Eighth Monk This Year Sets Himself on Fire to Protest Chinese Treatment of Tibet
When a monk lights himself on fire in protest to raise awareness of China’s overzealous religious controls of Tibet, perhaps his message is important enough for us to open our eyes. When the eighth monk does it this year, we need to stand up and pay attention.
The southwestern region of China has become the center of Tibetan protest against the Chinese government. The most recent person to set himself on fire was a 19-year-old former monk from the Kirti Monastery. According to Reuters, based upon information gleaned from Zorgyi, an India-based exiled Tibetan activist, and the London-based Free Tibet group, the former monk called for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for the country.
Here’s where it gets interesting, though: “The police extinguished the flames and beat the man, the researcher said, adding that he did not die in the course of his protest. His whereabouts are unknown,” the news report mentioned.
If the reports are to be believed, what we have is the eighth Tibetan monk to practice self-immolation this year. More than that, however, is the notion that the latest person to do so had the fire extinguished by police, who them proceeded to beat the man. And yet, somehow his whereabouts are unknown? The police didn’t arrest him or take him to get medical treatment?
The logical question is what’s really going on? Zorgyi claims his information was based on witness accounts, while Free Tibet said its account came from sources within Kirti Monastery. The police that would have responded to the call have not commented on the matter.
Since 2008, China has increased their security spending in the area surrounding Kirti Monastery. Human Rights Watch believes it is this factor that has primarily led to an increase in tensions in the region.
The increased security measures appear to have been a major factor in the escalation of tensions that have led to several protests in which monks tried to set themselves on fire to bring attention to the situation in Aba. In the October 7 incident, Choepel and Khaying, two young Tibetans who had been monks at Kirti monastery (“Ge Erde” in Chinese), set fire to themselves.
The monastery has been the site of six self-immolations this year, as well as larger nonviolent protests by monks and lay people, many of whom were subsequently detained.
Further, the group goes on to say that China’s harsh crackdown on the initial wave of self-immolating monks (by arresting proxy monks and sentencing them to long prison terms) has only emboldened other monks to take action.
The China-Tibet issue is a complicated one, not unlike the Israeli-Palestinian kerfuffle. China largely wants to save face and pretend that everything is fine and dandy in regards to Tibet, but clearly it’s not. If eight monks are taking the drastic measure of lighting themselves on fire, then clearly, they want the world to pay attention to the issue.
As far as lighting yourself on fire, it’s certainly a powerful and courageous move, but as a form of protest, what does it ultimately accomplish aside from getting attention? It’s not exactly a protest move that effectively helps the Tibetan situation.
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