China's human rights violations force Tibetans to attempt self-immolations: Report

As Tibetans continue to face the human rights violations under Chinese President Xi Jinping's policies, they feel that there is no other option left to deal with the situation but resort to self-immolation, according to a report.

The year 2022 has been rocked by three reported incidents of self-immolations by Tibetans inside Chinese occupied Tibet, signalling a return to the self-immolations as a tool of protest, Tibet Rights Collective said in its report.

According to the report, over the years, especially under Xi Jinping, China has undertaken brutal tactics that are aimed at the "Sinicization (mainstreaming to Chinese culture)" of Tibetan Buddhists and building what Beijing claims to be a "modern, socialist and culturally advanced Tibet".

The end result of such tactics has been that Tibetans have been at the receiving end of "gross human rights violations that are taking Tibetans' culture, language, identity, traditions and religion".

As these gross human rights violations continue and in fact, keep rising with every day passing, it would not be an understatement to say that Tibetans are hurting, the report said.

The report said that any sort of "free speech or expression is prohibited in Occupied Tibet, Tibetans cannot hold a peaceful protest, you will land in jail for hanging a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, you will 'vanish' if you share any incriminating post against China or its actions in Tibet and your children will be sent to special Chinese Boarding Schools that will make sure that they learn the Chinese language, sing Chinese nationalistic songs and take part in brutal military drills under the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at a tender age of 6."

"And not to forget, Tibetan nomads are being displaced for illegal mining purposes and the Tibetan Plateau's precious water tower is being overtaken by Beijing in a hegemonic manner. And lastly, Xi securitizing Tibet by deploying heavy military and bringing into effect new Border Laws, is putting the final nail in the coffin for Tibetans," the report added.

As the angst grows at such haranguing, Tibetans are "yet again turning to self-immolations as a tool of protest".

According to the Tibet Rights Collective's report, "every human has a breaking point. For Tibetans, it is self-immolation. Xi's policies have pushed certain Tibetans to such a point that they feel that there is no other option left but self-immolation. Horrifying as it is to imagine, it would certainly be a crime if we blame Tibetans for taking it up. The only blame that should lie is on China and Xi Jinping."

Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1950 and later annexed it. The 1959 Tibetan uprising saw violent clashes between Tibetan residents and Chinese forces.

( With inputs from ANI )

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