DHARAMSHALA: Hundreds of Tibetans including Kalons, Tibetan Parliamentarians, Justice Commissioners, and officials of the Central Tibetan Administration gathered at Tsuglagkhang today to pray for Sonam Tso, the latest Tibetan to self-immolate in protest against Chinese rule in Tibet.

The prayer service, organised by the Department of Religion and Culture, was presided over by Kasur Kirti Rinpoche, head lama of Kirti monastery.

Expressing solidarity with the self-immolater, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay offered the Kashag’s profound condolences at the prayer service and commended the resilience and valor of Tibetans inside Tibet in the face of constant oppression from the Chinese government. “Tibetans inside Tibet continue to suffer unimaginable brutality under the repressive Chinese government. Therefore, the Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration stands in solidarity with the sufferings of the Tibetans inside Tibet,” he said.

“Since 2009, at least 144 Tibetans have set themselves on fire protesting the repressive Chinese rule in Tibet. Many of them have died while the status of the rest remain unknown or critically injured. We pray for the swift rebirth of those who have died,” he added.

Sonam Tso, a mother of five from Dotsa village in Dzoge County, Ngaba Prefecture, died after setting herself on fire on 23 March to protest Chinese rule in Tibet. She shouted slogans calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans. It was also reported that her husband Kelsang Gyaltsen was called-in for questioning three times after her self-immolation.

Sonam Tso was the second Tibetan to self-immolate this year after Kalsang Wangdu, a monk of Retsokha Aryaling monastery who burned himself on 29 February in Nyarong county, Kardze (incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province).