:00:21. > :00:29.suicide. Viewers may find some of the video in this film disturbing.
:00:29. > :00:32.5th of (MUSIC PLAYS) in monastery scattered across the Indian
:00:32. > :00:42.Himalayas, Tibetans try to keep alive an ancient religion and
:00:42. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:50.culture. After half a century of exile, and with reports of
:00:50. > :01:00.increased repression and the violent deaths coming from their
:01:00. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:24.homeland, they are running out of hope for a Free Tibet. The prayers
:01:24. > :01:30.and music which echo across the hills of dams Sala in northern
:01:30. > :01:40.India have hardly changed since Buddhism was introduced to to to
:01:40. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:53.get in the 7th century. Insight the monastery, these monks who both
:01:53. > :02:03.fled to bet a few years ago used the tours of the 21st century to
:02:03. > :02:08.get the news from back home. They've just been told that another
:02:08. > :02:17.Tibetan has set fire to himself in despair about the Chinese
:02:17. > :02:27.occupation of the country. They are told the police through his body
:02:27. > :02:29.
:02:29. > :02:38.into a truck, he was still raising his arm and shouting, Free Tibet.
:02:38. > :02:48.He died the next day. Once a year from three different sources, they
:02:48. > :02:51.send the news to a Tibet Support Group and journalists. TRANSLATION:
:02:51. > :02:56.Our greatest concern is to protect sources inside Tibet. We are aware
:02:57. > :03:05.of the risks they take. Since 2008, people have been arrested for being
:03:05. > :03:15.in touch with us. Four years ago, saw an abrupt downturn in Chinese
:03:15. > :03:17.
:03:17. > :03:21.treatment of Tibetans. Beijing's Olympic torch was met in every city
:03:22. > :03:31.on its Junee, London included by demonstrations in support of
:03:32. > :03:36.
:03:36. > :03:42.freedom for support and the Dalai Lama. A man has tried to grab the
:03:42. > :03:47.torch. He has been pulled to the ground by police officers. As an
:03:47. > :03:54.use of the demonstrations reached the rooftop of the world, Tibetans
:03:54. > :03:59.rose up against brawlers. And the protest spread from Lassa in the
:03:59. > :04:04.Tibetan autonomous region to the millions of Tibetans who live in
:04:04. > :04:12.other provinces in China. It was here that the most brutal
:04:12. > :04:18.crackdowns took place. Locals claim that dozens were killed and
:04:18. > :04:28.hundreds arrested. Numbers which we cannot verify because the area was
:04:28. > :04:38.the end and is now forbidden to journalists. A monk who has since
:04:38. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:42.fled China was there at the time. TRANSLATION: Since 2008 and the
:04:43. > :04:48.crackdown, young Tibetans have become politically aware. All those
:04:48. > :04:53.monks who made themselves into human torches are my age. They are
:04:53. > :04:58.18 years old. We saw the suffering of our people in 2,000. A day. We
:04:58. > :05:04.watched his monks were taken away to prison for up to 18 years. We
:05:04. > :05:14.saw bodies piled up in court yards of the monasteries. As children, we
:05:14. > :05:28.
:05:28. > :05:36.learnt what injustice means. Monks from this monastery, the largest
:05:37. > :05:42.and most refined monastery in the area led the protest in 2008. Here
:05:42. > :05:51.at the twin monastery in India, fellow monks anxiously look for the
:05:51. > :05:59.faces of those killing themselves today. They have been more self-
:05:59. > :06:07.inhalations than anywhere else. -- self-immolation. This is the head
:06:07. > :06:11.of the monastery here in India and China. TRANSLATION: The recent
:06:11. > :06:17.suicides express the pain not just of the monks but the entire Tibetan
:06:17. > :06:24.people. It was Chairman Mao who once said, when there is repression,
:06:24. > :06:28.the people will revolt. This is the Tibetan way of revolt. Since 2008,
:06:28. > :06:33.hundreds of monks have been arrested, religious services
:06:33. > :06:43.disrupted, they have hung posters of Chairman Mao next to the border.
:06:43. > :06:46.
:06:46. > :06:52.If the Chinese continue like this, the suicides will continue. We are
:06:52. > :06:56.about to show disturbing images of some of these suicides which
:06:56. > :07:06.tightens have smuggled out of the area at great personal risk. --
:07:06. > :07:07.
:07:07. > :07:17.Tibetans. Their 20-year-old man set fire to herself on a street in
:07:17. > :07:18.
:07:18. > :07:24.October. She was the 10th to do so. Since they began a year ago, there
:07:24. > :07:28.have been more than 30 suicides most of them a monks and nuns. They
:07:28. > :07:34.swallow kerosene first and cover themselves with barbed wire to
:07:34. > :07:44.prevent anyone stopping them from burning to death. They if you may
:07:44. > :07:49.have survived, no-one is sure. -- a few. TRANSLATION: I was shopping
:07:49. > :07:54.when suddenly two monks ran down the street in flames. One was
:07:54. > :08:04.holding a Tibetan flag. One shouted, we want freedom for Tibet and the
:08:04. > :08:08.return of the Dalai Lama. After a few minutes, police and soldiers
:08:08. > :08:12.arrived. They put out the flames and put the monks in the back of an
:08:12. > :08:22.army truck. We were told they were treated at hospital but none has
:08:22. > :08:27.
:08:27. > :08:32.been allowed to visit them. We do not know if they are alive or dead.
:08:32. > :08:37.I found this monk amongst the latest arrivals from to bet at this
:08:37. > :08:42.reception centre in daily. They were exhausted but relieved. Some
:08:42. > :08:47.of them had walked 18 days across the Himalayas to get here. A few
:08:47. > :08:52.years ago, several thousand Tibetans fled to India every year.
:08:52. > :08:59.Now they tell me more want to escape, but with tighten security,
:08:59. > :09:08.only a few hundred succeeded. He does not want to be identified
:09:08. > :09:11.because he still has family in China. TRANSLATION: There are three
:09:11. > :09:16.military camps surrounding the monastery and plainclothes police
:09:16. > :09:21.everywhere. Checkpoints on every row, Internet cafes have been close
:09:21. > :09:31.and so have the public telephone Office. It is as if we have been
:09:31. > :09:41.
:09:41. > :09:46.shut in a room and the Chinese lock the door. They won the Dalai Lama
:09:46. > :09:54.to return to Tibet. He has been living in India since he fled
:09:54. > :09:59.Chinese rule 50 years ago. At 76, he has announced his retirement as
:09:59. > :10:07.a political leader. He is leaving their role to a Prime Minister in
:10:07. > :10:11.the government in exile. He retains his role as spiritual leader of 5
:10:11. > :10:16.million Tibetans. He has remained strangely quiet on the subject of
:10:16. > :10:24.the suicides. There is a spiritual leader, there is some surprise you
:10:24. > :10:32.have not come across more strongly to condemn what they are doing?
:10:32. > :10:37.This is very sensitive political issue. If I get involved that, then
:10:37. > :10:47.retirement from political power is meaningless. You cannot say
:10:47. > :10:49.
:10:49. > :10:59.anything? What do I say? To the Chinese government. As far as the
:10:59. > :10:59.
:10:59. > :11:09.government is concerned, they are hardened. They do not understand
:11:09. > :11:14.
:11:14. > :11:23.what is the Tibetan feeling. Children sing of a Tibet they have
:11:23. > :11:27.never seen. A third generation is being born in India to where their
:11:27. > :11:32.parents and grandparents fled to be close to the Dalai Lama and four
:11:32. > :11:42.children to be taught about the language, religion and culture. He
:11:42. > :11:46.
:11:46. > :11:54.has little opportunity for that inside Tibet. -- There is. Older
:11:54. > :11:59.children who have arrived more recently as the late the lack of
:11:59. > :12:06.freedom of expression in Tibet which makes young children take
:12:06. > :12:11.desperate action. We used to help the older ladies and bring the
:12:11. > :12:20.water. This teenager was a friend of an 18-year-old who died last
:12:20. > :12:28.November. He has no opportunity to express what the Chinese are doing
:12:28. > :12:34.and Tibet. If we say something you will go to prison or be killed. If
:12:34. > :12:40.he writes something, his writings will go nowhere. They will be
:12:40. > :12:50.confiscated. It will make trouble for the family. Why have made him
:12:50. > :12:57.
:12:57. > :13:07.kill himself? It is the only option may have, whether it is good or not.
:13:07. > :13:14.
:13:14. > :13:24.When he was on fire, the police caught him and beat him. The police
:13:24. > :13:37.
:13:37. > :13:42.are demanding compensation for Some 150,000 Tibetans have fled to
:13:43. > :13:51.join the Dalai Lama in India. They seldom question his policy of non-
:13:51. > :13:57.violence and the middle way. That is to abandon any claim to restore
:13:57. > :14:03.an independent to bed but to appeal to Chinese goodwill to grant them a
:14:03. > :14:06.real autonomy within China. Repeated meetings between his
:14:06. > :14:16.representatives and successive Chinese governments have come to
:14:16. > :14:17.
:14:17. > :14:27.nothing. We want some understanding with the Chinese government an
:14:27. > :14:29.
:14:29. > :14:37.improvement with Tibet. They are narrow-minded authoritarian type of
:14:37. > :14:44.people. They never listen. Chinese are listening. The Dalai
:14:44. > :14:49.Lama moves around even here at home with armed protection. His support
:14:49. > :14:54.team claimed the Chinese are using electronic weapons of the 21st
:14:54. > :15:04.century to get at the leader they accuse of being a split test. Of
:15:04. > :15:08.wanting to separate Tibet from the motherlaermine
:15:08. > :15:15.any attempt by the Tibetans to seek help from the international
:15:15. > :15:19.community. If the Dalai Lama had requested a meeting with Barack
:15:19. > :15:29.Obama or David Cameron, the Chinese would intervene to stop it. That is
:15:29. > :15:31.
:15:31. > :15:39.what has happened in the past. We have noticed any number of strange
:15:39. > :15:44.coincidences. They have intercepted e-mails. The threat that keeps me
:15:44. > :15:52.awake at night is more to do with ordinary Tibetan people who might
:15:52. > :16:02.return to Tibet and are caught up in events will be on the borders of
:16:02. > :16:07.
:16:07. > :16:12.China and Tibet. Another attack begins. Conflict between China and
:16:12. > :16:19.Tibet goes back centuries. The Chinese just survived the most
:16:19. > :16:27.racing invasion in 1950 by claiming they were liberating from a feudal
:16:27. > :16:31.theocracy. -- justified the most recent innovation. The Dalai Lama
:16:31. > :16:35.admits there was a lot that was wrong with to bed at the time. As a
:16:35. > :16:45.young man he was committed to reform but he never got the chance.
:16:45. > :16:55.-- Tibet. In 1959 the Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule. His life
:16:55. > :17:04.
:17:04. > :17:09.was deemed to be at risk and he fled to India. He has promoted the
:17:09. > :17:19.idea of a government in exile Withe and unelected parliament and Prime
:17:19. > :17:22.
:17:22. > :17:30.Minister. -- with an unelected. Such a prospect has never looked
:17:30. > :17:34.more remote. As one MP says, the self-immolation of one young man in
:17:34. > :17:41.Tunisia in 2011 set off a chain of revolutions in the Middle East
:17:41. > :17:47.supported by the international community. They point out that more
:17:47. > :17:52.than 30 in Tibet during the same period have been largely ignored.
:17:52. > :17:57.We really appealed to the international community,
:17:57. > :18:07.particularly the general secretary of the United Nations to send a
:18:07. > :18:08.
:18:08. > :18:18.fact-finding mission to the ground and find out what is going on.
:18:18. > :18:23.is a grim situation. The Chinese leaders ought to rationalise and
:18:23. > :18:29.realise if they really want to be a respected rising power in the world,
:18:29. > :18:34.they ought to demonstrate respect to the Tibetan people. It is a two
:18:34. > :18:43.way process. Until the respect Tibetans, others will not respect
:18:43. > :18:47.you. They might feel you, but they will not respect you. -- fear.
:18:47. > :18:55.Chinese show no inclination to reopen negotiations or show respect
:18:55. > :19:02.to Tibetan leaders in exile. Only the Dalai Lama remains the eternal
:19:02. > :19:12.optimist, still believing they will change. Any sensible leader will
:19:12. > :19:14.
:19:14. > :19:20.not continue this blind destruction policy. This I am quite sure. In 5-
:19:20. > :19:24.10 years, I think things would change. I am sure. In the 20 years
:19:24. > :19:29.I have been coming here and interviewing the Dalai Lama, he has
:19:29. > :19:34.never given up hope. Among the ordinary people, I have never
:19:34. > :19:44.before come across such despair. I have not come across so many who
:19:44. > :19:45.
:19:45. > :19:50.are now prepared to criticise their spiritual leader. Even those the
:19:50. > :19:56.Dalai Lama's age, demonstrating with those taking desperate
:19:56. > :20:06.measures in Tibet. I question the current position of His Holiness.
:20:06. > :20:10.
:20:11. > :20:19.Not to face reality and forcing Tibetans... After trying peaceful
:20:19. > :20:29.means for the last 53 years, many might say in desperation we should
:20:29. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:45.opt for violence. Tibetan activist Tenzin Chokey monitors the latest
:20:45. > :20:50.pictures coming out of the Tibetan region of the star she points out
:20:50. > :20:59.the demonstrations after each self- immolation a growing. -- region.
:20:59. > :21:08.There were more than 8,000. We do not know if it was that number, but
:21:08. > :21:16.it was a lot. There were Hallam at -- paramilitary who came there.
:21:16. > :21:24.When they saw the huge presence of Tibetans they chose to withdraw.
:21:24. > :21:34.anger increases so does the daring of people's demands. The people
:21:34. > :21:38.
:21:38. > :21:44.have spoken. They are calling for freedom. We are very scared, it has
:21:44. > :21:54.been a non-violent message until now. But we do not know when it
:21:54. > :21:54.
:21:54. > :22:01.will spiral out of control. That evening news of another self-
:22:01. > :22:05.immolation reaches of Dharamsala. It used to be the Dalai Lama and
:22:05. > :22:14.his team in exile who gave the direction in which his people
:22:14. > :22:22.should go. Now Tibetans into bets are asserting themselves. -- in
:22:22. > :22:29.Tibet. What else can they do? It is 53 years since the Dalai Lama fled
:22:29. > :22:39.Tibet. People think that are further away than ever to a