For Tashi Choezom, a Tibetan studying for a nursing degree in New Delhi, the string of suicides by Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese religious repression are a sin.
“I express my solidarity with those who have committed self-immolation, but it is terribly wrong to take one’s own life,” Choezom said at a recent demonstration by exiled Tibetans.
Yesterday, a Tibetan nun burnt herself to death in southwest China, Xinhua reported, becoming the 11th Tibetan this year known to have set themselves on fire.
Qiu Xiang, 35, set herself on fire at a road crossing in Sichuan Province, Xinhua said, citing the local government.
The nine Buddhist monks and two nuns who have set themselves ablaze this year — chanting for religious freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama to his homeland — have brought international attention once more to the Tibetan campaign.
“We are getting support from various countries through this, but these acts of self-immolation must stop. Buddhism does not allow this,” said Choezom, who has never been to Tibet.
The protests began in March when a 21-year-old monk called Phuntsog set himself on fire at the influential Kirti monastery in Si-chuan, which borders Tibet and has a large Tibetan population. At least another six have died since then, and their actions mark a new phase in resistance to Chinese rule.
However, they have also divided opinion in the exile community: Some feel the ends justify the means, others are staunchly opposed to suicide or attempted suicide on religious grounds.
A culture of self-censorship because of heavy Chinese security and restrictions placed on reporters in the remote Himalayan province make measuring opinion inside Tibet extremely difficult.
Geshey Lobsang, a monk at the monastery of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the Tibetan spiritual leader’s home-in-exile in India, said when it comes to suicide the teachings of Buddhism are ambiguous.
“It is sin to destroy one’s body, but Buddhist philosophy also states that every action should be driven by good motivation and reason,” he said. “So, if the Tibetans self-immolated with a good motivation and to fulfill a higher cause, it cannot be counted as sin.”
The spate of self-immolations has also posed a dilemma to the government-in-exile, which cannot be seen to encourage a protest movement that costs lives.
The prime minister of the Tibetan government--in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, has paid tribute to the “courage” of the protesters and held a day of prayers in solidarity.
“The real question is why are these young Tibetans doing this?” said Samphel Thubten, a spokesman for the government-in-exile.
“Their actions grow out of really repressive measures put in place and the fact that the victims of that repression have nowhere to turn,” he said.
While views on whether suicide is a legitimate form of protest vary among exiles, the diagnosis of why monks are taking their own lives is unanimous.
“I’m personally against this way of protest. In Buddhism, it’s a big sin. But they don’t have a choice because they are not allowed to practice their faith,” said Tsewang Dolma, a 28-year-old Tibetan refugee in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Others echo the widely held belief that the self-immolations are a cry of desperation from a people who fear that their religious identity and culture are losing a battle for a survival.
Many Tibetans feel the region is being “colonized” by ethnic Chinese Han and fear for the future of their language and customs.
In 2008, riots broke out in the capital Lhasa, other areas of Tibet and neighboring Chinese provinces with Tibetan populations. Chinese Han and Muslim Hui and their businesses were targeted in unrest.
At the Kirti monastery, the focal point of the recent troubles, Kate Saunders from the International Campaign for Tibet said religious ceremonies have been halted there since March, with even the burning of incense prohibited.
“For some of the monks, their religious identity is more important than life itself,” she said.
The Dalai Lama, who Tibetans look to for guidance on religious and political developments, is yet to comment on the self-immolations, although he did take part in public solidarity prayers.
The spiritual leader, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, has held nine rounds of fruitless talks through his envoys with Beijing about the status of his Himalayan homeland.
“We follow His Holiness’ path of peace and non-violence, but now we have no choice left,” said 30-year-old Kyenrab Nawa, who works at a Tibetan cultural center in New Delhi.
“These supreme sacrifices do not mean we are veering away from our way of life,” Nawa said.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
RSS