Reports of oppression of Tibetan Buddhists by the Chinese authorities in Tibet have become part of the daily news from the region. Now a report of another in a series of self-immolations by protesting Tibetans has fueled rising concerns about the deteriorating situation among Syracuse Buddhists who have been praying daily for an end to this tragedy.
Edward Wong of the New York Times has reported for the Tibet Sun "Ninth Tibetan, a nun, immolates herself in anti-China protest." A Tibetan nun in a Tibetan town in western China is reported to have killed herself on Monday by setting herself on fire while calling for religious freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
This 20 year old nun, Tenzin Wangmo, was the ninth Tibetan to commit self-immolation since March and the fifth to die. The group Free Tibet has reported that this was the first Tibetan woman to kill herself in this way. This series of tragic self-immolations have all taken place in unstable Tibetan areas of Sichuan Province. Tenzin’s was from the nunnery called Dechen Chokorling, which is near the besieged Kirti monastery. Free Tibet has reported that at around 1 pm on Monday Tenzin set herself on fire outside the nunnery.
Stephanie Brigden, director of Free Tibet, has said “The acts of self-immolation are not taking place in isolation, protests have been reported in the surrounding region and calls for wider protests are growing.” Free Tibet has also reported that two Tibetans were shot and wounded by security forces during a protest on Sunday outside of a police station in the town of Kege, which is known in Tibetan as Khekor. The death of Tenzin and the other Tibetans who died from self-immolations in Tibet are being mourned by Buddhists and friends of Buddhists worldwide.
