The Economist: More Turbulent Monks

via The Economist,

THE open wound that is Tibetan resentment of Chinese rule refuses to heal. According to accounts seeping out of China, it has been bleeding profusely for some six weeks now at Kirti, a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province. Kirti is in Aba prefecture, which Tibetans regard as Amdo, a part of historic Tibet.

Two Tibetans in their sixties are reported to have died after being beaten by security forces on April 21st. Their deaths came as the monastery was raided and more than 300 of its nearly 2,500 monks were detained for purposes of “legal education”.

The confrontation started with the death of a young monk, Rigzin Phuntsog, variously described as 16 and 20 years old, who set himself on fire on March 16th. His self-immolation was to mark the third anniversary of bloody anti-Chinese riots in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The 2008 riots were followed by a harsh crackdown on dissent across what China calls its “Tibet Autonomous Region” as well as in ethnic-Tibetan areas of adjoining provinces, including Sichuan and Qinghai.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has accused the police of not even trying to put out the flames that engulfed the young monk. He says they beat Phuntsog instead, hastening his death. A county-government spokesman however said the police doused the flames and blamed the young man’s death on “treatment delays”.  The government has since called his suicide a “carefully planned and implemented criminal case, which was aimed at triggering disturbances”. continued

Read the complete piece here.

Past Posts:

Urgent Appeal from Kirti Rinpoche
China denies lockdown on Tibetan Monastery following monk’s self-immolation
Chinese gov security increase at monastery may lead to starvation of monks

To Take Action in Support of Tibetans at Kirti Monastery: http://bit.ly/hs0tQJ