A Tibetan Buddhist monk in western China set himself on fire in an apparent protest against government religious restrictions and was shot by security forces, international Tibetan advocacy groups reported on Saturday.
The monk, identified as Tapey, was shot on Friday afternoon in the Tibetan town of Aba in Sichuan province, according to Free Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet, and phayul.com, a website affiliated with the Dalai Lama’s India-based government in exile.
They said Tapey was carried to a van and driven away to an undisclosed location, possibly a hospital. No details were available about his condition.
Many Tibetans have reportedly heeded calls for an unofficial boycott of festivities that began on Wednesday to mark the start of the Tibetan new year as a form of protest against last year’s crackdown. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, has said celebrations would be ”inappropriate” under the circumstances.
Adding to the tensions, next month marks the 50th anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
The region has been sealed off to journalists and foreigners and it was not immediately possible to confirm the incident. Tapey was reportedly a resident of Aba’s Kirti monastery, but a man who answered the phone there denied an incident had occurred. The man refused to give his name.
Another man who answered the phone at the official Aba Buddhism Association also said there had been no incidents. Calls to the local police headquarters rang unanswered on Saturday.
The reported self-immolation comes amid a high-pressure campaign by authorities to block gatherings of monks, a year after the largest anti-government protests in decades spread across a huge swathe of Tibetan inhabited western China.
The Washington, DC-based International Campaign for Tibet said Tapey had been protesting the cancellation of prayer ceremonies at
Kirti by waving a homemade Tibetan flag and holding a picture of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.
The monks at the monastery were told by local authorities they were not allowed to observe a traditional prayer festival known as Monlam, held after the Tibetan new year, the group said citing three sources in contact with people in the area.
Phayul.com quoted a monk at the affiliated Kirti monastery in Dharamsala, India, the home of the self-proclaimed Tibet government-in-exile, as telling Voice of Tibet radio service the monk poured petrol on to himself and set himself on fire once he reached the main road in the town.
”Bystanders said he held high a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and chanted something but couldn’t be heard,” the monk, identified as Tsering, was quoted as saying.
Bystanders saw the monk collapse to the ground after they heard three gunshots, Tsering was quoted as saying. He was reportedly taken in a vehicle to a nearby hospital, the site said.
A thousand monks had gathered at Kirti monastery earlier on Friday to protest for permission to celebrate the prayer festival, it said.
China claims that Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and that Beijing’s tight control is draining them of their
culture and identity. – Sapa-AP