Tibetan youth self-immolates in eastern Tibet, toll reaches 147

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, March 20: A Tibetan youth has set himself on fire on Mar 18 in Nyarong county in the traditional Tibetan province of Kham.

Pema Gyaltsen (Pegyal), 24, set himself on fire near Tsokha monastery in Nyagrong in protest against China’s repressive rule in Tibet.

Pegyal’s condition and whereabouts after his self-immolation protest remain unknown as Chinese authorities whisked away his charred body.

Pegyal became the 147th known Tibetan to have self-immolated since 2009 and the first in 2017.  All the Tibetan self-immolators have called for freedom to be restored in Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet.

Three Dharamsala-based Tibetan NGOs, Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, and Student’s for a Free Tibet, collectively organized a candle light vigil in Mcleod Ganj yesterday evening to express their solidarity with the latest Tibetan self-immolator.