India: Tibetan exile sets himself on fire outside Indian parliament

GlobalPost
The World

A Tibetan exile set himself on fire at a demonstration outside the parliament building in New Delhi on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

Is this another sign, as I reported for GlobalPost earlier this year, that the Tibetan diaspora is growing more and more desperate, as it sinks in that China is winning the battle for their homeland?

A photo showed the man, identified as Jampa Yeshi, engulfed in flames as he ran through a crowd of protesters demonstrating against an upcoming visit by China's president Hu Jintao.

Other protesters tried to put out the flames by smothering Yeshi's body with Tibetan flags and pouring water on him, the news wire said.

Yeshi is now being treated for severe burns at a hospital in New Delhi, a Tibetan organiser said.

More than 600 protesters carrying banners marched across New Delhi to a central plaza to protest against the visit. Some carried posters saying "Tibet is burning" and "Tibet is not part of China".

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