DHARAMSHALA, August 31: Hundreds of Tibetans and supporters, including the Tibetan Chief Justice Commissioners and Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay today attended a mass prayer service held in honour of Tibetan self-immolators Lobsang Kalsang and Dhamchoe.
The special prayer service held at the Tsug-la Khang, the main temple, also mourned and expressed solidarity with all Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet.
Lobsang Kalsang, 18, a monk at the Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, eastern Tibet and Dhamchoe, 17, a former monk at the Monastery, set themselves on fire on August 27 protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Both of them succumbed to their injuries later in the day.
Dhamchoe was the younger brother of Tenzin Choedron, a nun at the Mamae nunnery in Ngaba, who passed away in her self-immolation protest earlier this year on February 11.
In a release, the Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration expressed “grave concern” over the deteriorating situation in Tibet and noted that despite their “repeated appeals, over 51 Tibetans have now set themselves on fire in protest against the Chinese government’s repressive policies.”
The exile Tibetan administration said Tibet is “effectively under undeclared martial law” and blamed the Chinese government for the increasing number of self-immolations.
“The whole of Tibet is effectively under undeclared martial law, and remains closed to foreign tourists and journalists. Such brutal response from the Chinese government has pushed an increasing number of Tibetans to continue taking drastic steps,” the release said.
“The responsibility for the tragic self-immolations in Tibet lies entirely with the Chinese government, so does the solution.”
Since 2009, 51 Tibetans inside Tibet have set themselves on fire demanding Tibet’s freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. The month of August alone has witnessed seven self-immolations and a spate of protests, leading to the death and brutal beatings of Tibetan demonstrators.
The CTA, while taking note of resolutions and statements issued by numerous countries calling on China to take proactive steps to ease security clampdown in Tibet and address the underlying grievances of Tibetans through dialogue, urged the Chinese government to heed to those urgent appeals.
The exile Tibetan administration further appealed individual governments to engage China during the September UN General Assembly meeting to end the crisis in Tibet.
“We appeal to individual governments to use their good offices to engage the Chinese government to end the crisis in Tibet at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, to allow fact-finding delegation and international media to visit Tibet, and to pursue substantive dialogue with the Central Tibetan Administration to resolve the issue of Tibet.”
