Western voices question Tibetan self-immolation acts

Recently, Tibetan self-immolation cases have increased, but so have the questions surrounding them.

After the loss of dozens of innocent lives over the last few years, even the public opinion in the Western world has been seeing rational and unbiased voices denouncing the instigated and politically driven tragic acts.

A religion scholar at an American university has written an article entitled "Dalai Lama should condemn Tibetan self-immolations", criticizing the Dalai Lama for his vague position on the issue, and pointing out that the Dalai Lama, as a "spiritual leader", should be in a good position to stop the horrifying self-immolations from happening.

"If the Dalai Lama were to speak out unequivocally against these deaths, they would surely stop. So in a very real sense, their blood is on his hands," the scholar wrote.

La Libre Belgique, one of the biggest newspapers in Belgium, has also published an article questioning Dalai Lama's intentions for letting the tragic events happen without standing out and stopping them.

Austrian media has also said that self-immolation is closely linked to religious extremism and that the beneficiaries are the ones behind it.

Meanwhile, a German newspaper accused the Dalai Lama of repeatedly lying and criticized him for supporting self-immolation with the aim of pressuring the Chinese government and achieving political gains.

The Dalai Lama has on several occasions claimed that he would "remain neutral," but on the other hand has praised the acts as positive, saying that those people have sacrificed themselves for their religion and their people, apparently encouraging more Tibetans to follow suit.