DHARAMSHALA: Exile Tibetans living across the world will hold a prayer service on 18 June to express solidarity with Wangchen Dolma, who died after setting herself on fire last Monday in Tawu county in eastern Tibet’s Kham region to protest against the continued occupation and repression of Tibet by the Chinese government, the Department of Religion and Culture said in a circular today.
The prayer service in Dharamsala will be held at Thekchen Choeling Tsuglagkhang at 4:00 pm. The Tibetan Settlement Offices and the Offices of Tibet have been asked to organise the prayer service at their respective regions accordingly.
Wangchen Dolma, a 31-year-old nun, became the 119th Tibetan to self-immolate inside Tibet, demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and freedom for Tibetans. She set herself on fire last Monday (11 June) outside Nyatso monastery, where thousands of monks from different monasteries are participating in a major religious gathering. It was later known that she succumbed to her burn injuries at a hospital in Dartsedo on Friday (14 June).
