![\"Larung](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2016\/08\/21484077824_04e1c4e1b3_k-1024x455.jpg\")
Phayul news service reports that two more Tibetan nuns have taken their lives due to the destruction of the city of Larung Gar in eastern Tibet (Western China). Authorities there claim that the expanse of new structures is a fire hazard and that the rapid growth of the city has not been officially permitted. I wrote this last month<\/a>:<\/p>\n This is Larung Gar a year ago. It is a vast monastic complex in eastern Tibet (in China\u2019s Sichuan Province) housing as many as\u00a040,000<\/a> Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns (10,000 being a more likely number). Recently, it has come under scrutiny by the Chinese government and demolitions have recently begun, threatening up to half of the monastics living there.<\/p>\n The town has grown rapidly, from just a handful of disciples of the Tibetan teacher from the Nyingma tradition, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, in the 1980s to its current size. It currently attracts Buddhists from both Tibet and China as a site for the study and practice of Buddhist teachings<\/a>.\u00a0Radio Free Asia has one photo<\/a> of an unspecified hillside, now mere brown rubble, claimed to have once been home to dwellings like those shown above; BBC has several more images<\/a> of the destruction. They report that cell phone and internet use has been curtailed by authorities since the destruction began July 20th. Armed security forces have been present to quell any kind of formal protest, and foreigners have been denied access to the area. This has led to the blackout of information on the suicide, which occurred as demolition began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now two new deaths have been reported<\/a> and one attempted suicide:<\/p>\n The two slain nuns \u2013 Sengma from Sichuan Province\u2019s Dowa village in Dzamthang County and Tsering Dolma from Mewa Township in Marthang County in Sichuan\u2019s Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture \u2013 have reportedly committed suicide, RFA reported. RFA\u2019s source mentioned that Tsering Dolma, \u201cleft behind a note expressing her distress at the demolition and complaining that the Chinese will not let them live in peace\u201d and that the ordeal left her depressed and troubled, eventually leading [her] to kill herself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For those in Australia, there is a wonderful short interview with Prof John Powers on the plight of the Tibetan people<\/a> in occupied Tibet. Below is an SBS (Australia\u2019s Special Broadcasting Service) \u00a0documentary: Bulldozing Tibet<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>As you\u2019ll see, the destruction of Larung Gar follows a pattern of destruction and displacement that goes back decades in China\u2019s continued occupation of Tibet.<\/p>\n