Dharamsala, India: In an act of protest against the repressive Chinese policies, a local man from Ngaba province in Tibet self-immolated on January 14th.
This act of protest triggered a mass demonstration in the region, to control which, the Chinese security personnel opened fire on the unarmed mob resulting in the death of a woman.
This is the 16th act of self-immolation since March 2011 and many believe this protestor has succumbed to his injuries.
According to reports, Chinese security personnel who arrived on the scene beat up the protestor in their attempt to douse the fire and refused to hand over the body of the assumed dead protestor to the family.
In the mass protest that ensued, multiple rounds were fired and although reports state that one Tibetan lady succumbed to bullet wounds, many believe the numbers of the dead are much more than cited.
According to the press release handed out by Free Tibet, an eyewitness described the situation as 'terrifying' and that people were being 'beaten' along with many getting detained.
The Central Tibetan Administration based in India, condemned the use of violence used by the Chinese government to control a mob of Tibetan protestors inside Tibet on January 14.
In an appeal to the international community, the CTA requested the countries of the world to intervene to stop the situation in Tibet from getting worse. It also called for the United Nations and liberal Chinese intellectuals to gauge the true situation inside the troubled nation.
"The People's Republic of China's government must take full responsibility for these cases of self-immolations. It is within its power to end these unfortunate incidents by adopting liberal policies for Tibet and Tibetan people," stated the CTA.
Many Tibet supporters across the Indian subcontinent protested along with the CTA. The student members of the Tibetan Youth Buddhist Association, Tibetan Women's Association and Tibetan Freedom Movement of Central University of Tibetan Studies held a candle light vigil to honour the Kirti resident who self-immolated.
Ngaba, the seat of Kirti Monastery has witnessed the self-immolation of 11 Tibetans since March 2011. This year alone has witnessed four Tibetans passing away after setting themselves on fire as a mark of protest against the Chinese occupation of Tibet and demanding the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
