DHARAMSHALA: A Tibetan monk who recently escaped from Rebgong in north-eastern Tibet, where over 12 self-immolations took place, gave detailed accounts of the Chinese government’s policy measures pushing Tibetans to take drastic steps. (View video)

The monk said in a detailed testimony, “I had to live under an atmosphere of constant fear and intimidation, with no freedom to move and speak to people, let alone pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So I was compelled to escape to India. After arriving in Dharamsala, I naturally feel happy and calm inside because of freedom that I enjoy in this free land.

The only way we learn about the self-immolation incidents in other areas is either through radio services or phone calls to friends in Ngaba.

The Chinese government never broadcasts news about the self-immolations in Tibet, but routinely air propaganda programmes alleging that the self-immolations are incited by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. However, Tibetans living inside Tibet, attest to the fact that His Holiness the Dalai Lama or any other Tibetan or organisations have never encouraged Tibetans to self-immolate. Tibetans are resorting to self-immolations as they find it impossible to live under the Chinese rule.

The sole objective of the Chinese government’s education policy in Tibet is to systematically downgrade the Tibetan language. The Tibetan children are denied the right to learn in their own language and they are forced to speak Chinese. The main aim is to gradually sinicize them.

Under the policy of settling nomads, the Tibetan nomads are given a sum of 20 to 30 thousand yuan in the initial phase of resettlement and are forced to sell off their livestock. However, once they have moved to the town, they are not offered any monetary help by the government.  With several Chinese having migrated to Tibet, the situation is such that Tibetans need to learn Chinese even to be in the monasteries. The reason behind resettling Tibetan nomads is to implement the various policies of the Chinese government to undermine Tibetan language and culture as it is unfeasible for the government to exercise these policies in the remote nomadic regions. But as soon as the nomads are settled in the towns, all of them, including young children and older people are compelled to speak Chinese.

Due to such severe restriction on the Tibetan people’s rights, Tibetans inside Tibet are setting themselves on fire in protest.

Instead of addressing the genuine grievances of the Tibetan people, the Chinese government imposes severe restrictions on the Tibetan people’s rights. We are denied basic human rights such as the right to practice our religion, the right to express our thoughts, the right to move freely. Therefore, the situation inside Tibet is deteriorating.

Furthermore, they have announced cash rewards to informers on the self-immolators. Our movements inside the monasteries are closely monitored and our phones tapped. If we speak anything related to self-immolation, we are instantly arrested and tortured.

The Tibetan struggle for freedom is non-violent. His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s middle way path is also a non-violent approach and therefore Tibetans in Tibet have never indulged in any form of violence or vandalism. They have only self-immolated peacefully. Otherwise, for a person who has resolved to set his or her body on fire, it would not be difficult to harm a Chinese person. But they have never done that. They all chose to burn themselves without hurting anyone else.

The biggest concern and fear among the Tibetans in Tibet, especially the older generation, is that they might never see His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetans reunited in their lifetime.

The Tibetans inside Tibet rest their hope on the United Nations and the Tibetans in exile. They hope that the world community, especially governments and organisations, in their commitment to truth and justice, will provide meaningful support for the issue of Tibet. They also hope that Tibetans living in exile will make utmost efforts to bring an immediate end to the sufferings in Tibet”.