a Free Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama. Her body, in spite of a heavy police blockade, was brought to the monastery, where she was watched over by the other nuns.
Currently tension is very high around the convent of Mama, the area's largest, with over 350 nuns. Tomorrow, the Tibetan government in exile in India and the Dalai Lama will hold a vigil of prayer and fasting for Tibetans who have sacrificed themselves. A Buddhist source, however, reminds AsiaNews that "the practice of suicide is forbidden in Buddhism. These are good young people, deeply affected by Chinese rule. But this does not mean that their acts do not go against our teachings. "