An unidentified monk has self-immolated in front of a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, reports the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a non-governmental organisation that works to protect the human rights of Tibetans and promote democracy in the Tibetan exile community.
TCHRD says local sources report the monk was protesting against the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on religious freedoms. The self-immolation in front of His Holiness’s portrait carries special significance since, in 2018, Chinese authorities banned photos of the Tibetan spiritual leader and required that they be replaced with portraits of Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping.
TCHRD says the monk was in retreat at the time, at his residence in Khaygya in Amdo. Going on retreat is a Buddhist religious practice intended as a time of reflection and study, to focus the mind and deepen one’s spiritual practice. According to TCHR, the monk self-immolated last May to protest against the increased suppression of religious freedoms led by the governor and deputy party secretary of Kanlho prefecture, Yang Wu, which has involved a tightening of control over monasteries, intimidation of religious practitioners and forced entries into sacred spaces such as violating the spiritual practice of monks in retreat.
Wang Yang at Taktsang Lhamo monastery in May
Photo: Xinhua News
Yang Wu’s crackdown was in preparation for an inspection by Wang Yang, a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official. During his inspection of schools and religious institutions, Wang emphasised the party’s ethnic and religious policies of “carrying out in-depth anti-separatist struggles”, “building an iron wall for national security”, “solidly promoting the cause of national unity”, “popularising the common national language [Mandarin Chinese]”, and “adhering to the direction of Sinicisation of religion”.
The monk’s families have been detained in Tsoe city in an undisclosed location, under the pretext of a possible Covid infection, after a relative returned from a Chinese city upon hearing about the monk’s death. But local sources say their detention is meant to stop news of the protest from spreading outside of Tibet. Chinese government restrictions have prevented identification of the monk.
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