Statement on the self-immolation of Lobga Rangzen at the United Nations in New York City from Lhadon Tethong, Tibet Action Institute Director and Co-founder

 

July 3, 2026

Lobga Rangzen was a beautiful person. Others have already said it, but they were the first words that came to my mind too: kind, dedicated, determined.

I can hardly believe what has just happened. I can only imagine the overwhelming mix of emotions that those who knew him best—who worked alongside him day after day, month after month, in New York and beyond—must be feeling right now.

Compatriots in struggle are the ones who understand us best—both our motivation and our sadness, our deepest frustrations. Every time they take action and show up, they give the rest of us the encouragement and strength to keep showing up too.

To all of Lobga Rangzen’s friends, and to his family, I send my deepest condolences.

We need to be prepared for the ways in which people will misunderstand Lobga Rangzen’s self-immolation. It is hard for most people to contemplate even one such act, let alone to understand an entire wave of them, as we have experienced in the Tibetan freedom movement.

Part of that is because the act itself is almost impossible to comprehend. But it is also because Tibetans often move through the world in a way that belies the depth of grief and pain we carry over the ongoing horrors of China’s genocidal rule in Tibet which now includes one million Tibetan children stolen from their families.

For generations, the vast majority of our people have gone to work and lived their daily lives in exile with remarkable good humour and positivity, while just beneath the surface there exists a heartbreaking anguish over China’s decades-long assault on our people, our nation, and our language and culture.

I understand this to a certain extent, but I know that anguish was especially profound for my father’s generation, who knew Tibet before the Chinese occupation, and for Tibetans who were born and raised in Tibet itself. I believe it has been felt most acutely by those whose lives are most deeply rooted in the land—Tibetan nomads—and by those who have dedicated themselves to preserving our spiritual and cultural heritage, especially the monastic community of which Lobga Rangzen was a member.

As I think about how to honour Lobga Rangzen’s sacrifice while remaining true to my belief that every human life is precious—a belief that became deeply personal when my own child died—I find myself returning to the life he lived. He devoted his life to serving the Tibetan nation and to the cause of Tibetan independence. In his final message, he called on us to recommit ourselves to unity, to work harder to get along, to keep celebrating and practising Tibetan culture, and to continue the struggle for the liberation of our homeland.

I believe the greatest way we can honour Lobga Rangzen’s sacrifice is to answer that call: to take action for Tibetan freedom and independence every single day, while also protecting and caring for every precious person in our movement. We need every Tibetan to keep living and to keep fighting alongside one another no matter what may come.

I think Lobga Rangzen’s final act was meant to wake us up. It was both a tragic and extraordinary action, but it will not be in vain if it strengthens our resolve to live, to unite, and to carry forward the work to which he dedicated his life. Until Tibet is free.