Tibet, 2 more self-immolations less than 24 hours apart
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Less than 24 hours after the tragic self-immolation of a Tibetan mother, another case of suicide has shaken the region. Lhamo Kyab, 43, set himself on fire a few hours ago in the region of Tsoe to ask China for religious freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama to Lhasa. This is the fifth suicide in the area and the 111th in total: despite the fact the crisis is showing no signs of slowing, Beijing continues to respond with an iron fist.
Yesterday it was the turn of Kal Kyi, 30, a mother of four children, which set herself on fire near Jonang monastery in eastern Tibet. Tsengyang Gyatso, a Tibetan exile who hails from the area, said: "Her body was taken just inside the monastery to avoid it being taken away by the police." To avoid public protests, in fact, the regional authorities tend to remove the bodies of suicides and deny them religious burial.
According to an
anonymous source from Dzamthang County, she killed herself "to emphasize
the violent Chinese policy in Tibet." Several times the Tibetan
authorities in exile - political and religious - have asked the Chinese government
to open a negotiating table to handle the situation. Beijing has so far
preferred to issue new regulations that threaten immediate arrest "for
those who self-immolate and those who incite others to do so."
Kal Kyi is the 16th woman to kill himself for the Tibetan cause since February
2009, when the internal crisis in Tibet reached its breaking point. Of the 111
cases that have occurred so far, 91 have ended in instant death: instead the
fate of 20 people who have survived remains unknown. The epicenter of the
protest is in Ngaba, with the greatest number of cases: the population has
renamed the main street "Tibetan Heroes Street."
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09/05/2016 12:08
