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Form of Protest: Self-Immolation in Tibet

October 29, 2013 | Pulitzer Center
By
Jeffrey Bartholet, for the Pulitzer Center

Kanyag Tsering works day and night to gather information on protests and self-immolations on the Tibetan plateau. He and a colleague from the exiled wing of Kirti monastery, Lobsang Yeshe, reach out to contacts covertly. Tsering suffers from migraines and high blood pressure: Friends worry that he’s depressed. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Yeshe is in regular contact with contacts inside Tibet, who often speak in hints and codes, using unregistered cell phones. Tibetan activists also communicate by leaving voice messages in local dialects, which they believe are difficult for Chinese security agents to understand. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Tsering and Yeshe work in a storage room at the monastery that has been converted into an office. Like reporters, the two monks gather tips and try to substantiate them, and pass along that information to media outlets, non-governmental organizations, and agencies of Tibet’s government-in-exile. They don’t share information about their sources, however, even with each other. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

In his room at the monastery, Tsering prepares a bowl of roasted barley flour, butter, and hot tea — a traditional Tibetan staple called tsampa. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

The two monks outside of Tsering’s room. In the evenings, residents of the monastery fall asleep to sounds in the hallways and outdoors: the patter of footsteps, yelping dogs in the distance, monks chanting prayers, metal pots being washed in a communal sink. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

In her apartment in Washington, D.C., Tsering Kyi holds a picture of her nephew, Tsering Tashi, who self-immolated January 12th, 2013. “Your brother’s son has passed away,” an elderly friend from her village told Kyi by phone. “He set fire to himself around two-thirty, and just burned to ash.” Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. United States, 2013.

Billboards and posters in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, commemorate Tibetans who have set themselves aflame. In 2011, a dozen Tibetans set fire to themselves; in 2012, the numbers soared to more than 80. This year, as Chinese authorities withheld financial benefits from relatives of self-immolators and issued severe punishments to anyone associated with the burnings, the numbers began to drop again. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

A procession of monks in Dharamsala honors fellow Tibetans who have burned. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Tibetans carry photos of self-immolators to honor their memory and support the cause of freedom from China. Some Tibetans favor full independence; others, including the Dalai Lama and the exiled government, favor a “middle way” approach toward “genuine autonomy.” Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

The Dalai Lama gives a public teaching on Buddhism in Dharamsala. Tibetans worry that China is simply waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, leaving them without their most powerful symbol of national identity and international support. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

A monk attending a teaching of the Dalai Lama bows his head onto the back of another. Tibetans regard the Dalai Lama as the embodiment of the Buddha of Compassion. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns appeared at the temple before dawn and remained there for many hours, waiting for the Dalai Lama to speak. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Prayer wheels along a circumambulation route that goes around the residence of the Dalai Lama and the main Buddhist temple in Dharamsala. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

Prayer flags hang from trees like decorative swag in McLeod Ganj, one of the cluster of villages that make up Dharamsala. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

A view of nearby mountains from Dharamsala. The border with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China is 300 miles away. Image by Jeffrey Bartholet. India, 2013.

The exiled Tibetan community in Dharamsala, India, aims to chronicle, honor, and publicize the sacrifices of people who set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. The Chinese government, in turn, blames what it calls the “Dalai Lama clique” for the burnings, saying the exiles are separatists who aim to break up China.