HONG KONG — What pushes them to do it, these desperate Tibetans, more than 90 of them, dozens in recent days and another one on Monday, the ones drenching themselves in gasoline, sometimes even drinking the fuel beforehand, and then setting themselves on fire, their robes bursting into pennants of flame as they die such painful deaths, why, what is happening here? Are they killing themselves because of politics, sadness, despair, religion, what?
We don’t yet know what drove Lobsang Gedun, 29, a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death on Monday in the western Chinese province of Qinghai. My colleague Edward Wong reported on the death, and Radio Free Asia quoted an account of the immolation: “With his body on fire, he walked about 300 steps with hands folded in prayer posture, and raised slogans before he collapsed dead on the ground.”
Lobsang Gedun’s slogans were likely in praise of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, or condemnations of Beijing’s harsh, militarized rule in Tibet and the Tibetan areas of western China. Foreign reporters, United Nations investigators and many international relief groups are almost universally barred by the Chinese authorities from entering Tibet.
“The Chinese still blame everything on us,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview with The Hindu newspaper. “If the Chinese have the confidence, they must allow the international community to see the truth. That is very important. If they do not allow, it is an indication that they have the feeling of guilt, that they have something to hide.”
“The Chinese propaganda always says the Tibetan people are very happy, that they were liberated from the feudal system under the Dalai Lama,” he said. “So now their propaganda is on shaky ground.”
The full interview, conducted in July at the Dalai Lama’s residence in the Indian hill-station town of McLeod Ganj, in Dharamsala, can be seen here.
A harrowing and deeply reported piece in National Geographic by Jeffrey Bartholet examines the final days and fiery death of one self-immolator, a young exile named Jamphel Yeshi, who burned himself to death in a Tibetan enclave of New Delhi in March.
He was known as Jashi to his friends. He had a couple of dragon tattoos on his muscular body, and he was known as a strong swimmer. During the winter back home in Tibet he loved to go sledding on makeshift toboggans.
He fled Tibet on foot in 2006 and eventually made his way to Dharamsala, home of the Tibetan government in exile, “where every newcomer gets an audience with the Dalai Lama, and everyone gets free schooling,” Mr. Bartholet writes.
“Jashi cried when the Dalai Lama blessed him, touching his head. He couldn’t get a word out.”
Later, reaching Delhi, he lived in a one-room flat, splitting the $90-a-month rent with four Tibetan friends. He became somewhat active in Tibetan politics. At the time of his death, Jashi owned a thin vinyl suitcase, two pens, a scarf, four pairs of pants and a small Tibetan flag.
The night before his death, he ate well, sharing a Tibetan mutton stew with seven friends. The next day, at a large street protest, Mr. Bartholet writes, “He poured the gasoline over himself. It ran down his shoulders, over his clothes, and into his shoes. Then he put a flame to it. Jashi ran about 20 strides, stumbled and fell under a giant banyan tree.”
A crowd gathered. “Above all of the cries and shouts,” Mr. Bartholet says, “several witnesses later recalled most distinctly the roar of the fire: foh-foh-foh.”
As we have written and reported on Rendezvous, young Tibetans are increasingly inclined to more aggressive protests over Chinese authority. The Dalai Lama’s Middle Way — nonviolent pursuit of Tibetan autonomy rather than outright independence — is too incremental for many political activists.
The rise in self-immolations, many believe, is an expression of this anxiety and impatience.
“The world hardly notices when another young man or woman goes up in flames,” Mr. Bartholet says. “Some young activists are talking darkly of another possible phase, of how thin the line is between killing yourself and killing your enemies.”
The Dalai Lama has largely refrained from commenting on the self-immolations, except to express sadness, along with his disapproval of violent or extreme forms of protests. But in the Hindu interview he calls the immolations “a very, very delicate political issue.”
“Now, the reality is that if I say something positive, then the Chinese immediately blame me,” he said. “If I say something negative, then the family members of those people feel very sad. They sacrificed their… life. It is not easy. So I do not want to create some kind of impression that this is wrong.”
Mr. Bartholet quotes Tenzin Wangchuk, 38, the president of the Delhi chapter of the Tibetan Youth Congress:
The older generation is 90 percent religious and 10 percent nationalistic; they want to spread happiness and make the world a better place. But the younger generation is not a bunch of Buddhas. We are Buddhists but not Buddhas. If you kill evil, we don’t think that’s bad. We need actions. . . One day, who knows? We may raise our issue by bombing ourselves, and if you are going to die, maybe it’s better to take some enemies along with you.
And he offers this comment from Lodi Gyari, a former Tibetan negotiator with China:
The only reason the Tibetans are so committed to nonviolence is purely because of the influence of the Dalai Lama. I have also told the Chinese this. It’s a very thin line. One day, somebody may say, “I’ve had enough, it’s meaningless for me, but I’m not going to go alone … I’m going to take a couple of Chinese guys with me.” That can happen any day.
