Published online February 24, 2012 by Taipei Times.
Please read the full article here.

By Sushil Seth

What Beijing calls the Tibet Autonomous Region of China is once again smoldering, with monks in the small town of Aba in Sichuan Province and elsewhere self-immolating to protest against repression that aims to snuff out Tibetan religion, language, culture and an age-old way of life. The number of monks who have set themselves on fire is said to be more than 20 and rising. There are reports of some lay people taking to self-immolation as an act of solidarity with the monks and just out of plain frustration.

According to reports in the Guardian and Sydney Morning Herald, the town of Aba, the scene of the largest number of acts of self-immolation, is ringed by a blanket presence of police and security people.

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