China's crackdown grows as Tibetan self-immolations increase
| The string of 10 recent Tibetan self-immolations – six monks, three former monks, and a nun – is unprecedented in modern Tibetan history. |
Exile Tibetans stand on the roof of a Tibetan refugee camp and hold placards written in what they said is their own blood urging G20 leaders to raise the issue of rights violation and crackdown on monasteries in Tibet, during a protest in Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday. Exile Tibetans held a protest against China and to honor Tibetans who have immolated themselves since March in a restive Tibetan area of western China.
Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Hongyuan, China
The young man's hands began to shake, and he tugged at his fingers to keep them still. The 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan was terrified of the police finding out that he'd spoken about the Buddhist monks who've been burning themselves alive.
"They're doing it because they want freedom," said the man, a livestock trader who asked that his name not be used because of safety concerns.
He paused before adding, "Because we want freedom."
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Since March, according to rights groups, 10 Tibetan Buddhist clergy have set themselves on fire in China's western Sichuan province. Almost all those have come in or around the town of Aba, 50 miles as the crow flies to the west of Hongyuan, amid mountain ranges at the edge of the Tibetan plateau where yaks graze and prayer flags inscribed with mantras and blessings flap in the wind.
At least five reportedly have died in the fiery exclamations of Tibetan complaint about restrictions on their culture and religion and the continued exile of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The chain of self-immolations – comprising six monks, three former monks and a nun – is unprecedented in modern Tibetan history. The most recent occurred Oct. 25.
Tough response
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