After seeing the latest news of Mr.Lobga Rangzen, aka Lobsang Palden, who passed away following a self-immolation protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on the evening of 2nd July.
I bet many of you would wonder why a man took his life in such a gruesome, public way. His self-immolation is an act of protest against the implementation of the Chinese new ethnic unity law passed on 12th March. It focused on creating a shared national identity among the country’s 55 minority ethnicities and the Han majority. This, in reality, hastened the forced assimilation of ethnic minorities like Tibetans and Uighurs and limited their expression of ethnic diversity by imposing laws and rules in the name of ethnic unity. One of the key concerns with this law is the inability to use one’s mother tongue as the primary language of instruction; only Mandarin is used nationwide. It poses an impending threat to the languages of minority.
So he stands against this whitewashing of ethnic minority groups, drawing the whole world’s attention to the right to be unique, the right to preserve one’s mother tongue, and the possession of a distinctive culture, tradition, and history.
“Suicide is not merely an individual psychological act, but a ”social fact” driven by external societal forces.“
– Émile Durkheim , A French sociologist
Here, I am not encouraging anyone to commit such acts of cruelty and desperation driven by psychological distress, aggression, and impulsivity. A nationalist instinct in my fellow Tibetans and me might consider it an act of heroism and patriotism, but then, addressing the elephant in the room, it is an obvious act of violence.
Earlier, I read an old study regarding the psychological profile of self-immolators; some depressives attempt suicide, which can be prevented by early diagnosis, and a segment of people crying for help whose attempts are not serious. Then we have the highly impulsive, who choose the most lethal method of committing suicide. So we need to be aware of this group and help their coping mechanism.
I know life is hard, and the only certain thing about it is the uncertainty. Yet I believe life is worth living if you change your perspective by putting a slight effort into yourself; you too shall conquer the mountain within you, you too shall see the brighter light within you, and you too shall be happy with yourself.
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