Tibetan youth dies after self-immolation protest in restive Ngaba county
DHARAMSALA, 28 Nov: A Tibetan youth has set himself on fire in restive Ngaba County in eastern Tibet’s Amdo Province in the latest self-immolation protest against China’s repressive policies in occupied Tibet.
“Yonten, a Tibetan youth has self-immolated on 26 Nov protesting against China’s repressive rule in Tibet,” said Lobsang Yeshi and Kanyag Tsering, spokespersons of Kirti monastery in Dharamsala.
The Tibetan youth believed to be around 24 years old has staged the fiery protest around 4 pm(local time) on a street near Meruma Township in Ngaba region and succumbed to his burns, the spokespersons added.
Further details about and following the protest, and that of what has happened to his body are not available due to China’s tight grip in Ngaba region, the hotbed of self-immolation protests inside Tibet.
Yonten, son of Sodhon and Tsekho Kyi hails from the second division of Meruma Township in Ngaba region.
Though the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) headquartered in Dharamsala has repeatedly urged Tibetans not to resort to drastic measures such as self-immolation, the saga of fiery protests by the Tibetans continues.
Since Feb 2009, 156 Tibetans have self-immolated in the Chinese occupied Tibet calling for freedom, an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet while 10 self-immolations by Tibetans have occurred in exile since 1998.
Yonten is the first Tibetan to have self-immolated in 2019 protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet.
