Authorities are still investigating Wednesday’s firebombing of the Dalai Lama’s representative office in South Africa, police told Radio Free Asia, as activists accused China of having a hand in the attack.
The office of the Tibetan spiritual leader in Pretoria suffered extensive damage in the 11 p.m. attack, but nobody was hurt, the representative Dhondup Gyalpo told RFA.
“I heard the sound of breaking glass and saw smoke coming into the house. As soon as I realized what was happening, I broke a window and got outside,” he said. “Another firebomb that had not exploded was hanging above the window. I was slightly injured by broken glass.”
Shortly after the fire brigade extinguished the blaze, the crime scene experts and detectives arrived to investigate, but no suspects have been arrested,” police spokesperson Brigadier BM Muridili, told RFA.
Wednesday’s firebombing was the second such attack on the office in months. The office had previously been firebombed in July, on the Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday. Gyalpo described Wednesday’s attack in detail.
“The Molotov cocktail used in the attack produced more smoke than flames. At first, it looked as though the entire building was on fire,” he said. “When I entered, the smoke was so thick and overpowering that I could almost taste it.”
The fire engulfed parts of the property, causing extensive damage to the building, furniture and official documents, he said. Neither Gyalpo nor Khenpo Jamyang Gonpo, a staff member at the office, was injured in the fire.
“Transnational repression”
The attacks on the Dalai Lama’s office are part of a “global rise in transnational repression” by the Chinese Communist Party against the Tibetan people, the New York-based rights group Students for a Free Tibet said in a statement.
“Students for a Free Tibet urges South African law enforcement and government authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough, and independent investigation,” the group said. “Law enforcement must not dismiss these attacks as ordinary local crime, but must explicitly examine political motives and potential foreign state involvement.
The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation also condemned Wednesday’s attack in a statement and called for stronger protections of freedom of expression, religion and association.
Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama are both Nobel laureates for their nonviolent struggles, and in the statement, the foundation noted their long friendship.
“We stand with the Tibetan community in South Africa and with everyone who lives and works at the Office,” the foundation said. “No community in South Africa should have to go to sleep wondering whether their home will be set alight because of who they are, where they come from or what they believe.”
Gyalpo said he suspected that the attack might be politically motivated, but cautioned that the perpetrators and their motives have not been identified yet.
“There seems to be a warning sign intended to intimidate us but we are not scared,” he said. “We have no reason to hate the people of South Africa and there is also no reason why the people of South Africa should not like us,” he said.
Edited by Tawang for RFA Tibetan, Eugene Whong and Charlie Dharapak.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Dolkar, Nordhey Dolma, Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan.