Dharamshala — A young Tibetan has died after setting himself ablaze at the so-called "Martyr's Lane" in Ngaba town, Ngaba County, eastern Tibet. He succumbed to his injuries the following day.
"Konbe, also reported as Kunbey or Konpe, was a 30-year-old former monk who carried out a self-immolation protest near the main gate of Kirti Monastery in Meruma Township, Ngaba County, Amdo, northeastern Tibet, at approximately 6:00 pm local time on 23 December 2017," TPI sources said, adding that his protest was fatal. He undertook the protest to oppose Chinese policies and religious restrictions in Tibet.
Armed Chinese police and security forces immediately arrived and quickly removed Kunbey from the scene. He was subsequently taken to a hospital in neighbouring Barkham County, where he succumbed to his injuries early the following morning at around 5 am, on 24 December 2017. His body was reportedly immediately cremated, after which his ashes were given to his family. The authorities subsequently detained his father, Gyakyab, on the grounds that the family owed tens of thousands of yuan for Konbe’s medical expenses.
Initial sources stated, "the self-immolator was identified as Konbe, aged around his 30s. Konbe set himself on fire around 6:00 pm on 23 December in protest against the Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet".
Visual evidence also emerged concerning the protest. A video filmed from a distance and later circulated on social media reportedly showed a person fully engulfed in flames walking along a street. A Tibetan woman could be heard calling out, “Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso [His Holiness the Dalai Lama], grace us with your compassionate gaze.” Witnesses reportedly stated that Kunbey had raised a poster before setting himself alight and had called out for "Tibetan freedom."
The existence of video footage and eyewitness accounts provides important contemporaneous evidence of the event, although the circumstances surrounding the recording and the full content of any statements made by Konbe remain subject to the limitations imposed on independent access and communication in the area.
Konbe was originally from Chah Village in Ngaba County and entered Kirti Monastery at a young age.
He subsequently left the monastery and, approximately one year before his self-immolation, moved to Meruma Village, Ngaba County, reportedly with the intention of getting married. One of his brothers remained a monk at Kirti Monastery. His background therefore reflected both monastic and lay dimensions of Tibetan social life, with his earlier religious education continuing to form part of his personal history after leaving the monastery.
The consequences of Konbe’s self-immolation extended beyond his death to his immediate family and the surrounding community. The detention of his father following the cremation and transfer of his ashes demonstrates the risks faced by relatives after self-immolation protests. The reported closure of shops and restaurants throughout Ngaba County on 24 and 25 December also indicated a wider expression of solidarity with Kunbey and his family. Such community responses were themselves significant because public expressions of support for self-immolators occurred within an environment of heightened surveillance and restrictions.
Kunbey was the sixth Tibetan recorded as having carried out a self-immolation protest in Tibet during 2017. His death occurred approximately one month after the self-immolation of Tenga, a 63-year-old Tibetan monk in Karze County, Kham, eastern Tibet. Contemporary Tibetan documentation had recorded 152 Tibetan self-immolations before Konbe’s case, with at least 130 individuals having died from their injuries.
Others had survived with severe burns or remained unaccounted for because of official secrecy, restrictions on independent access, and controls over information inside Tibet. These figures provide the broader numerical context in which Kunbey’s case occurred, while also illustrating the limitations surrounding the documentation of individual cases.
