Self-immolation has turned into a dramatic way of protest both inside and outside Tibet. Since a monk called Tapey set himself alight in a marketplace in Ngaba, Amdo (Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) on 27 February 2009, as many as 119 Tibetans have taken the commitment to self-immolate to demand respect for Tibetan culture and language, the return of the Dalai Lama, the unity of the three historical Tibetan provinces (Ü-Tsang, Amdo and Kham) and freedom (independence) for Tibet. The last person burning herself alive was a woman did so yesterday at 5PM local time.
As anybody can imagine, the issue has been object of a huge controversy not only among Tibetans or Chinese people, but also among those interested in human rights issues and the current situation in Tibet. But such conflict can also be manipulated for propaganda purposes in an attempt to gain the simpathy of people who are not familiar to the cause, so it is sometimes hard to distinguish the reality from the manipulation. Given this situation, documentaries can be a good tool for collecting and spreading information even though they are not always objective.
The three documentaries below show different versions on the problem of self-immolations in Tibet. The first two have been broadcast by Chinese State television CCTV on May 2012 and May 2013 and give the official version held by Chinese authorities. On the other hand, the third documentary, broadcast by Voice of America on 6 June 2013, tries to make a wider analysis by explaining both the historical background and the current situation on theTibetan plateau, while some people give their own point of view on the issue as well.
The Dalai Clique and the Self-Immolation Event
The first video was firstly broadcast in Chinese by official CCTV television channel on May 2012, then translated into many languages as English, Arabic, French, Spanish or Russian and broadcast on channels outside China. Several days later, they uploaded both the Chinese and English versions into websites like Youtube and others but, as Tibetan writter and dissident
Tsering Woeser noticed, someone tried to remove the logo of the Chinese Central TV from the video and divided it into different parts.
This documentary is focused on a particular area: Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Ngaba (Aba) Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, both situated in Sichuan Province according to China (they are historically part of Kham and Amdo regions, respectively). It firstly analyses the burning protest by Phuntsok, a 19 year-old monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, Amdo (Ch. Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) who set himself alight on 16 March 2011 and died a day later. He allegedly committed suicide because of the influence that the first self-immolation by a monk called Tapey on 27 February 2009 exercised on him and the manipulation exercised by three friends of Phuntsok, who were supposed to incite the young monk to torch himself as well as to collect information and pictures of the suicide to send them abroad. The official version states that the police tried to rescue him but some fellow monks, including an uncle of him, prevented them from doing so, precipitating his death due to the lack of medical care.
After that, the programme takes a look on the international impact of the death of the young monk and the way that websites like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America reported it, highlighting the attempts by both media channels, the Dalai Lama and other exiled organizations to turn Phuntsok into a martyr thus encouraging all the self-immolations which would take place later. However, it shows such actions as contrary to Buddhism and encouraged by separatist forces, as well as attempts to regain honor and respect by Tibetans who had previously committed any kind of acts against their community.
Therefore China blames Kirti Rimpoche, the head of the monastery who fleed India following the Dalai Lama in 1959, for having collaborated
with other lamas in exile in order to incite unrest, collect information and "constantly encourage" self-immolation protests in an attempt to explain the fact that the majority of these protests took place in the outskirts of Kirti monastery. In contrast, the documentary gathers the accounts of several survivors to self-immolation as examples of the respect that provincial authorities have for human life. All of them confess that they repent of having set themselves on fire and that they are thankful for the medical attention they received. Furthermore, the video states that the self-immolators are instigated and incited by others, at the same time as some renowned Buddhists speak against self-immolation, qualificating it as a sin.
The programme also criticizes the ambiguous attitude of the Dalai Lama towards those suicides, whereas others say that encouraging them or praising those who have torched themselves as heroes would make some Tibetans resort to terrorist acts.
Finally, it analyses the situation in Drango county, Kham (Ch. Luhuo, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) earlier in 2012, reflecting some riots that took place there as samples of robbery and violence. However, the footages broadcast at this point show a gathering of monks and lay people who are peacefully demonstrating for independence whilst a reduced group is seen as throwing sticks and stones while protesting; then, some witnesses talk on the impact that those riots had in the economy of the region.
The documentary finishes explaining the punishment that those who participated in Drango riots and the friends and relatives of Phuntsok who were allegedly linked to his self-immolation had received according to the Chinese criminal laws as an example of normality, in opposition to the attempts by the "Dalai clique" to put pressure on China and make the international community intervene for Tibet's independence.
Guidebook to Self-Immolation - evidence of hands behind the tragedies
The second one was also broadcast by Chinese State television CCTV on 16 May 2013, firstly published in Chinese and later translated into many languages as Spanish, English, French, Russian and Arabic. It has been uploaded into websites like Youtube, where can be seen in its full lenght. However, the duration of the documentary is different depending on the chosen version due to unknown reasons.
Like the first one, this documentary is also focused on Sichuan province, firstly introducing the self-immolation attempt by a Tibetan called "Palma Gyal" (sic.) in Sertha, which was prevented in the last moment by the police. He allegedly wrote dozens of suicide notes following the instructions of the so-called "Guidebook to self-immolation", written by a former member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile with the purpose to teach Tibetans how to self-immolate. After that, it analyses the book and its structure: it is divided in 4 parts, each of which referred to a stage on self-immolation protest. For instance, the first chapter comprises the ideological preparation that self-immolators must follow; the second chapter, the practical issues regarding the protest; the third one, to the slogans to be shouted by people who set themselves on fire, whilst the last chapter takes a look on what would happen before or afterwards. However, Tibetans in exile claim that this book was actually an
analysis of the self-immolations that have taken place in Tibet during the last four years.
This reportage also refers to the first self-immolation protest which took place in Tibet on 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a monk from Kirti monastery, set himself on fire in an attempt to "regain his honour". Moreover, it also blames the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile for praising him as a hero and thus encouraging more protests like that. That would be the reason which allegedly prompted Phuntsok to burn himself alive on 16 March 2011, a protest which is also recorded on the first documentary.
Then, the programme analyses the attitude of Dalai Lama towards self-immolations, saying that he firstly chose to be neutral regarding those protests. He later claimed that they were a way to fight against China's tyranny. It also blames Kirti Rimpoche, the exiled leader of Kirti monastery as an instigator of such acts.
However, that is not only focused on a limited zone but tries to analyse the matter in all its breadth. In fact, it states that the self-immolations have mostly taken place in Ngapa (Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan), Kardze (Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture), Kanlho (Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu) and Malho (Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) prefectures, situated both in Amdo and Kham Tibetan historical provinces. There is another difference regarding the first documentary: it also recognizes that self-immolators have not only been monks and nuns, but also people from different social backgrounds. Self-immolators are described as people on their twenties or even younger, mindless and easily manipulated by the Dalai Clique as well.
Another feature that this documentary shares with the first one is that both comprise the statements made by some Buddhist heads criticizing those who committed or instigated this kind of suicides, blaming them for contravening religious teachings and being sinful.
It later resumes the analysis on the content of the book, quoting that the second chapter reccommends those who decide committing suicide to do so on an important date, as well as to record messages and write suicide notes before doing that. According to the documentary, several self-immolators asked someone to take pictures or record their self-immolation to send the footages abroad and to write or edite their suicide notes as well. It subsequently blames some pro-Tibetan media for publicizing the self-immolators and the notes they wrote before setting themselves on fire.
Furthermore, the programme identifies four main points used by the "Dalai Clique" to instigate such acts of protest, setting Kirti monastery as the most important of them because of the influence of Kirti Rimpoche and the work made by Lobsang Gongchok, a Tibetan who allegedly instigated 3 of those protests. Secondly, it blames the Tibetan Youth Congress for transmitting those orders through two of its members who allegedly encouraged Sangye Gyatso to set himself on fire on 6 October 2012. The third channel would be formed by those Tibetans who return to Tibet from abroad, especially from India. This would be the case of Phakpa, a Tibetan who returned to his hometown in Rebkong (Ch. Tongren, Huangnan Prefecture) county and persuaded a monk to self-immolate. The last one would be the internet at the media, especially websites like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which report self-immolations when they take place and thus encouraging more people to do so.
Returning to the book, the documentary highlights the importance of slogans to be shouted by those who are torching themselves on fire, calling for freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama and following the political claims made by the Tibetan Government in Exile. In fact, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader blames China's wrong policies towards Tibet as the main cause for such protests. Then, some Western scholars give their own account on the situation in Tibet, praising China's policies and blaming Western media and supporters of the Dalai Lama for distorting the information and thus encouraging more self-immolations. Some of those scholars also blame the Tibetan Government in Exile for being tolerant to them and paving the way to terrorism in Tibet, while a Chinese scholar states that most self-immolators belong to a religious order which has been banned globally. The programme also remarks the links between the Dalai Lama and the CIA, as well as the armed struggle which took place in Tibet during a short time.
The programme concludes that, according to the Guidebook on Self-Immolation, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile are benefitting, encouraging, praising and instigating the self-immolation protests both inside and outside Tibet.
Fire in the Land of Snow: self-immolations in Tibet
The last one was broadcast by Voice of America on 6 June 2013 as a response to the second documentary issued by Chinese official media. It was originally published in both Tibetan and English.
It starts giving some geographic indications on the situation of Tibet, divided between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and some other Tibetan prefectures which make almost the size of Western Europe. The documentary also highlights the importance of Buddhism to Tibetan culture, adding values as compassion and respect of all lives. However, individual Tibetans have taken the decision to douse themselves with gasoline, often drinking it, and torch themselves to protest. Some videos of self-immolators can be seen at this point, engulfed in flames and often shouting slogans.
Then, it analyses the causes that prompted people to die in such a painful way to make clear that they do not see a future for themselves or their people within China. The reasons of these and other forms or protests would be found dozens or years ago, when the People's Liberation Army atacked the Tibetan city of Chamdo (Kham, currently in the Tibetan Autonomous Region) on 7 October 1950, paving the way to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. After that, representatives of both the Chinese and Tibetan government signed the Seventeen Points Agreement, through which Tibet accepted being under Chinese rule on condition of mantaining the control of religious, cultural, economic and domestic political affairs. However, China would soon begin to dismantle the elements of Tibetan society in the areas outside today's TAR, provoking a strong rebellion where scores of Tibetans would die under Chinese guns and that would pave the way for the Tibetan uprising of 1959. Subsequently, Tenzin Gyatso, the 23-year-old 14th Dalai Lama, would flee to India, where still remains.
After offering this historical background supported with the statement of Chinese scholar Li Jianglin, the documentary analyses the latest episodes of protests against the occupation. It highlights that, during the uprising of March 2008, protestors demanded greater religious freedom and the end of a control on their life that was not seen anywhere else in China since the Cultural Revolution ended.
Focusing on the Tibetan uprising which took place between 10 and 14 March 2008, Tibetan writter and blogger
Tsering Woeser speaks about protests and the brutal police crackdowns that followed. Furthermore, she claims that Lhasa and other Tibetan areas have been under a kind of martial law since, making group protests almost impossible. Those protests, especially the media coverage by State-run television, would change the relationship between Han Chinese and Tibetans for the years to come. In fact, China presented them as organized and encouraged by the Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetan leaders and covered only the violent incidents which took place after 4 days of peaceful protests.
Moreover, Chinese writer and scholar Wang Lixiong highlights the differences between the coverage of that uprising and the way that State media handles other similar protests taking place in China, to whom the government usually responds through information blackouts. By constantly airing violent clashes of 14 March 2008, the ethnic tensions between Tibetans and Han Chinese turned into a racial conflict. As an example, the documentary illustrates Wang's statement with examples of daily discrimination suffered by Tibetans, who are frequently questioned, searched and disturbed everywhere, damaging the convivence between both ethnic groups. As an example, Tibetans are paid a lower wage than Han Chinese for the same work. According to Robert Barnett, the director of the Department on Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University, those events led to a turning point in the history of China since more than a half of Tibetan population do not support Chinese rule on Tibet anymore.
Following those protests, some Chinese intellectuals (jailed Nobel Peace Prize Liu Xiaobo among them) asked the government to review its policies towards Tibet. However, the government has ignored those requests and targeted those who made them with harassment. In addition, police crackdown continued with mass detentions and tighter controls on the daily life of Tibetan monks and lay people. The situation would lead Tapey, a monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, Amdo (Ch. Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) to set himself ablaze on 27 February 2009. At this point, the documentary explains this burning protest, the first one which would take place in Tibet. According to Woeser, the situation has worsened since in all the Tibetan areas with a spate on protests and subsequent repression by Chinese police, including imprisonments, torture and forced dissapearances. However, those protests did not have any international repercussion, so they eventually turned into self-immolations.
At this point, the documentary explains the situation in Ngaba since 2008, when police shot on demonstrators and killed at least 10 of them. As Barnett notes, Tapey's self-immolation was a clear indicator on the fail of Chinese policies after the uprising of 2008, leading to a movement much more widespread than earlier protests themselves. Unlike the other two documentaries analysed before, this gives credibility to the testimony that Tapey was shot by the police while still burning and then held in custody. Following the protest, the entire prefecture was taken by police. This self-immolation would have a huge impact among Tibetans living in exile, despite the attempts of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to minimize it. According to Tibetan writer Dhondhup Tashi Rejkong, it marked a milestone on the Tibetan struggle and marked a sort of generational shift on it: Tapey was part of a generation who had born under Chinese occupation of Tibet and so that was trying to respond to the attempts of destruction of their culture and way of living led by China since 1959.
This documentary also analyses the self-immolation protest commited by Phuntsok on 16 March 2011, remarking that he shouted for long life of the Dalai Lama while engulfed in flames. But the version of what happened then changes at this point: unlike the two others, this programme reports that the 20-year-old monk from Kirti monastery was beaten by the police before being rescued by fellow monks. This is exactly the opposite of the official version given by Chinese authorities, as explained before: Phuntsok eventually died soon afterwards, due to his injuries. Following that suicide, the presence of security forces would be even harsher in many Tibetan areas, including restrictions on movement by Tibetans. Despite the heavy controls, eleven more people would self-immolate in 2011 alone.
After that, the programme takes a look on the controls suffered by Tibet's monastic community in the aftermath of Tapey's self-immolation. According to Steve Marshall, a member of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the governemnts of several prefectures implemented new specific regulations on Tibetan monasteries and increased their interference on monastic affairs. The situation was especially harsh at Kirti monastery because of its relationship with Kirti Rimpoche, a person blamed by Chinese government for having instigated the spate of self-immolations in Tibet. The same head of the monastery, exiled in India since 1959, admits he has even accused of having been a Security Minister even though he had only served as a Minister of Religious Affairs. He obviously denies any involvement in the rise of protests inside Tibet.
While reviewing the clampdown implemented by Chinese security forces since 2008, the video highlights the attempts to supress almost any expression of Tibetan identity by detaining writers and artists. However, it has not been visible to the outside world because of the closure of the entire region to the foreign media. The few reporters who managed to enter secretly there highlighted the policial deployment across Tibetan areas and a climate of fear and intimidation. As a consequence, the level of frustration suffered by Tibetans has increased, leading to more self-immolations so far.
Another important issue is the relationship between Tibetans and the Dalai Lama, which has not been publicly aknowledged by China even though that Dalai Lamas had been political and religious leaders of Tibet for more than 300 years. This is the reason who led scores of Tibetans, both inhabitants of Lhasa and refugees from other Tibetan areas fleeing from persecution by Chinese army, to surround the Potala palace in February 1959 and protect him. In fact, the figure of the Dalai Lama has a huge symbolic importance for Tibetans since he is the embodiment of a vision on their culture, identity and religion. A month later, the Dalai Lama fleed to India while Tibetan citizens resorted to the defence of Lhasa on the eve of a bloody battle that resulted to almost 5,000 casualties and the destruction of very important heritage in less than 48 hours, according to Chinese historian Li Jianglin.
After the Dalai Lama fleed, Chinese authorities appointed the Panchen Lama, the second most important Lama, to a leadership position. However, he would later be seen as an enemy of the people by Mao after reporting the nature of the control that China was exercising in Tibet, so he spent the next 14 years in prison and under house arrest. At this point, Robert Barnett notes that he was the person that firstly noticed the closure of many monasteries even before the Cultural Revolution, as well as an attack towards everyone who seemed likely to be dissident. In fact, scores of Tibetans would be unfairly jailed, some of them dying in prison camps. Tibetan writer Jamyang Norbu gives further details on the massacre that took place there before 1966, especially the concerns raised by the Panchen Lama on the situation in Golok, Amdo (Guolo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) where a huge massacre took place.
This harsh situation for Tibet would get even worse during the Cultural Revolution, damaging Tibetan culture and religious institutions all across the Tibetan plateau. In fact,
Hu Yaobang would state in 1980 that the region needed a real autonomy, bringing a new hope to its inhabitants. The end of such a tight control on religious and social life of Tibetans would also lead to an unprecedented social stability. However, the same people who ruled Tibet during the Cultural Revolution remained in their positions, making the reforms introduced by Hu last too short and provoking a new way of protests in 1987. Barnett highlights the importance of the demonstrations of October that year as people dared to speak out against those hard-line policies. The government reacted declaring martial law and attacking the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, the holiest place for Tibetan buddhism, drawing the attention of the international community on the calls for freedom for Tibet. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize because of his nonviolent struggle for Tibet's independence.
For Robert Barnett, there is a parallelism between the situation after October 1987 and following the Tibetan uprising of March 2008. In fact Chinese government resorted to even harsher policies, losing an opportunity to adress the concerns raised by demonstrators. However, the control would be even harsher in 2008: Chinese cadres would be permanently installed inside monasteries and the military would be ostensibly across Tibet, paving the way for a discriminating and aggressive behaviour towards Tibetans. That is also the present situation all across the Tibetan plateau.
The documentary later focuses on the commitment taken by the Dalai Lama to begin talks with Chinese authorities in 1988, in order to seek solutions for the tense situation in Tibet. Eventually, the idea of Tibet with greater cultural and religious autonomy within China would be firstly proposed at that time. The talks which started soon afterwards have been always unsuccessful because of the unwillingness of Beijing to discuss anything else but the personal status of the Dalai Lama. Furthermore, the closure of such talks would have a very negative impact amongst Tibetans. At this point, several scenes of a documentary called
Leaving Fear Behind, recorded jointly by jailed Tibetan filmmaker
Dhondup Wangchen and missing monk Jigme Gyatso (also known as
Golog Jigme), are displayed and show ordinary people from Tibet demanding the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
The documentary links all the frustration accumulated by Tibetans due to Chinese policies to the spate on self-immolations by the spring 2012. However, the profile of self-immolators had changed: they would not be only monks and nuns but also lay people from different social backgrounds. They are not limited to Sichuan province anymore, but have been extended throughout Tibet. By stating that, Marshall dismantles the official version issued by China and shown on the documentaries analysed above. However, Wang Lixiong notices that most Han Chinese people are not aware of the spate on self-immolations because of the informative blockade on this issue. In fact, people spreading the word on that are often harassed by the police or government officials.
Another reason that has prompted many Tibetans to set themselves on fire is the fact that Chinese language is replacing Tibetan as the primary language at school. For instance, 20-year-old student Tsering Kyi set herself alight at a vegetable market in Machu county, Amdo (Ch. Maqu, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province) on 3 March 2011 after telling some friends that her life would be meaningless if she does nothing for the cause of Tibet. But far from easing the clampdown on Tibetans, the situation for them has become even worse, with checkpoints deployed across the plateau. As Woeser reports, police ask Tibetans for a permission to enter their own land. Moreover, Wang blames the thight controls on Tibet to the mantainment of policies closer to the Cultural Revolution. The spate of self-immolations would finally reach Lhasa on 27 May 2012, when 25-year-old Dargye and 19-year-old Dorjee Tseten set themselves on fire in front of Jokhang Temple.
Once arriving at this point, the documentary resumes the fundamental issue of the videos broadcast by CCTV: the involvement of the Dalai Lama in such protests. It claims that the Dalai Lama has not made any statement encouraging self-immolations despite the accusations issued by Chinese authorities, and has always requested Beijing to adress the concerns shown by Tibetans. However, he admitted that he could do nothing to prevent people from setting themselves on fire because of the lack of alternatives.
The programme then narrates the self-immolation of nun Palden Choetso, who would become the second woman to set herself alight on 3 November 2011 in Tawu county, Kham (Ch. Daofu, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province). According to Lobsang Jinpa, a neighbour of her, she was aware of the increasing surveillance and repression by the Chinese govenrment on Tibetans.
Subsequently, the documentary analyses the impact that the self-immolation protest staged by Lama Sobha, a revered monk who set himself on fire in Darlag County, Amdo (Ch. Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) on 8 January 2012. The other one which would not fit any official version issued by the Chinese government would be that by Tamding Dorjee, the grandfather of a young reincarnated lama, who set himself on fire in Tsekhog county, Amdo (Ch. Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu) on 23 November 2012. His funeral would draw the solidarity of many Tibetans as part of a large-scale show of solidarity for self-immolators inside Tibet, as Dhondup Tashi Rekjong shows. In fact, people from other neighbouring areas gather to pay respect for a self-immolator, evidencing that those acts of protest are related to whole Tibet.
After those analysis on self-immolations, the documentary resumes the accusations made by Chinese government and media, who constantly blame the Dalai Clique and foreign forces for the spate of these protests. According to Hong Lei, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, self-immolations are motivated by Tibetan separatism and masterminded by the Dalai Clique. Those claims were quickly refuted by Lobsang Sangay, the elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, who stated that anyone in exile was encouraging self-immolations and requested China to improve the situation in Tibet. However, some hints question whether the government is really interested in improving it. According to Wang Lixiong, Chinese government tries to avoid any responsibility on self-immolations and to take advantage on them as well, in order to justify an expansion of its power.
The increase on self immolations in November 2012, when 27 people set themselves on fire, prompted the international community to put pressure on China in order to redress the situation. According to Navi Pillar, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, social stability in Tibet will never be achieved through heavy security measures and suppresion of human rights. Barack Obama urged China to resume talks with the Dalai Lama in order to end self-immolation protests. However, Beijing would declare Tibet a core interest for the nation, claiming that the government has made huge investments in order to improve people's livelihood, something that Robert Barnett recognizes on the documentary. This economic development also brings negative consequences to Tibet since it is damaging the environment. In addition, development cannot replace cultural or religious tensions related to the position by the Communist Party of China towards religion and minorities. Wang Lixiong also supports this teory, stating that economic development does not matter for Tibetans if the Dalai Lama is not allowed to return to Tibet.
In a display of irony, the documentary refers to the accusations launched against Voice of America by a survivor of a self-immolation protest whose account is collected by the CCTV programme called Guidebook to Self-Immolation: the evil hands behind the scenes. In fact, a boy called Samdel claimed that he set himself ablaze after seing a photo report where self-immolators were praised like heroes. It also reports the attempts to blame people for having incited those protests. In fact, Chinese government criminalizes not only self-immolations but also any form of solidarity towards those who have committed suicide. Regarding the nature of the Tibetan issue, Steve Marshall appoints that the CCP and Tibetan citizens have opposed visions: the first ones try to vanish any relation between the situation in Tibet and human rights, whereas the second ones see it as a conflict related precisely to human rights. That would be the reason which prompts China to blame the so-called Dalai Clique for the self-immolations in Tibet, identifying people who are allegedly inciting people to self themselves alight.
The Tibetan Government in Exile has always been careful when stating the causes of those protests, in contraposition to others both inside and outside Tibet who, as Jamyang Norbu does, claims that people are setting themselves on fire for independence, citing the words left by Sangay Dolma before her self-immolation as an example. In addition, Wang Lixiong warns that, if they really set selves alight for independence, self-immolation will be very difficult to stop in the future since any efforts to stop them would be seen as a betrayal and will also be critical to the relationship between Tibetans and Han Chinese. The documentary shows a video footage in which Ngawang Norphel, who self immolated on 20 June 2012, justifies his protest because of the lack of freedom in Tibet. He died 10 days later.
The documentary finished giving some clues of the self immolations.
A same issue, three versions
The three documentaries aim to analyse the same issue from different perspectives, thus highlighting some aspects while hiding others. In the case of both videos broadcast by Chinese State-run television, they try to present self-immolations as a phenomenon limited to a specific geographical area because of the instigation made by Tibetan separatists and the so-called Dalai Clique. In contrast, the documentary issued by VOA demonstrates that the spate of burning protests has been widespread across the Tibetan plateau as a result of the brutality of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The last one does eventually give more indications on the reasons that have prompted more than a hundred Tibetans to commit suicide in such a dramatic way.
Moreover, the first, and especially the second documentary analyse the issue without giving any features on its historical background, making it difficult to be understood for people without previous knowledge on Tibet's issue. Therefore, this would be the only way to make the involvement of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan authorities in exile a credible hypothesis.
Another issue that has drawn my attention is the fact that the Chinese official version describes the personality and circumstances of those who committed self-immolation in a very biased way, presenting them as simpleminded or naive people who blindly follow the indications given by the so-caled Dalai Clique. However, when someone takes a look on the list of self-immolations published by some advocacy groups like "
Free Tibet", the reality is another: they were ordinary people who felt outraged by China's policies on Tibet and decided to use this form of protest.
By the way, the only documentary which gives indications regarding the history of the Tibetan issue is the one broadcast by Voice of America, which takes a look on the history of Tibet since 1950 by displaying rare historical photo and video footages and supporting this review with statements by scholars, writers and even a congressman. However, it fails to explain properly the increase of frustration among Tibetans due to the implantation of the "Middle Way Policy", which advocates for a genuine cultural and religious autonomy for Tibetans. In fact, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government in Exile),
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, admitted in a statement before the
Council on Foreign Relations that he was not challenging the communist rule in that hypothetic "genuinelly autonomous" Tibet, adding that its autonomy should be limited to a specific period of time. His statement is accurately analysed
here.
Another issue which deserves to be noticed is that neither
Guidebook on Self-Immolation nor
Fire in the land of snow are able to analyse whether the appointment of Xi Jinping as the General Secretary of the Permanent Committee of the Communist Party of China on November 2012 had something to do with the dramatic spate on self-immolations that took place that month, seing as many as 27 Tibetans setting themselves on fire. Furthermore, the first documentary does not even mention this fact, despite giving a large coverage on the violent clashes that took place in Drango county during the same year.
To sum up, it is quite evident that the documentary broadcast by Voice of America is the only one which analyses in depth the phenomenon of self-immolations in Tibet, situating it within a specific historical and geographic background which the others fail to establish. From my personal point of view, this circumstance and the others which I have remarked above give that documentary and its version regarding this issue more credibility that the others have.
As many as 119 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since Tapey self-immolated on 27 November 2009, including a woman who committed suicide yesterday in Tawu county. They are not just numbers and, regardless the attempts to manipulate the justifications behind those acts, the reality is that all of them chose that way of protest to draw attention to the situation in Tibet. This is something that everybody should be aware of.
