A young Tibetan monk set himself on fire in southwestern China before being beaten and dragged away by Chinese security forces, a rights group said yesterday.
Named as Lobsang Tsultrim, aged 20, the monk raised a fist — a gesture of defiance used by Tibetans who accuse China of abuses — before setting himself alight on Friday, Free Tibet said in a statement.
The incident happened by the Kirti monastery in Aba prefecture, Sichuan Province, where many Tibetans live, the London-based group said.
The attempted suicide was confirmed by Radio Free Asia, but the propaganda department of Aba refused to comment when contacted yesrterday.
In the past year, about 30 Tibetans — many of them young Buddhist monks and nuns — have set themselves on fire to protest against Chinese rule.
In the latest incident, witnesses quoted by Radio Free Asia and Free Tibet said security forces hit the monk while he was alight, before extinguishing the flames and taking him, still alive, to an unknown destination.
Many Tibetans in China complain of religious repression, as well as a gradual erosion of their national culture, which they blame on a growing influx of majority Han Chinese in areas where they live.
However, China denies this and says Tibetans are leading better lives than ever before, thanks to huge investment in infrastructure, schools and housing.
Beijing has accused overseas organizations of seeking independence for Tibet and blamed the Dalai Lama — Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader — for the unrest.
Tibet’s government-in-exile said more than 200 people died in the March 2008 unrest, but China denies that account, saying there were 21 deaths and that “rioters” were responsible.
Authorities have mounted a heavy security presence in Tibetan-inhabited areas in response to the self-immolations and sometimes deadly clashes between protesters and police in recent months.
James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said on Friday. He was 97. The eminent biologist died on Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson became among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick. Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas after the close right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting on Friday. Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies last month after losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his refusal to end the nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. However, while Trump has pushed other European countries to stop buying oil that he says funds Moscow’s war machine, Orban used his first trip to the White House since Trump’s return to power to push for
LANDMARK: After first meeting Trump in Riyadh in May, al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House today would be the first by a Syrian leader since the country’s independence Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the US on Saturday for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency SANA reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted long-time former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today. It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts. The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack earlier
RSS