Tibetans urge China to help end cases of self-immolation

Dharamsala, Nov 7: The Tibetan Parliament in Exile in Dharamsala had urged the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of

to seriously deliberate on the continuing spate of self-immolations in

, and to conduct a thorough investigation into the underlying causes and develop corrective policies and measures that meet the aspiration of the Tibetan people.

On the eve of the 18th Congress, the Tibetan Administration had written a letter to Communist Party of China to release all Tibetan political prisoners and to revive the channels of meaningful contacts to resolve the longstanding issue of Tibet.

Lobsang Choedak, the spokesperson of The Tibetan Parliament in Exile in Dharamsala, said on Wednesday, Nov 7 ," If the PRC government gives due consideration and follow up actions to prove their sincerity on the above four points, it will not only contribute to pacify the turbulent situation in Tibet, but would also be beneficial towards securing stability in China."

Lobsang said that in spite of the repeated appeals from the Tibetan leadership to the Tibetans in Tibet to value their precious lives, the Chinese government blatantly accuse the Dalai Lama of instigating separatism through self-immolations. However, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) clearly recognise the fact that all these drastic actions were driven by the wrong policies of the Chinese government in the last 60 years and particularly since 2008.

He said that so far 63 Tibetans have set themselves on fire including Dorjee Lhundup on Nov 4 and 10 self-immolations in Oct 2012 alone which marks the most extensive cases of tragic self-immolations in Tibet in one month. He added that 55 of them were male and 8 of them were female.

The oldest among the self-immolators were 64 and the youngest 17 years of age. Altogether, 21 monks, 3 nuns, 34 men and 5 women burnt themselves to protest against the Chinese government. Fifty-two of them have already succumbed to their injuries. The letter said that due to the extremely repressive policies practiced by the ultra-leftists comparable to the dark days of Cultural Revolution rendered the Tibetans bereft of any desire to live under the current Chinese leadership and have resort to the drastic acts of self-immolation calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and freedom for the Tibetan people.

For the purpose of fulfilling their aspirations, as clear as it can be in their slogans and their dying messages, Tibetan Government in exile therefore requested the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party to consider such steps, which can bring the situation to normal.

OneIndia News