China's Tibetan Buddhists 'in vicious cycle'

[ellisonz]

A FreeTibet photo shows Chinese police guarding monks wearing placards on their necks showing their names and alleged crimes committed in a Tibetan area of southwest China's Sichuan province. Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of enacting religious repression and of eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically Tibetan areas.

AFP January 13, 2012, 8:04 pm

BEIJING (AFP) - China's Tibetan Buddhists are locked in a "vicious cycle" of radicalisation as an intensifying government crackdown spurs them to increasingly desperate acts of protest, rights groups say.

At least 15 Tibetans have set fire to themselves over the last year. Most have been young monks in their teens or early 20s, but the last self-immolation was perpetrated by a high-ranking Buddhist cleric for the first time.

Sonam Wangyal, reported to be in his 40s, who set himself on fire in the northwestern province of Qinghai on Sunday, was known as a "living Buddha" -- the reincarnation of a line of high-ranking lamas.

Experts say suicide is a major taboo in Tibetan Buddhist culture, and that the senior monk would have been "acutely aware" of the ramifications of his self-immolation for his reincarnation.

Lengthy news analysis: http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/12589518/china-s-tibetan-buddhists-in-vicious-cycle/

That specific photo was smuggled out of Tibet a little over a month ago. The monks are being marched into a courtyard to watch a hanging. The PRC must concede that they will not able to crush the spirit and culture of the Tibetan people.

You can see the full series of smuggled photos here (Note the shadow in the third photo): http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Leaked+photos+show+Chinese+brutality+in+Tibet&id=30465

There are no Western journalists to my knowledge in Tibet.

[TigerToMany]

1. K&R

[postulater]

2. Thx. Read later.

[Blue_Tires]

3. kick

[ellisonz]

4. Kick.