འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་དུས་དེབ།
fr ee
www.contactmagazine.net
31 July 2013 Volume: XV Issue: 7
contact Magazine A Free Monthly Publication For Tibetan Issues & Community Information
Young Monk Brings Self-Immolations Toll to 120
Kunchok Sonam, an 18 year-old monk from the Zoege Monastery, died after a selfimmolation protest in the Ngaba prefecture, in Sichuan province in eastern Tibet. On July 20, at around 8:30 in the morning, Kunchok Sonam set himself on fire. With his hands clasped in a praying gesture, Kunchok shouted slogans, a local resident said. Apparently, monks and local Tibetans held a prayer service for the deceased at Tashi Thekchokling Monastery on the very same day. Local police arrived, and surrounded the monastery immediately after the incident. The police pressured the monks to hand over the body, but failed to take the body due to the presence of a large number of Tibetans. Following the incident, more than a dozen Tibetans were arbitrarily detained. According to sources, Kunchok’s mother, his teacher and relatives were released after a day’s detention but the condition and whereabouts of six other detainees remain unknown. Konchok Sonam was born in Soktsang village in Thangkor township in Dzoege County to parents Sonam Palden and Lentrug. This latest incident has increased to 120 the total number of selfimmolations.
Tibetans Shot at Prayer Service for Dalai Lama’s Birthday in Tibet by Wendhe Choetsoe On July 6, and despite severe restrictions, many Tibetans in Tibet marked the 78th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Birthday celebrations were reported in various Tibetan areas such as the Tawu, Kardze and Drakgo region of Kham; and Golok, Tawo, Labrang, Chabcha, and Kumbum in the Amdo region of Tibet. In Chabcha and Kumbum, and others, people quietly “marked the Dalai Lama’s birthday in their homes, wary that any public celebration could endanger a tentative softening by Chinese authorities”, wrote Sui-Lee Wee on Reuters.
Tibetans offer Khatak “white scarves” to a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his birthday in Tawu, Tibet
Hundreds of Tibetans, including laypeople, monks from Nyitso monastery and nuns from Geden Choeling nunnery, gathered in the early morning of July 6 to hold a prayer service and sangsol, an incense offering ceremony, on a sacred hill in Tawu, in Kardze county. Vehicle loads of armed police arrived at the scene and attempted to stop the celebration. Some of the Tibetans there questioned the police about the legality of their actions, saying that burning incense was not a crime. Police opened fire without warning on the unarmed crowd
and used teargas, according to several Tibetan sources. At least ten Tibetans have sustained serious gunshot wounds and are in a critical condition, and many more were injured. Graphic images received by the Tibetan exile community show a monk, identified as Tashi Sonam, with a severe head wound and other gunshot wounds. “Many others have been injured after paramilitary forces from People’s Armed Police lobbed teargas shells and beat them”, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) reported. TCHRD said that 18 Tibetans were detained after the incident, of whom 14 have sustained gunshot wounds and are receiving treatment. There is no death reported yet although the injured are not out of danger. Defying threats from the local authorities, Tibetans offered prayers in front of a large portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Lithang monastery in Kardze county, and displayed a huge banner reading “Celebration of the 78th
Armed police stop Tibetans from reaching the celebration venue in Tawu Photo: tchrd.org
birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Laureate”. The Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Continued on page 5