DHARAMSHALA: The monk who died after setting himself on fire early this morning in Nepal has been identified as 38-year-old Karma Nyidhon Gyatso.
Eyewitnesses said the monk set himself on fire after offering prayers and 200 lamps at Bouddhanath Stupa in Kathmandu. The police rushed him to Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, where he was declared dead at around 8:20 am.
Karma Nyidhon Gyatso was a native of Damshung county near Tibet’s capital Lhasa.
In February this year, Drupchen Tsering, a Tibetan monk from Serta region in Kardze in eastern Tibet, died after setting himself on fire in Kathmandu.
Since 2009, over 120 Tibetans have self-immolated in Tibet to protest against the Chinese government’s continued occupation and repression of Tibet. The self-immolators have called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans. The Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala has repeatedly appealed to Tibetans not to resort to drastic forms of Tibet, including self-immolation. (Fact sheet on self-immolation in Tibet)
The international community has urged the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Tibet and resolve the Tibetan problem through dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives.