A young Tibetan girl set herself on fire on Monday as Beijing lashed out at the government-in-exile for inciting self-immolations among Tibetans.
The 16-year old girl set herself ablaze in the Tibetan-populated village of Dageri in China’s northwestern province of Qinghai, becoming one of the youngest to have committed self-immolation, London-based Free Tibet said.
Chinese state media blamed the Dalai Lama for inciting self-immolations among Tibetans, the number of which has escalated to more than 90 incidents since 2009, AFP reports.
A monk and his nephew had been detained for inciting eight Tibetans to set themselves on fire, Xinhua reported Sunday, adding that the men acted on the instructions of the Dalai Lama according to “confessions and investigations.”
A commentary run by the state-run news agency on Monday described the Tibetan spiritual leader as “blasphemous” and “inhumane” in encouraging people to self-immolate for “his own political goals.”
Beijing has denied accusations of religious repression and trumping Tibetan culture, claiming that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and stressed that the government has brought modernization and a better standard of living to Tibet.
The Central Tibetan Administration urged China to open up Tibetan areas which have been sealed-off from international media.
“If China genuinely wishes to end the self-immolations, instead of resorting to blame game it should allow unfettered access to international bodies to Tibetan areas to investigate the root causes for these self-immolations,” the exile government’s premier, Lobsand Sangay, said in a statement.