Photo : TCHRD
China’s ongoing enforcement of their Zero-Covid Policy in Tibet’s capital city Lhasa has driven five Tibetans to commit suicide in the three days between September 23 to 25, reports Dharamshala based research and rights group The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Forty nine days have passed since Tibetans in Lhasa and neighbouring regions were forcefully put under complete lockdown under strict protocols. Videos of some of them jumping from quarantine buildings are widely shared online.
According to TCHRD’s report, the five people who died after committing suicide were from the Lhasa comprehensive protective tariff zone number two (West Lhasa), the Bayi community (southwest of Norbulingka), Lanting apartment (near Tibet University) and Gakyiling neighbourhood three (east of Lhasa).
TCHRD have translated some Weibo posts by Tibetans who are expressing their frustrations online. One post from September 24, which shows a photo of a building in Gakyiling neighbourhood, said “It rained today in Lhasa as if to mourn the person who died. Only the dead can reach heaven. The human realm is hell. Only those living in Lhasa can understand the situation of the epidemic in Lhasa. I request everyone to look after us. I request the authorities to stop deceiving the masses. The masses have suffered too much. The China Central Television and People’s Daily [major state media] may not see this but I thought everyone should see the situation posted below”.
Another, posted on September 25 and showing a picture of a dead person lying on a flight of stairs, said “What does Covid prevention and control mean to us? Every life [lives of ordinary people have no value]. Despair. Desperation. No one speaks up. Even when someone speaks, [his voice] cannot go beyond the Dangla mountains [central Tibet]. These lives must be happy in heaven because they have escaped this hell realm.”
Among the many comments on these posts, one said “Extreme repression has cost the lives of four persons. This cannot be tolerated further. But [one] should not have protested by giving away one’s life.” Another Tibetan commented “It is really intolerable now, but one should not give away one’s life to protest”.
These posts have already been depleted by the Chinese censorship authorities. The authorities are actively removing any social media posts about Covid and lockdown information, and there are reports of arrests and detention of those who post information.
“Whatever we speak about and the information we post cannot go outside of Tibet. Everything that we post on Weibo and other [online platforms] is immediately removed. The official figures on the number of infected people and other information are not true. […]” wrote a student in Lhasa.
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