Lobsang Kalsang, 18, a Buddhist monk, and former monk Damchoe, 17, died in hospital on Monday after setting themselves on fire in southwest China’s Aba town, which has become a flashpoint for protests against Beijing’s rule.
“The time has come for each one of us to speak up and demand Tibetan freedom.”
Free Tibet said Damchoek, who like many Tibetans used only one name, was the brother of Tenzin Choedon, a teenage nun who set fire to herself in February this year.
No one at the Kirti monastery or the hospital where the monks reportedly died could be reached by telephone, while authorities in Aba declined to comment on the latest self-immolation reports.
China has accused the Dalai Lama – who fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and is vilified as a “separatist” by Communist authorities – of encouraging the protests.
The Dalai Lama has himself condemned self-immolations, which many Buddhists believe are contrary to their faith, but blamed them on hardline Chinese rule of Tibetan-populated areas.
Tibetans have long chafed under China’s rule over the vast Tibetan plateau, saying that Beijing has curbed religious freedoms and their culture is being eroded by an influx of Han Chinese, the country’s main ethnic group.
Beijing, however, says that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China’s economic expansion.
Source: AFP
