Second attack on Dalai Lama’s representative in SA attempt to silence Tibetans worldwide: Report

Johannesburg, Oct 24 (IANS) A second assault in three months on Dhundup Gyalpo, the representative of Dalai Lama in South Africa, is being seen as yet another attempt by the Chinese authorities to silence Tibetan activists all over the world, a report has mentioned.

According to a report in ‘Bitter Winter’, an online magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China published by the Centre for Studies on New Religions (CSNR) headquartered in Italy’s Torino, petrol bombs were hurled at the residence and office of Dhundup Gyalpo in the Centurion suburb of Lyttelton Manor, not far from Pretoria late on October 14.

Flames rose from the building, shattering windows and turning a diplomatic outpost into a scene of devastation.

“Inside, Gyalpo awoke to the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. Smoke was already thickening the air. The corridor that should have led him to safety had become a tunnel of fire. He forced open a bedroom window, climbed out, and escaped into the night, sustaining minor injuries from broken glass. The image of a man representing one of the world’s most respected spiritual leaders fleeing through a shattered window is not easily forgotten.

“Emergency services arrived quickly, but the damage was extensive. Rooms were charred, furniture destroyed, and official documents reduced to ash. In a video recorded after the blaze, Gyalpo walked through the ruins, documenting the destruction with the calmness of someone who has already understood that the material loss is only part of the story,” the report stated.

There are nights when violence speaks more clearly than any communique, wrote Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religions, in Bitter Winter.

“It might have been intended to convey a political message,” Gyalpo was quoted as saying by South African media after the incident.

According to Introvigne, the incident would be alarming enough on its own but becomes “more troubling” when placed alongside another episode from July 6 this year when the same property was reportedly targeted with three petrol bombs.

That attack coincided with the 91st birthday of the Dalai Lama.

“The damage then was minimal. The symbolism was not… In a country where ordinary crime is tragically common, the suggestion of political intent is not made lightly. Yet the repetition, the timing, and the choice of target raise questions that cannot be dismissed as coincidence,” stated Introvigne.

According to the report, while South African police have opened an investigation, no suspects have been identified, no motive established, and no link formally drawn between the two attacks so far.

“The absence of answers, however, does not diminish the gravity of the situation. When a representative of the Dalai Lama is forced to flee a burning building twice in three months, the issue transcends local criminal patterns and enters the realm of transnational concern. The Tibetan cause has long been marked by attempts to silence voices abroad. While no evidence currently points to a specific perpetrator, the pattern of Chinese intimidation familiar to Tibetan activists worldwide inevitably casts its shadow over the events in Centurion,” wrote Introvigne.

“The uncertainty itself is part of the problem. It leaves a community already accustomed to pressure wondering whether the fire was meant to destroy documents, to send a warning, or simply to remind a representative of a stateless nation that he is being watched,” he added.

–IANS

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