Two Tibetan men have set themselves on fire outside a temple in Lhasa and one has died, reports said yesterday, as a wave of self-immolations in China’s Tibetan areas spread to the heavily guarded city.
Residents are reluctant to speak about Sunday’s events...
Sunday’s incident marked the first time such protests have taken place in the Tibetan capital, which has been under tight security since deadly anti-Chinese government riots broke out there in 2008.
US-based broadcaster Radio Free Asia said the men were monks who joined a protest against Chinese rule outside the Jokhang temple, a renowned centre for Buddhist pilgrimage in the centre of Lhasa, before setting fire to themselves.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said police put the flames out “in minutes” and that one of the men, named Dargye, survived and was in a stable condition.
Xinhua, which did not identify the men as monks, said Dargye was from Aba county in southwest China’s Sichuan province, where many of the recent self-immolations have taken place.
Aba is home to the Kirti monastery, which has been under virtual lockdown since a young monk named Phuntsog set light to himself and died in March 2011, sparking mass protests there.
Xinhua named the dead man as Tobgye Tseten, from Gansu province, which borders Sichuan and also has a large population of ethnic Tibetans.
Residents of Lhasa said the city was under even tighter security than usual following Sunday’s protest, with police and paramilitary officers out in force.
One resident contacted by AFP yesterday said police were carrying out identity checks in the street and that mobile telephone signals had been blocked.
Free Tibet, a London-based campaign group, said it had received reports that Tibetan residents in Lhasa had been arbitrarily detained in the wake of Sunday’s protest, while residents from Aba had also been targeted.
“Residents of Lhasa are reluctant to speak about yesterday’s event because they know that the repercussions for communicating with the outside world are severe for themselves and their families,” it added.