Tibetan activist Jamphel Yeshi, 27, who set himself on fire in Delhi on Monday and succumbed to injuries on Wednesday — the day Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in the country — will be given a martyr’s funeral in Dharamsala.
Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) activists will reach Dharamsala with Yeshi’s body on Friday. Yeshi had doused himself in fuel and lit his clothes before running down a street during a protest by Tibetans at Jantar Mantar against the Chinese president’s visit.
“Martyr Jamphel Yeshi’s body will be kept in Tsuglakhang Temple, where people will pay tribute to the brave son of Tibet,” said a Central Tibetan Association official.
A special prayer session will also be held at the temple to honour those who have sacrificed themselves for the Tibetan freedom movement.
TYC vice-president Dhondup Lhadar said Yeshi’s sacrifice would inspire Tibetans. “The brilliant radiance of his fire will dispel the darkness of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet and regenerate the spirit of Tibetan independence.”
Yeshi is the 31st Tibetan to die after committing self-immolation to demand freedom for Tibet.
{{/usCountry}}Yeshi is the 31st Tibetan to die after committing self-immolation to demand freedom for Tibet.
{{/usCountry}}Yeshi had been living in the old camp of Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi for the past two years.