20/03/2017
Beijing, 20 mar (EFE).- A young Tibetan from 24 years, Pema Gyaltsen, attempted to immolate himself in the Chinese province of Sichuan, in the area populated by this minority in the west of the country, a region where more than 140 People have carried out this type of protest against the Chinese Government since 2009.
As reported last night in a statement from the non-governmental organization Free Tibet, Gyaltsen attempted to burn himself near the Tsokha monastery in the town of Nyarong, towards the 16:00 hours (8:00 GMT) Saturday.
After the protest, A strong police force and other security forces arrived in the area and took the young man away., whose health status is unknown, although some witnesses stressed that Gyaltsen is still alive.
Internet connections in the area were completely cut off after the immolation attempt, the first reported among Tibetan communities since last December, when another person died after being burned in a bonze style.
In March of last year, another young man, Kalsang Wangdu, of 18 years, He also died after immolating himself at the gates of the Tsokha monastery..
These types of protests usually intensify in the months of March, anniversary of the riots that in 1959 led to the Dalai Lama's flight into exile, religious leader of the Tibetans, and also the protests of 2008 in Lhasa, the Tibetan regional capital, in which there were at least twenty deaths.
Some of those who died in immolations in recent years chanted slogans calling for freedom in Tibet or the return of the Dalai Lama to the region..
These individual protests, that worsened at the beginning of this decade, have decreased in recent years as a result of police pressure, that to stop them carries out arrests not only of those who carry them out but also of their relatives and acquaintances, denounced Free Tibet.
This and other Tibetan groups in exile consider that China has militarily occupied the Tibet region since 1959, repressing the religion and culture of his people.
Beijing, For its part, alega que el régimen comunista "liberó" la región del gobierno "teocrático" del Dalai Lama, y para defender esa postura creó el llamado "Día de la Liberación del Tíbet", which will be held next 28 March, a date that is also usually accompanied by protests against Beijing. EFE
