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In Ngaba, 18-year-old nun dies in self-immolation
Tenzin Choedron hailed from Mamae Dechen Choekhorling Nunnery. She is the 23rd religious to die in this kind of protest against Communist rule. Instead of dialogue, the government continues to use the iron fist against the population.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) – Tenzin Choedron, a Tibetan Buddhist nun who set herself on fire to protest Chinese rule in Tibet, died on her way to a hospital in Ngaba, Sichuan, Chinese media reported today. As they have done before, they blame the Dalai Lama and his acolytes of provoking such deeds. Since February 2009, 23 men and women religious have set themselves on fire to demand religious freedom and the return of their spiritual leader.
According to the Tibetan government-in-exile, the 18-year-old woman from Mamae Dechen Choekhorling Nunnery set herself on fire at a road intersection shouting slogans against the Chinese government.
Security forces hauled her away immediately and closed the nunnery.
The nun did not die right away; she was taken to an undisclosed location.
Ngaba continues to be epicentre of protests. So far, it has seen 14 self-immolations, five since the start of February.
The Dalai Lama and all other major Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders have repeatedly called on their followers not to engage in such acts and to think long term instead. However, they are cognizant that the deprivations under which Tibetans have to live in Tibet are terrible and getting worse year after year.
On orders from China’s Communist government, the police continues to keep Tibetan-inhabited regions under a tight leash by blocking roads and communication instead of seeking dialogue to stop the deaths.
In Tibet, the regional secretary of the Chinese Communist Party urged his officials to pursue the war against Dalai Lama secessionists, with threats for those who do not do enough to hunt down the latter.