{"id":12361,"date":"2019-11-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/first-self-immolation-of-2019-causes-death-of-former-monk\/"},"modified":"2019-11-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T23:00:00","slug":"first-self-immolation-of-2019-causes-death-of-former-monk","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/first-self-immolation-of-2019-causes-death-of-former-monk\/","title":{"rendered":"First self-immolation of 2019 causes death of former monk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Content warning: This report contains a graphic image<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A young Tibetan former monk from Kirti monastery set himself on fire \non Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 26, and died in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan \nand Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, in the Tibetan area of Amdo. \nIt was the first known self-immolation by a Tibetan this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the intense restrictions that Chinese authorities have placed on sharing information with the outside world, images reached Tibetans in exile of 24-year-old Yonten alone and ablaze on a road somewhere in the pastoral area of Me\u2019uruma, Ngaba, where the wave of Tibetan self-immolations began in 2009 when Kirti monk Tapey walked out of his monastery and set himself on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An image of Yonten shared by Kirti monks in exile, Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since then, there have been a total of 156 Tibetan self-immolations in Tibet and China, including Yonten\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to two Kirti monks living in exile, Kanyag Tsering and \nLobsang Yeshe, Yonten joined Kirti monastery when he was very young and \nlater returned to lay life and worked as a pastoralist. One of the \nimages of Yonten received today show him with a camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three self-immolations in Ngaba last year<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yonten\u2019s self-immolation comes nearly a year after a man named \nDrugkho is said to have set himself on fire on Dec. 8, 2018. It was one \nof three self-immolations in Tibet last year, all of them males in \nNgaba. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is still no full confirmation of Drugkho\u2019s self-immolation and \ndetails remain sketchy due to China\u2019s comprehensive information blackout\n in Tibetan areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Nov. 4, 2018, a 23-year-old man called Dorbe set himself on fire<\/a>\n in a pastoral township of Ngaba saying: \u201cMay the Dalai Lama live long! \nMay we soon behold his golden countenance!\u201d before he died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorbe\u2019s self-immolation followed the death of a man in his 40s, Tsekho Tugchak, who set fire to himself on March 7, 2018, also in Ngaba<\/a>.\n Graphic images circulated online at the time of Tsekho Tugchak\u2019s \nblackened body lying on the ground, his arms outstretched. He was from \nthe same area as Yonten, a nomadic village in Me\u2019uruma township.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese response<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Chinese authorities have responded to the wave of self-immolations in\n Ngaba from 2009 onward by intensifying their security measures to a \nstifling degree and strengthening the policies and measures that are the\n root cause of the acts, such as aggressive campaigns against the Dalai \nLama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese authorities have taken violent retributive actions against \nfamilies, relatives or monasteries associated with those who have \nself-immolated, which creates a vicious spiral of deeper oppression, \nleading to more self-immolations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suffering of the family of Tsekho, who self-immolated in March \n2018 in the same pastoral area as Yonten, shows the impact of such \noppression. In 2008, Tsekho\u2019s half-brother, a Namtso monk named \nNying-la, was tortured in prison and released with critical injuries, \naccording to Kirti monks in exile. He died a few months later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another relative on his father\u2019s side, Urgyen Gyatso, the Namtso \nmonastery disciplinarian, was also arrested and imprisoned at that time.\n Tsekho joined Namtso monastery as a child, but later disrobed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 23, 2017, Konpe, a Tibetan who was also from Ngaba, set himself on fire<\/a> close to the area of the first self-immolation in Tibet in February 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An image of Yonten\u2019s self-immolation shared by Kirti monks in exile, Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ngaba resistance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tibetans in Ngaba are known for their strong sense of identity and \nresistance to Chinese rule over several generations, and China\u2019s \ncrackdown in the region has been particularly severe since March 2008. \nAt least 18 people were killed when police opened fire on crowds of \ndemonstrators who took to the streets in Ngaba with homemade Tibetan \nflags and images of the Dalai Lama on March 16, 2008. Among the dead was\n a 16-year-old Tibetan schoolgirl, Lhundup Tso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was on the anniversary of this protest on March 16, 2011 that Kirti monk Phuntsog set fire to himself and died<\/a> on the street outside the monastery that has now become known as \u201cHeroes\u201d or \u201cMartyrs<\/a>\u201d road, the intersection between the monastic and secular community in Ngaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Phuntsog\u2019s death in 2011, the number of Tibetans setting themselves on fire increased. A Tibetan from Ngaba wrote a letter<\/a>\n at that time that says: \u201cWhat China\u2019s leaders have to understand is \nthat ethnic allegiance is a natural and unstoppable force, and \nultimately people are loyal to their own kind and their own forebears. \nThe more it is repressed, the stronger it becomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirti monastery<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Kirti monastery, where Yonten was a monk as a child, is one of the \nlargest and most important centers of religious education and practice \nin Tibet. Many Ngaba residents, including many monks, have gone into \nexile in India over the years and established large monastic institutes \nthere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2008, Kirti monks wrote to their counterparts in exile in \nIndia, saying the suppression following the protests was \u201ctoo much for \nour hearts to hear about, and too much for our eyes to witness.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two Kirti monks in exile, Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe, who \nhave documented the self-immolations and solo protests in the area and \nbeyond for more than a decade, have recently published a comprehensive \naccount, \u201cTibetan Self-Immolations from 1998 \u2013 2018<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A young Tibetan former monk from Kirti monastery set himself on fire on November 26, and died in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, in the Tibetan area of Amdo. It was the first known self-immolation by a Tibetan this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[677],"class_list":["post-12361","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","hentry","categorie-news","news_tag-self-immolations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFirst self-immolation of 2019 causes death of former monk - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/first-self-immolation-of-2019-causes-death-of-former-monk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First self-immolation of 2019 causes death of former monk - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A young Tibetan former monk from Kirti monastery set himself on fire on November 26, and died in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, in the Tibetan area of Amdo. 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