Chentsa nomad dies as Tibet self-immolation protests continue

(TibetanReview.net, Jun17, 2012) A Tibetan nomad who was among thousands of others forced to live in a fixed urban settlement few years ago has immolated himself on Jun 15 morning in protest against Chinese rule. Tamdin Thar, in his 50's, torched himself at around 6:30 am (Beijing Time) in front of a policed station or paramilitary People Armed Police Force camp in Chentsa (Chinese: Jiancha) County of Malho (Chinese: Huangnan) Prefecture, Qinghai Province, according to several news reports and Tibetan sources. He appeared to have died almost immediately.

Chinese security forces were reported to have appeared on the scene within minutes and put out the flames. They took in Tamdin’s charred remains.

Hundreds of local Tibetans were reported to have soon gathered in front of the camp as well as the county government centre and demanded that Tamdin’s mortal remains be handed over to them for the purpose of giving him a proper religious funeral. With the crowd continuing to swell, the authorities finally relented around 12 noon, said Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights Democracy (TCHRD) and RFA.org (Radio Free Asia, Washington) Jun 15.

The exile Tibetan administration, Dharamsala, said on its Tibet.net website Jun 15 that thousands of Tibetans and monks from nearby monasteries took part in the funeral which TCHRD said took place in a remote nomadic area in the county.

The deceased originally belonged to Lowa, a small nomadic village in the county, before he was forced to move to the county town with the others some years ago under China’s highly controversial and coercive ‘nomad relocation’ policy.

Tamdin is said to be survived by his wife and children.

China’s official Xinhua news agency confirmed the self-immolation but did not give any further information, saying the name of the deceased and the cause of the death were under investigation. Its policy, however, is to blame the Dalai Lama and exile Tibetan groups for all self-immolations and other forms of protests in Tibet.

The incident brings to 39 the number of Tibetans who had immolated themselves in Tibet against Chinese rule since Feb 2009, and to 30 the number of those who are known to have died as a result of it. The fate of most of the rest remains unknown.

Following Tamdin’s self-immolation, the authorities were reported to have rushed in police and paramilitary police reinforcements to the county town where the situation was reported to be tense.

Uncertainties still remain about Tamdin’s age, with different reports putting it at between 40s and 65, and the place of his self-immolation. Most reports said incident took place in front of the county police station.

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Last updated on Jun 17, 2012 17:26:14

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