Tibetan monks shy away from self-immolation

Adrak's last words before Chinese police dragged him away were "May the Dalai Lama live 10,000 years".
The 20-year-old Tibetan monk was carrying the spiritual leader's portrait as he walked down the main street outside his monastery, also calling for freedom for Tibet.
The picture fell to the ground as police set upon him and when several onlookers joined his calls, they too were beaten and taken away, according to witnesses and former monks currently in exile.
But the protest did not play out like so many previous ones - Adrak did not self-immolate, or even try to, as monks in the pasts have often done.

The burnings have slowed to a trickle, replaced by less incendiary solo demonstrations after what monks say is a campaign of intimidation by the government, mainly targeting family members and friends of those who killed themselves.
Nothing has been heard of Adrak or three fellow monks since they mounted four such actions in as many days.

Their Kirti monastery in Aba has been at the centre of the 143 known cases of Tibetans setting themselves on fire, most of them dying, to oppose China's policies in the region and call for the return of the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate.

About a third of the total happened in Aba county, in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Of those, more than half were current or former monks and nuns.
"I can choose to destroy this body for my ideas, but I cannot make a decision like that for others," said a 24-year-old monk under the golden roof of the temple as a breeze blew wind chimes in the background.
"Many monks do not want to endanger their families."
The town's main road running near the temple is colloquially known as "Martyrs' Street", but there have been only seven self-immolations so far this year according to rights groups.

At least 98 Tibetans have been detained, imprisoned or have disappeared because of alleged connections with someone who set themselves on fire, according to advocacy group the International Campaign for Tibet, which says the number may be much higher. One man was condemned to death in connection with his wife's self-immolation after authorities accused him of murdering her.
"While the Chinese government has increased the intensity of its oppression of Tibetans in Tibet, it seems that it has not been possible for them to prevent or stop Tibetans from protesting peacefully," Kirti Rinpoche, the abbot of the monastery who lives in exile in India, told AFP.

With fewer uniformed police on the streets, the government's efforts to pacify the town seem to be making progress.