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Self-immolation protest now reach Lhasa

Self-immolation protest hits Tibetan capital for first time.

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The wave of self-immolations that has spread across Tibetan areas of western China in the past year has reached Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Two men set themselves on fire outside the Jokhang temple, a Buddhist shrine in the heart of the city, which has been smothered with security forces since its monks took part in anti-Chinese riots four years ago.

One of the men died and the other, a 19-year-old whose oldest brother is a monk, survived. He was said to be in a stable condition in hospital. The dead man was identified as Tobgye Tseten from Xiahe county in Gansu province. The teenager was named as Dargye, from Aba county in Sichuan province, the centre of the protests over the past year in which 34 other people have set themselves on fire.

Harriet Beaumont, from the campaigning group Free Tibet, said: "We understand that the two of them hired a hotel room next to the Jokhang temple at around 1pm on the Sunday.

"They came out of the hotel room at about 2.15pm, and walked up to the temple, where they shouted three times and then set themselves on fire."

A witness told Radio Free Asia: "The security forces arrived immediately and put out the fire and all the tourists in the area were cordoned off from the site. Within 15 minutes, the area was cleaned and not a trace of the incident was left."

Robbie Barnett, a professor of modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University, said: "All I could infer [from my source] is that this incident had taken place and that Lhasa is 'seething'. This is certainly a 'line in the sand' that has been crossed for the Chinese, as they have clearly been focused on keeping these protests out of the major cities."

Jokhang temple is a point of pilgrimage for thousands of Buddhists celebrating the month-long Sagadawa festival. It ends each year on the 15th day of the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar. This year, the day is June 4, also the anniversary of the quashing of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
 

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