Jampa Yeshi, self-immolating Tibetan activist, dies in India

A Tibetan activist who set himself on fire to protest a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao died at an Indian hospital today, CNN reported. 

A New Delhi hospital offical said doctors were unable to save Jampa Yeshi, who had burns covering 90 percent of his body after running, in flames, through a large protest against Hu's visit outside the Indian parliament on Monday. 

A number of ethnic Tibetans have taken refuge in India following their unsuccessful 1959 revolt against Chinese rule. Indian police are therefore stepping up security measures ahead of Hu's arrival in Delhi Thursday for the BRICS summit of emerging nations, where he will be joined by leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, said the Guardian. 

More from GlobalPost: Self-immolation in India: A form of protest

Students of Tibetan origin throughout India are being confined to halls of residence and banned from talking to reporters, the Guardian found, noting the arrest of popular Tibetan writer Tenzin Tsundue, who was detained Tuesday during a tea break at a Delhi seminar on Tibet and India.

Nearly 30 Tibetans have died due to protests by self-immolation in the last 13 months, most of them inside China, according to The Guardian, with activists saying they have no other way to draw attention to their plight. The practice is also on the rise in India, however, according to the Economist. 

Also today, China denounced as meddling a Tuesday US Senate resolution demanding that China end its "repressive policies targeting Tibetans," according to The Economic Times of India.

Some in Tibet push for total independence from China, and their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has spoken out against perceieved moves by Bejing to weaken their cultural identity, reported CNN. 

China denies any discrimination against Tibetans.