Lhasa Tibet
Two Tibetan monks set themselves on fire in Lhasa Tibet, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, an event in which one died and another was seriously injured, reported the official Xinhua news agency.
Tobgye Tseten and Dargye (many Tibetan names have no last name) tried to blow himself up yesterday in a central street in Lhasa and the flames were extinguished in "two minutes", said Xinhua, which said that both were taken to hospital where the first one died , while the latter remains stable.
Tobgye Tseten was from the neighboring provinces of Gansu and it is Dargye of Sichuan.
Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia (RFA) based in the U.S., said the two young monks during a demonstration in front of the Jokhang Temple, a place of pilgrimage for Tibetans against Chinese rule when burned.
According to witnesses cited by the station, "the fire was extinguished in 15 minutes (in contrast to the two minutes it says Xinhua) by the security forces cordoned off the area."
"Lhasa is now full of policemen and paramilitary forces, the situation is very tense," said another citizen, and several noted that the areas near the Potala Palace (residence of the Dalai Lama before his exile to India) are heavily guarded, of According to U.S. located half
Protests are also due to the wave of arrests of Tibetans by Chinese security forces, which have increased their presence in the autonomous region ahead of the celebration of the month of Saka Dawa, which commemorates the birth, life and death Buddha, according to RFA.
Xinhua said that this is the first case of immolation in the Tibetan capital so far this year, but notes that at this time "over twenty" Tibetans have died under similar conditions in several provinces bordering the autonomous region and Gansu Sichuan and Qinghai (northwest).
Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia the figure rises to 35 deaths just since last March.
The Chinese authorities accuse the Dalai Lama, in exile in Dharamsala (India) and other Tibetan forces in the diaspora to incite suicide, claims that belies the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, called on young Tibetan protests and stop immolation in his only year press conference, held in March and will be the last before he leaves office in late 2012.
China maintains that Tibet is an inseparable part for centuries its territory, while Tibetans who have long wielded was independent until the communist troops occupied it in 1951.
