Dharamshala: - The Tibetan administraiton -in-exile Monday refuted the allegation by a Beijing appointed official of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region that the His Holiness the Dalai Lama providing money to encourage Tibetans to set themselves on fire in protesting against Chinese rule.
A statement in response to the allegation, the Tibetan Central Administration (CTA) said it "categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Padma Choling, chairman of the standing committee of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Regional people's congress, that they have evidence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama providing money to encourage people to set themselves on fire."
Choling made this allegations in Beijing last Friday in Beijing, while attending National People's Congres (NPC).
One of the world's leading media organisation, The New York Times, recently reported that "Chinese officials in the past said the self-immolators were mentally unstable or blamed outside agitators. Despite the accusations, Chinese officials have never provided evidence of any connection between the acts and the Dalai Lama or other Tibetan leaders in exile."
"The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on 20 November 2012 urged the Chinese authorities to promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas," said CTA
The administration said the root cause of the problem is really the Chinese government's long-standing repressive policies in Tibet, calling "the blame and solution lies squarely with Beijing. Occupation and repression are the cause and reform is the solution. If the blame game continues and unless independent fact-finding delegations and the international media are not allowed to visit Tibet to assess the real situation in Tibet, the international community, including the Chinese people, will view the Chinese government with deep scepticism. "
"At the same time, we once again invite the Chinese authorities to Dharamshala to prove their allegations of our alleged role in the self-immolation," said Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration.
"As life is precious, the Central Tibetan Administration has consistently discouraged self-immolations and any other forms of drastic actions. But the self-immolations persist. The self-immolators have called for freedom for Tibetans and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland, CTA stated.
"Time has come for the international community to press the Chinese government to enter into dialogue to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet, it further added.
The exiled political leader, Dr Sangay has repeatedly urged world media and international human rights groups to investigate this case to clarify the facts.
