Immolations expression of freedom: Tibet’s exiled PM

'Self-immolations was a strong message being sent by oppressed people who want to assert their freedom.'

Tibet’s exiled political leader Lobsang Sangay today said a spate of self-immolations in China was a strong message being sent by oppressed and desperate people who want to assert their freedom.

The Harvard scholar,who was elected prime minister in April 2011,added he hoped a leadership transition in Beijing this year would bring a new perspective on Tibet.

More than 30 people have set themselves on fire in Tibetan-inhabited areas of China since the start of March 2011 in protest at what they say is religious and cultural repression by the Chinese authorities.

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It means the situation is not bearable, Sangay,43,told the Sydney Morning Herald on a visit to Australia.

It’s not just that it’s a desperate act,but also a political act, he said.

Peaceful protests,peaceful rallies are not allowed. The statements they leave behind consistently say they want freedom.

The self-immolations are somehow an assertion of freedom – ‘you can restrain my freedom but I can choose to die as I want’.

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China blames spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for inciting the self-immolations in a bid to split Tibet from the rest of the nation,and insists Tibetans now have better lives due to Chinese investment.

In an address to the National Press Club,Sangay said the spark for self-immolations was 2008 anti-government riots in Lhasa – unrest that subsequently spread to other Tibetan-inhabited areas of China.

Since then,instead of responding positively or liberally,unfortunately the Chinese government has clamped down more, he said,adding that the Tibetan capital was essentially closed to the outside world.

The military walk up and down the streets and there has been an intensifying of the campaign to demonise the Dalai Lama, he said.