Inciting self-immolations violates human rights

BEIJING - With International Human Rights Day being observed globally on Monday, a sad but clear fact should be noted: the Dalai Lama clique have severely violated human rights by inciting self-immolations in China's ethnic Tibetan areas.

Lorang Konchok, a 40-year-old monk from an ethnic Tibetan area of southwest China's Sichuan province, was found to have goaded eight people into setting themselves on fire, three fatally, since 2009.

He acted on the instructions of the 14th Dalai Lama and his followers, police said Sunday, citing confessions and investigations.

The exiled Dalai Lama, along with his group, have long sought chances to realize the political goal of splitting Tibet from China. For them, instigating self-immolation is only a means.

Killing or using others to commit killing is prohibited by Tibetan Buddhism. Self-immolating or inciting such acts violates basic Buddhism doctrines.

It is blasphemous for the Dalai Lama, who is seen as the embodiment of love and compassion in Tibetan Buddhism, to urge others to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire.

Most self-immolators are teenagers or just in their twenties. These young Tibetans or monks are prone to copycat suicides, as they are impulsive and lack self-control.

The Dalai Lama reportedly described self-immolation as "a means for people in desperation to seek justice and freedom," blaming China's rule for what he described as "cultural genocide."

Actually, those who have committed self-immolations, mostly young people, are just victims of the Dalai Lama clique's politicking.

It is inhumane for the Dalai Lama, a "spiritual leader" in the Buddhists' eyes, to mislead the innocent and make use of them for his own political goals.

According to scholars, self-immolations could come to an end in China's ethnic Tibetan areas if the Dalai Lama openly denounced them.

However, he has refrained from doing so.

Monday also marked the anniversary of his receipt of the so-called 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. In that name, the Dalai Lama reportedly has planned a series of overseas activities to advocate "Tibet independence."

It is ironic that an exile who has incited self-immolations is now busy meeting with Western state leaders under the title of "peace prize winner" and Tibetan Buddhism's "spiritual leader."