Tibetan Nun Set Herself Ablaze In Protest Against Chinese Rule

Tibet and Sichuan Provinces

The series of protests against the Chinese occupation of Tibet continues in China as a Tibetan nun set herself ablaze on Monday in the Sichuan province, east of Tibet, in the Aba county. This is the ninth such protest in the Tibetan monasteries in the past months.

Tenzin Wangmo, a 20-year-old nun set herself on fire on Monday and died because of the immolation. Before she lit herself, she called for the freedom of Tibet. The Aba county, where this incident happened, is where the restive Kirti monastery is located.

Seven monks have set themselves on fire in this monastery in recent months, causing each time the reaction of the Chinese police, which intervened, sometimes arresting the rest of the monks for months.

Three monks have been arrested being accused in connection with the self-immolation acts, and security presence in the area is very heavy.

An eyewitness told the press that the nun set herself on fire and died immediately, not before she called for the return of Dalai Lama and the independence of her country. The eyewitness said that she chose to avoid the center of the town because of the heavy Chinese security forces presence there.

An organization called Free Tibet reports that two Tibetans were shot by Chinese troops on October 16 in another part of Sichuan, during a protest outside a police station. It was not clear what was the reason for the protest, and the international media could not verify the facts, because Chinese officials do not allow it to document such cases and the media in the Communist country often ignores them.

In a statement the director of this organization said that the protests in Tibet are not isolated but are escalating and widening, and have been reported in all the surrounding region.

The practice of self-immolation is a Buddhist form of protest and is turning into a trend in China, where more and more Tibetan monks choose it to protest the cultural and religious oppression the Communist regime is submitting the Tibetans to.

Dalai Lama has condemned it as an act that goes against the sanctity of life, but nevertheless a prayer ceremony shall be held on Wednesday in memory of those who chose this form of extreme protest against the Chinese rule.

China has always maintained that Tibet is a part of it and will stay that way, in spite of the historic facts that show Tibet as an independent land for centuries. Dalai Lama has made the demand that the Tibetans be offered autonomy.

Tibet is one of the reasons the relations between the United States and China are soured from time to time. The Chinese officials took it very hard when the American president met with Dalai Lama, though Barack Obama made all in his power that the visit be as informal as it could be at the White House.

In September, after an incident in which two monks set themselves alight at the Kirti monastery, the United States asked China to observe the freedom of religion for the people of Tibet. The two monks set themselves on fire protesting against the lack of religious freedom.

On that occasion China blamed Dalai Lama for stirring trouble in Tibet, and refused to admit that the people were protesting against the Chinese rule and against the fact that Chinese Han population was being moved into the territories of the Tibetans with the purpose of changing the ethnic fabric of this people.

China seems determined to end the conflict with Dalai Lama in its favor by declaring that as soon as the incumbent Dalai Lama is no more the next Dalai Lama will not be allowed unless he is approved by Beijing.

This development caused Dalai Lama to consult with the scholars in Tibet over the necessity of maintaining the office itself. Dalai Lama, who relinquished his political responsibilities earlier this year to a secular government, is also considering instituting the election of the next supreme leader of the Tibetans, for fear that otherwise the Chinese may interfere into the power structure of Tibet.

Dalai Lama said that he would pass on recommendations about his next reincarnation, so that the Tibetan people know that it is him. He argues that in accordance to Tibetan Buddhism, a person can control the rebirth if they walk in the path of compassion and selflessness.

Many Tibetan scholars are believed to have taken rebirth in order to continue their work in the service of the Tibetan people.