འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་དུས་དེབ།
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www.contactmagazine.net
31 August 2013 Volume: XV Issue: 8
contact Magazine A Free Monthly Publication For Tibetan Issues & Community Information
Monk Self-Immolates in Nepal On August 6, Karma Nyedon Gyatso, a Tibetan monk, d i e d minutes a f t e r setting himself ablaze near Boudhanath stupa in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu at around 7:30 am local time. Karma Nyedon Gyatso, 38, was from Damshung County, near Lhasa in Tibet. He had arrived at the Kathmandu Tibetan Reception Centre on January 30, 2012. Karma was paralyzed in the lower part of his body. He used two wooden blocks for mobility. An eyewitness said the monk was sitting crosslegged when she saw his lap on fire. He then poured fluid over his head and went up in flames. He did not cry out or scream at all. Passersby doused the fire. Police removed the body, wrapped in a red cloth. He was declared dead on arrival at Tribhuvan University hospital in Kathmandu. A source said that Karma had lit over hundred butter lamps before he burnt himself. The body is in the custody of the Nepal Police Department, and on August 20, the Tibetan Youth Congress, a major Tibetan exile organisation, urged Nepal to hand over Karma’s body or “arrange for the correct funeral rituals according to Buddhist traditions”. Even after a week’s time, there are no reports on the Nepalese government’s response to this appeal.
Husband on Death Row after Wife’s Self-Immolation by James Thomas The husband of a Tibetan woman who self-immolated has been sentenced to death for her murder. Chinese state-run media reported a court ruling that Dolma Kyab (pictured, right), 32, from Zoege County strangled his wife on March 11 over an alleged drinking problem. However news had circulated previously that his wife, Kunchok Wangmo, 31, had self-immolated on March 13 on the eve of Xi Jingping’s formal selection as the new President of China – something she had done to protest over Chinese rule in Tibet. The woman’s family has firmly denied the allegations, stating the
pair were “on good terms with each other.” Following his wife’s selfimmolation Dolma Kyab was arrested for failing to comply with the authorities’ “official version” of events which stated that the incident was a result of a family feud. He leaves behind him an elderly mother and an 8 year old daughter for whom Kyab was the sole earner in the family. Continued on page 5
Chinese Security Forces Clash with Tibetan Protestors
by Eric Goh Khentsa Soedor, a local Tibetan leader Hundreds of Chinese security forces whose wife was detained by authorities have cracked down on local Tibetan for interrogation before being released, protestors who have continued their demonstrations against mining operations in Gedrong Zatoe County in the Qinghai province in Eastern Tibet. The demonstrations started on Friday, August 16, when a massive influx of Chinese miners arrived at three Tibetan areas to begin excavations: Atoe Yultso, Chidza Yultso Several hundred security forces are deployed to disperse Tibetan protesters at a mining site in Gedrong area of and Dzachen Yultso. Dzatoe on August 16. “You can kill us but we will Photo: rfa.org not let the mining take place here. It is our responsibility to protect and whose own location remains our environment which is a source of uncertain. water to many other countries,” said “Over [a] hundred Tibetans were Continued on page 5