Jamphel Yeshi cremated with full honours/ENG

2012. március 30./Tibet Sun/TibetPress

By Lobsang Wangyal
Jamphel Yeshi, who died after immolating himself for the Tibetan cause, was cremated today with full honours in McLeod Ganj. Yeshi burned himself on Monday and died on Wednesday in New Delhi, protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet.

Thousands of emotional exiled Tibetans and supporters gathered at Tsuglakhang Temple for the funeral ceremony.

Yeshi’s body was brought to the temple courtyard in an ambulance escorted by a police car in the morning. A group of representatives from the Delhi wing of the Tibetan Youth Congress accompanied the body. Exiles offered thousands of white scarves when his coffin wrapped with a Tibetan sun and snow flag was laid on a platform at the temple.

After a prayer session and speeches by leaders of Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetan Youth Congress activists, his body was taken in a procession to the cremation site.

Speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, condemned the Chinese President Hu Jintao for being a hardliner and accused him of being responsible for the death of innocent Tibetans.

“Hu Jintao was welcomed by the fire of Jamphel Yeshi’s self-immolation and he was sent off amidst the smoke of his cremation,” he said.

“How many more lives have to be lost before the Tibetan issue is resolved?”

A Tibetan Youth Congress member read the letter written by Yeshi during the ceremony. Emotions ran high as she read, causing many in the audience to shed tears.

McLeod Ganj town was effectively shut down, with all the shops shuttered and traffic prevented from entering the town. Exiles, supporters, and local Indians stood by the roadside as the coffin was transported to the cremation ground.

The local police deployed a large number of police force and a firefighter truck to check any untoward incidents.

Tibetan Youth Congress Vice President Dhondup Lhadar and two relatives of Yeshi lit the funeral pyre. The exiles chanted prayers as Buddhist monks carried out the last rites according to the Tibetan tradition.