His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been hit with an absurd accusation by China that he has been rewarding self-immolators with money. On March 9, 2013, Terril Yue Jones of Reuters has reported for the Tibet Sun, China says Dalai Lama rewarding self-immolators with money. On Friday a Chinese official accused the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of providing money to encourage people to set themselves on fire.
The Chinese official has gone on to insist China has evidence to prove His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been instigating the self-immolations. Over 100 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule since 2009, mostly in heavily Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces. Most of these protesters have died. Padma Choling, the Chinese appointed head of Tibet’s rubber stamp legislature, has said, “Self-immolation is fundamentally immoral and inhumane behaviour.”
In reference to the Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetans, Padma Choling has made the shocking statement that, “Instead of being against this, and putting a stop to this, they are encouraging it and using other means, such as giving financial compensation, to continue to instigate incidents like these. I think this is even less humane.” China considers the Dalai Lama, who fled from China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a dangerous separatist. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama says that he is simply seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland. He insists that he is not encouraging the self- immolations, but he has called them “understandable”.
