A Tibetan man set himself on fire today around 5:30 pm local time in Ngaba county in eastern Tibet (Chinese: Aba County, Aba Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province).
The man was taken away by local authorities according sources in India.
More than 40 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since February 2009 calling for return of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and greater freedom for Tibetans. Majority of the self-immolations have occurred in Ngaba county.
In its annual report on international religious freedom, the US State Department last month designated China as one of eight countries in which religious freedom is of "particular concern." Beijing's "official interference in the practice of Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions" had contributed to the self-immolations of at least 12 Tibetans in 2011, the report said.
China rejected State Deparment's
report saying that religious freedom deteriorated in China in the past year. A
commentary in the official
Xinhua news agency shot back, saying there is "no justification" for the report, which it said was "full of prejudice, arrogance and ignorance."
Listen to the report (In Tibetan)