Her slogans: “Freedom in Tibet”, “Long live H.H. The Dalai Lama” and “Let the Dalai Lama Return to Tibet”
Name: Palden Choetso
Age: 35
Sex: Female
Profession: Nun at Genden Jangchup Choeling Nunnery, Tawu County, Kandze, Kham
Date of Self-Immolation: 3 November 2011 at around 12:40 pm (local time)
Location: Tawu. Kham, Eastern Tibet
Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased
Palden Choetso set herself on fire at a road near the Namgyal stupa in Tawu, Kandze County. She reportedly died the same day. In a short clip that was clandestinely smuggled out of Tibet, Palden can be seen standing upright near a busy street while her entire body is engulfed in flames, showing no signs of physical pain. Tibetans in the background can be heard chanting prayers. A young woman dressed in chupa (Tibetan traditional dress) walks up to her burning body and throws a khatag (Tibetan ceremonial scarf) towards her. Palden Choetso’s self-immolation coincided with the two-day G-20 Summit in France which opened the same day. At the time, Tibetans and Tibet supporters in more than 60 cities in 25 countries across the world were urging world leaders to raise the urgent issue of self-immolations in Tibet with the then-Chinese president, Hu Jintao, at the G-20 Summit. According to a source in exile in India, “After Palden Choetso’s self-immolation the nuns carried her to their nunnery, and she died soon afterwards. The nuns then made prayers for her. The local authorities have locked down the area, closing a major road in Tawu and deploying troops to surveille the nunnery.”