Name: Nangdrol
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Status: Layperson
Date of Self-immolation: 19 February 2012 around 2 pm (local time)
Location: Dzamthang County, Ngaba, Amdo
Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased
His Final Message Below Layman Nangdrol self-immolated in front of Dzamthang Jonang Monastery and succumbed on the spot. His body was then taken to the monastery where traditional Buddhist rituals were carried out for him. According to sources, the monks defied and resisted orders by the armed police to hand over his body, and during the evening of his immolation a crowd of more than 1000 gathered to hold a vigil. According to local Tibetans in contact with Tibetans in exile, Nangdrol cared passionately about Tibetan culture and language and had urged fellow Tibetans to be united, and to preserve their cultural and religious identity.
The fourth of eight children, Nangdrol was from Choeje Village, Barma Township, Dzamthang, a Tibetan area of Amdo now merged with the PRC’s Sichuan Province. Hi
s final message was: “Raise your heads high with courage and loyalty. I, Nangdrol, call with gratitude upon my parents, siblings and relatives. The time has come for me to leave — for the sake of the Tibetan people — by lighting my life on fire. My requests to the Tibetans are Be united, Be Tibetan, Dress Tibetan and Speak Tibetan. Never forget that you are a Tibetan. Be compassionate; Respect your parents; Most of all be united; Treat animals with compassion, Do not slaughter them. “Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Long live all the lamas and tulkus of the Land of Snow. May Tibetan people be free from China’s oppressive rule, there is immense suffering under China’s rule, and this suffering is unbearable. There is no way to further endure this Chinese occupation, its terrible rule, this torture without trace. In the end the merciless Chinese will kill the Tibetans. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
(Translated from Tibetan by Bhuchung D. Sonam)