Tibetan youth dies after self-immolation protest in Tawu

A Tibetan youth from Tawu in Eastern Tibet has died after setting himself on fire in protest against Chinese rule in Tibet, according to exile Tibetans who have contacts in Tibet.

Thinley Namgyal, 32, set himself alight around 12 noon local time in Tawu in Kardze under today’s Sichuan province (the Tibetan area of Kham).

He died on the spot, bringing the the total number of self-immolations to 130. At least 112 of the immolators have died.

Namgyal’s death comes less than a month after the self-immolation of 31-year-old Dolma, a nun from Ba Choede monastery in Bathang (Ch: Batang) county in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi), on 29 March. The nun was taken to a nearby hospital in Bathang. Her condition and whereabouts remain unknown as no information has been released to date by Chinese authorities.

The self-immolations have been occurring in Tibet since 2009, in which the protesters demand that China allow the return of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Tibet, and freedom in Tibet.

China has severely tightened control on the entire Tibetan plateau, prosecuted those accused of encouraging protests, and blamed the Dalai Lama for “inciting” the fiery protests.