Image purportedly showing self-immolation of Yonten from Meruma in Amdo Ngawa, on 26 November 2019. Photographer unknown
Tibet Sun Newsroom
McLEOD GANJ, India, 28 November 2019
A 24 year-old Tibetan man named Yonten has died after setting himself on fire in a protest against Chinese rule in Tibet, in the Amdo region of Tibet.
Free Tibet, a pro-Tibet organisation based in London, reported that Yonten’s fiery protest occurred in the nomad township of Meruma under Ngawa county on 26 November.
He died of his injuries on the same day. It is unclear what has become of his body.
Yonten was a former monk in Kirti Monastery in Ngawa, but later disrobed and took up the life of a nomad.
Of more than 150 self-immolation protests in whole of Tibet since 2009, a record 42 of them have occurred in Ngawa. The protestors all called for China to allow the Dalai Lama back to Tibet, and for freedom in Tibet. Some demanded that Tibet become independent from China.
The first known self-immolation was by a monk named Tapey from Kirti Monastery in 2009.
China further clamped down in the area due to the high number of fiery protests, as well as demonstrations and solo protests, despite high levels of security.
Free Tibet’s Campaigns and Communications Manager, John Jones, in a statement said: “Yonten lived his life under occupation. In his 24 years, he would have seen Chinese police and military suppress protests in his homeland, seen his culture, language, and religion come under attack, seen people he knew arrested and made to disappear. Tibetans today grow up in a world of injustice.
“Other governments, China’s allies and trade partners, should not need drastic acts like Yonten’s death to remind them how brutal the occupation is. They must speak out and push China to allow the Tibetan people to live in freedom.”
The tragedy of the Tibetan people continues with another self-immolation by a Tibetan patriot. We can only imagine the desperation of our brothers and sisters in occupied Tibet under the most brutal dictatorship in the world. It’s not only the precious life that has been lost with such terrible pain but his family members, including children will suffer immensely under trumped-up charges. As we will discover in coming weeks and months, the whole family including children would be incarcerated, tortured, denied food and water and severely beaten to punish them and vent their anger on the hapless family. No nation has had such a huge number of patriots, laying down their life for the honour and dignity of the our nation and it’s people. While no one would ever encourage such drastic measures, their sacrifice for our nation is not in vain. We don’t hear the reaction of the CCP, but if the words of a pro-China Taiwanese mayor is to be believed, the self-immolation in Tibet is giving sleepless nights to the CCP.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je has recently admitted that “nself-immolation has been trending among Tibetan Lamas in Tibet for awhile, which has bothered the Chinese communist Government a great deal”. He further added “Tibetan self-immolation has indeed created immense international pressure on China”. This goes to show that the communist dictators are not only worried about their image on the world stage but are gravely concerned about the potential fall out of international opinion rising against them, thus humiliating and undermining their legitimacy. The concentration camps in East Turkistan and Hong Kong democracy movement have severely restricted the CCPs ability to apply its sledge-hammer tactics to any situation and incapacitated it to be a mere spectator.