He had previously been detained for 10 days for posting a photo of the Dalai Lama on the heavily monitored messaging service WeChat. After this fiery act of protest, he was taken away again for the last time by police, who refused to return his body to his family. The goal of this policy is an authoritarian feedback cycle combining political and cultural controls from the top with rapid economic growth from below that theoretically produces bottom-up support for the party-state.
This cult is locking people in Tibet, both Han Chinese and Tibetan, into a downward spiral of anger and pain. Looking back at the images smuggled out of Tibet showing Tapey walking down a street in Ngaba with his robes engulfed in flames, one cannot help but ask: Why is this happening? And where is this taking China and Tibet?
Self-immolations have been effective tools of public protests in the past: Consider the famously powerful image of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burning himself to death in Vietnam. But in China, where self-immolations have now been ongoing for eight full years, they barely make a ripple. That assumption is reinforced by the primary Chinese public memory of self-immolation, the alleged Falun Gong supporters who set themselves on fire in protest in Tiananmen Square in Those scenes were gratuitously and repeatedly broadcast on state television, reinforcing notions of self-immolation as a cultic act, with vulnerable minds tricked by manipulative elders.
Although some Chinese express sympathy and understanding in private, the majority see self-immolations in Tibet as another example of the simple and easily misled mind of the native.
But the reality of self-immolation is far more complicated. This last series of protests, however, became the target of an unrelenting state crackdown, followed by the all-encompassing securitization of the Tibetan Plateau in the name of sacred stability. In these communities, Tibetans are given Chinese language lessons, and for a period of time after moving, a small living stipend. But that's not always enough. They gave up everything they have, but they haven't gained a way of life, a way of livelihood," says Steve Marshall.
This weekend, after a monk identified as Nyage Sonamdrugyu set himself on fire, around angry protesters forced police to relinquish his body, which they then carried through the streets of Gyumai, a town in Tibet. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency said that an investigation found Nyage burned himself after his "secret love affair with a local woman was discovered by the woman's husband. Radio Free Asia said security in the area has been tightened.
If self-immolation were to become a larger trend, it could be very significant to Chinese internal dynamics. But to the 15 monks who were willing to burn in protest, the significance of their actions, and all they were willing to give up to be heard, was already plain.
Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe. Marshall says that the self-immolaters are remarkably consistent in their call for independence.
Such an act is not to be judged by the precepts of Buddhism: it can only be judged by its political results. Each and every one of these roaring flames on the Tibetan plateau has been ignited by ethnic oppression.
Each is a torch casting light on a land trapped in darkness. They are not in any way opposed to Dharma, and certainly do not violate it. The motivations of self-immolators in Tibet, whether monks or laypeople, have nothing at all to do with personal interest…. Best of The New York Review, plus books, events, and other items of interest. Tsering Woeser is a Tibetan poet, essayist, and blogger based in China.
Read Next. For nearly two decades after the Chinese takeover of Tibet, the CIA ran a covert operation designed to train Tibetan insurgents and gather intelligence about the Chinese. Though it was cancelled in the early s, it did not end the long legacy of mistrust that continues to color Chinese-American….
Following is an English translation of an Internet dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese citizens that took place on May The exchange was organized by Wang Lixiong, a Chinese intellectual known for his writing on Tibet. The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions. News about upcoming issues, contributors, special events, online features, and more. The New York Review of Books: recent articles and content from nybooks.
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They believe it to be effective, first, because it is difficult for authorities to prevent; second, because its shock value attracts global attention; and finally, because it demonstrates a courage that may inspire others. But, as Kevin Carrico points out in a cultural and historical analysis of the practice in Tibet, there is no tradition of self-immolation in Tibetan Buddhism.
Even so, to understand the motivations for self-immolation, one cannot overlook the role that Tibetan Buddhism plays, of which nonviolence is a central tenet. A more nuanced but also favorable view of self-immolation is that of Tenzin Kun-khyab of the Central Tibetan Administration. Surprisingly, however, this globally renowned advocate of nonviolence—a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize—has refused to speak against the practice of brutal suicide as a form of protest, despite the power he has to prevent it.
His concern for the families of the protesters comes from the right place; indeed, they would be sad to hear that the Dalai Lama disapproves of the suicide of their relatives.
Such sadness, however, does not compare to the potential deaths of Tibetan self-immolators to come. Each year since , there have been at least three, at most 86, Tibetan self-immolators. The huge and ever-growing death toll of those who have burned themselves in his name should be enough to spur the Dalai Lama to action; but the inefficacy of these protests makes them all the more depressing.
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