(TibetanReview.net, Jul05’26) –The mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has said he was ‘heartbroken’ and expressed regret over the protest self-immolation carried out by a 52-year-old Tibetan independence activist in front of the United Nations Headquarters on Jul 2 evening.
Lobsang Palden, known by his activist name of Lobga (or Loga) Rangzen, live-captured his protest, with the online footage showing him walking on the square somewhat briskly, dressed in the traditional Tibetan chuba, and carrying a Tibetan national flag which he planted on a crossroad before he torched himself in a burst of leaping flames. Taken to hospital, he succumbed to his injuries a little over an hour after the incident.
“The death of activist Lobga Rangzen has left me heartbroken. No one should reach the point of thinking that such a desperate act is the only way to get the world to listen to you,” the social democratic mayor published on social media, as reported by democrata.es Jun 4.
“New York,” he assured, “will always defend dignity and Human Rights, and mourns this tragic loss before extending its condolences to his loved ones and the Tibetan community throughout this city, which is ours.”
The report cited a representative of the New York Police Department as saying officers found the man “with severe burns all over his body” after responding to the intersection of 42nd Street and First Avenue, following an emergency call around 6:30 p.m. (local time) on Jul 2.
Lobga Ranzen posted online messages before carrying out his fiery protest, condemning the ongoing Chinese occupation rule in Tibet and its policies to destroy the Tibetan nation and its people. He called for Tibet’s independence and urged the Tibetan people to be united achieve this goal,
He carried out his protest a day after China began implementing a new ethnic assimilation law in Tibet and across the People’s Republic of China, which is misleadingly titled as “Ethic Unity and Progress Promotion Law.”