The self-immolations by suppressed Tibetans continue to tarnish Beijing's image while some have now even begun to question the Dalai Lama's continued silence over the gory cycle of fiery deaths, writes Aditya Raj Kaul
Located in the northeast corner of the
Tibetan plateau, the traditional province of Amdo is plush with
beautiful grasslands and rugged mountain ranges. But the picturesque
beauty of the brilliantly white stupas and pretty monasteries is marred
by the presence of massive security forces over the last few months. The
police crackdown is a result of the increase in self-immolations by
monks at the restive Kirti Monastery, a 600-year-old temple in the Aba
prefecture of Sichuan province, which borders Qinghai and Gansu. Of the
90-plus people that have self-immolated inside Tibet since February 27,
2009; as many as 20 were monks or former monks at the Kirti Monastery –
the latest being two teenaged Tibetans who set themselves afire near the
eastern gate of the temple on August 27.
The influence of Kirti Monastery is now visible across the region in
many small and big temples. Most towns and cities in Tibet are heavily
guarded by police and anti-riot SWAT forces, while a reserve of the
military is forever stationed on the outskirts of major townships. While
CCTV cameras peek surreptitiously from vantage points at most public
places, informers in plainclothes have penetrated just as deep into the
personal spaces of monks, nuns, students, housewives, artists, farmers
and nomads across the region. Armed Public Security Bureau (PSB) units
regularly patrol streets carrying machine guns, fire extinguishers, iron
rods and riot shields. Authorities have also formed SOS fire brigades
at sensitive locations.
Suppressed rage against China’s continued occupation of Tibet and
despair among people in the region has reached such a nadir that in
November alone there has been one self-immolation a day on an average –
mostly by monks facing difficulties in religious freedom, teens running
out of patience with the Dalai Lama’s middle path and the aged seeing no
other way to support the ‘Free Tibet’ movement. Beijing’s repression of
Tibetans is no longer hidden from the world.
November was also the month when the Chinese Communist Party unveiled
its new leadership slate, headed by Xi Jinping. But far across in the
Himalayan plateau, the wave of self-immolations in the Tibetan region
has only increased since the leadership change. “Tibetans have responded
to China's extreme repression by setting themselves on fire to call for
freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama. These heartbreaking acts of
nonviolent protest deserve an immediate and stronger effort from the
global community to hold the Chinese government accountable for its
atrocities in Tibet," says Tenzin Dorjee, executive director of Students
for a Free Tibet.
"Tibetans and Tibet supporters on five continents are laying down a challenge to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping: stand on the right side of history and answer the Tibetan peoples' demand for freedom,” adds Dorjee.
The 14th Dalai Lama, meanwhile, is unnaturally silent over the ball of
fire that continues to scorch Tibet – attributing the wave of
self-immolations to the brutal crackdown by the Chinese authorities on
Tibetan culture and religion or what he refers to as “cultural
genocide”. The revered leader, who relinquished his political role in
March 2011, according to Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of Tibetan
government-in-exile, “spends more time on his spiritual pursuits.”
Several Tibetan writers, scholars and activists have called upon the
Dalai Lama to issue a formal appeal to stop the self-immolations, but
the spiritual leader’s silence, many believe, is encouraging the gory
phase of violent deaths as the final means to achieve freedom for
Tibetans.
Earlier this year on being asked whether Tibetans should stop setting
themselves on fire, he replied with a firm, “No answer”, raising quite a
few eyebrows. “Past history clearly shows that violence cannot solve
problems,” tweeted the Dalai Lama on November 12 from Japan. The same
day Nyingchak Boom and Nyingkar Tashi, both in their youth, died of
self-immolation in Rebkong County of Tibet.
China, which is desperately trying to douse the fires raging across
Tibet, accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting these self-immolations.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, the Dalai
Lama’s accusation that the Chinese government has failed to investigate
the root cause of despair and hopelessness among Tibetans, was designed
to only “gain his political end of splitting China.”
"Not only did the Dalai not condemn them, but he actually glorified
these acts, which are against the national law and religious
principles," Hong said.
The Chinese authorities have not faced such massive unplanned
resistance in their own backyard in recent times and Beijing’s paranoia
continues to grow. The authorities have now announced a reward of $
7,700 for those who inform police about the planned self-immolations.
A notice pasted around the region states, "Anyone who reports and
informs the legal authorities on the people who plan, incite to carry
out, control and lure people to commit self-immolation will be awarded
50,000 yuan ($ 7,700)." The notice, which refers to organised groups of
Tibetans who plan self-immolations as "black hands", assures a reward of
200,000 yuan to those giving advance information about planned
suicides.
"The Tibetans who are self-immolating have clearly not been dissuaded
by the security buildup or other means of official intimidation,"
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) head Mary Beth Markey has said.
“Unless and until there is some initiative that can break through the
cycle of repression and protest, I think we all acknowledge that more
Tibetans will be prepared to take the agonising action of
self-immolation,” she added. Worried about the status quo in the region,
Lobsang Sangay even issued an urgent appeal to the international
community recently to support the 'Solidarity with Tibet' campaign in
2013, to be organised by the Tibetan government-in-exile to lobby
support for their cause amidst silence over the increase in
self-immolations across Tibet.
Undoubtedly, the strained relationship between China and Tibet has
grown much more than the geographic distance of 2000 kms between Beijing
and Sichuan. It would only become clear in the next few months if new
Chinese leader Jinping will overcome internal resistance and change his
nation's stated position and bring peace to the troubled region. Either
that or the Dalai Lama must exercise his religious sway and urge
Tibetans to stop this fiery cycle of death. Until then, the flames of
agony are likely to keep burning bright.
