98th self-immolation in Tibet

Phayul[Tuesday, January 22, 2013 16:19]

DHARAMSHALA, January 22: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibet set himself on fire today in Bora region of Labrang, eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Kunchok Kyab, 23, self-immolated near the Bora Monastery at around 12 pm (local time). Initial reports suggest that Kunchok Kyab passed away in his fiery protest. According to our sources, he is survived by his wife and a ten-month old infant. Details on today’s self-immolation protest, the third since the new year, are awaited at the time of filing this report. On December 2, last year, a Tibetan male, Sungdue Kyab set himself on fire on a road leading to the Bora Monastery. He survived his self-immolation protest and is reportedly being kept in a heavily fortified hospital in Kanlho.  Since 2009, as many as 98 known Tibetans have now set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. Despite repeated appeals by the Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration to refrain from such drastic acts, Tibetan self-immolations have persisted.  The CTA maintains that the self-immolations “represent a new threshold of Tibetan despair and resentment, and a worsening of the vicious cycle of unrest-repression-more unrest,” while attributing the current crisis in Tibet “the political and religious repression, economic marginalisation, social discrimination, cultural assimilation and environmental destruction in Tibet.”