TWO MEN set themselves on fire outside the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, the most important temple in Tibetan Buddhism and a popular tourist site. It is the first time the recent wave of self-immolations in protest at Chinese rule has reached the tightly guarded Tibetan capital.
The Xinhua news agency said one of the men died and the other was hospitalised after the immolations on Sunday outside Jokhang, which was also the site of protests in March 2008.
“They were a continuation of the self-immolations in other Tibetan areas, and these acts were all aimed at separating Tibet from China,” said local Communist Party official Hao Peng.
More than 30 Tibetans have set themselves on fire and thousands more have taken part in protests in the Tibetan areas of Sichuan province since March 2011.
The Tibetan who died was named as Tobgye Tseten, from Xiahe county in Gansu province, and the other man as Dargye, a Tibetan from Aba county in Sichuan province.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, and that it has liberated the territory from feudal control by the lamas, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries until Chinese troops invaded in the 1950s.
“We have already received reports that Tibetan residents of Lhasa have been arbitrarily detained in the wake of yesterday’s self-immolations, and that residents from Ngaba have been targeted,” said Stephanie Brigden, director of the Free Tibet group.
Meanwhile, the father of a young man who was killed during the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations on Tiananmen Square has hanged himself after more than 20 years of seeking justice for his son, a human rights group said yesterday.
The body of 73-year-old Ya Weilin was found in an unused car park underneath his apartment building in Beijing. He is believed to have hanged himself on Friday, the support group Tiananmen Mothers said.
Mr Ya took his life just days before the anniversary of the crackdown by the military on the student-led protests in Beijing.
The tanks rolled in on the night of June 3rd-4th, 1989, and thousands of students and workers died, including Mr Ya’s son, Ya Aiguo. The 22-year-old was shot in the head by troops after he went shopping with his girlfriend, the group said.
“His prolonged grief and depression finally led to despair,” it said.
Every year the Tiananmen Mothers issue an open letter calling for a full investigation into what happened on that night. They want compensation for the victims and they want the leadership called to account.
The Chinese government line is that the demonstrations, which went on for weeks, were a “counter-revolutionary riot” that had to be crushed for China’s greater good.
“The news of Mr Ya’s death shocked us, the Tiananmen Mothers, like a sword piercing through our hearts.
“We want to cry but have no more tears; want to tell the world but have no more words,” the group said.
