The Tibet Post International

“I don’t want to put anyone to any inconvenience” His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Vol. 03, Issue 79, Print Issue 3, January 6, 2013 Report of 96th self-immolation in Tibet emerges

“The Tibetan people’s success will be India’s success” Dr Lobsang Sangay

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

See Page 4.....

B o d - K y i - Cha-Trin

A Voice For Tibet Fortnightly

See Page 3 ..... www.thetibetpost.com

Rs.10

“Secularism does not mean disrespect, rejection of religion” His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Russians

By Yeshe Choesang, December 24, 2012.

Chinese paramilitary marching in Lhasa. Photo: File

By Tenzin Desal, January 5, 2013.

Dharamshala: - Reports of a 96th self-immolation in Tibet have emerged almost four months after a woman set herself alight.

According to sources inside Tibet, Passang Lhamo selfimmolated in Kyegudho, Kham region of eastern Tibet, (the scene of a deadly earthquake in April 2010) on September 13, 2012.

The report states that Chinese authorities extinguished the flames and arrested the protestor.

According to the source, on January 3, Passang Lhamo remains in hospital, the name and location of which is unknown.

It is believed that she was protesting against the confiscation of land by Chinese authorities.

Sikyong congratulates Swiss Parliament’s new speaker

Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay during his meeting with Ms. Maya Graf, member of the Green Party, in Bern, Switzerland, in November, 2011/TibetNet Photo

By Tenzin Desal, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: - Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay has extended “his heartiest congratulations” to the new speaker to the President of the Federal Parliament of Switzerland.

In a congratulatory letter to Maya Graf, the first ever member of Green Party to be elected to the post, on behalf of Central Tibetan Administration, he said: “I am pleased to learn that you have been successfully elected as the speaker to the President of the Federal Parliament of Switzerland.”

In August, 2012, when first Vice President of the Parliament, Ms Graf issued a statement expressing “concern over the grave human rights situation in Tibet”, and appealing to the international community to take the “cry for help of the Tibetans seriously and urge China to review its Tibet policy.”

Dr Sangay met Ms Graf in Bern, Switzerland, during a visit to the nation’s capital in November, 2011.

New Delhi: - “Secularism means respect for all religions ….. but it does not mean disrespect and rejection of religion.”

So said the Dalai Lama to Russian Buddhists on the opening day of a four day teaching, lead by Telo Rinpoche and Yelo Rinpoche in Delhi, between December 24 – 27.

Addressing the 3000 devotees, including over 1300 Russians, who packed the Kempinski Ambience Hotel for the teaching on Shantideva’s eighth century text, a Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the Tibetan spiritual leader said: “I always say that people should not rush to change their religion.

“It is much more stable to keep your home religion. Merely changing formal religious affiliations will often not help much.

“Many people in America and European countries are becoming increasingly interested in Buddhism, which did not previously exist in the West,” he continued.

“However, for those who are seriously thinking of converting to Buddhism, it is very important to take every precaution. Of course you have freedom of choice, but this must not be done lightly. Indeed, if one converts without having thought about it in a mature way, this often creates difficulties and leads to great inner confusion. I would therefore advise all who would like to convert to Buddhism to think carefully before doing so.”

Adding that religion continues to “bring immense good” to millions of people around the world, the Noble Peace laureate urged the crowd to respect all religions.

“All major religious traditions try to advise and benefit people, carrying the same basic message of the need for love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, and self-discipline. It is absolutely essential to be aware of the need to respect other religions.

“Human beings are social animals, and each human being’s happy life and survival depends on community. An affectionate disposition not only makes the mind more peaceful, but it affects our body in a positive way too, even from some scientific point of views. On the other hand, hatred, jealousy and fear upset our

Devotees reciting the Heart Sutra in Russian during the first day of teachings in New Delhi, India, December 24, 2012. Photo: TPI/Yeshe Choesang

peace of mind, make us agitated and affect our body adversely.

“Secularism means respect for all religions and even respect for non-believers, but it does not mean disrespect and rejection of religion.”

Addressing a number of listeners who had newly arrived from Tibet, the Dalai Lama added: “the spirit and strength of the Tibetans inside Tibet have remained very strong and their devotion to the teachings of Buddha has also remained very

strong.

“It is always very difficult to find a right place to study Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy, and it is also extremely difficult to find properly qualified teachers, except in some rural areas in Kham and Amdho. There are almost no religious instructors for the general public.”

Tibetans congratulate new chief ministers

TCV school Suja students march 50 miles in solidarity with Tibetan self-immolators

His Holiness presenting a scroll to Mr Virbhadra Singh during his tenure as Union Minister on the occasion of Thank You Himachal Pradesh in Dharamshala on May 1, 2010. Photo: TibetNet

By Dan Floyd, December 13, 2012.

Dharamshala: - The Tibetan Kashag (cabinet) and Parliament in Exile have congratulated the new chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The Tibetan politicians congratulated their Indian counterparts, Virbhadra Singh and Narendra Damodardas Modi, both long time supporters of Tibet, on their election success, on December 25.

“On behalf of the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetan people everywhere, I would like to congratulate you on leading the Congress Party to victory in the just concluded Assembly 3 ...

Elections,” Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong,See Dr Page Lobsang

CTA offers long-life prayer to Sakya Rinpoche

Tibetan man sentenced to 18 months in prison

Religion and Culture Kalon Pema Chhinjor offering Tenshug to His Eminence Sakya Trizin Rinpoche in Rajpur, India, on December 17, 2012. Photo: CTA/Tibet.Net

By Yeshe Choesang, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: - The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has offered a long life prayer to the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.

The CTA’s Department of Religion and Culture organised the ceremony (Tenshug) for His Eminence Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, at the Sakya Centre at Rajpur near Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on December 17.

Addressing the group, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche expressed happiness and thanked the CTA and Department of Religion and Culture for organising the ceremony.

Four years after fleeing Tibet aged 14 following the Lhasa uprising in 1959, Sakya Trizin re-established the seat of the Sakya Order in Rajpur, building a monastery known as Sakya Centre.

He has since worked tirelessly to preserve the Sakya Order’s thousand-year-old heritage and transmit its teachings.

Mr. Ngodup Wangdu, school director and students from TCV Suja marching in solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet. Photo:TPI/Sangay

By Sophie Jay, December 29, 2012.

Dharamshala: - Students from Bir marched almost 50 miles (80 kilometres) to express solidarity with Tibetan self-immolators.

The 103 students from the Tibetan Children’s Village Sujia school, joined by five staff members including the school’s principal, Sonam Sichoe, and director, Ngodhup Wangdu, marched between Bir and the Dalai Lama’s Main Temple in Dharamshala, on December 27 and 28.

The 60 girls and 43 boys carried Tibetan and Indian flags, pictures of the Dalai Lama and Mahatma Gandhi, and placards bearing the names and pictures of the 95 people who have set themselves alight in Tibet protesting Chinese rule in their country since 2009, as well as those of Tibetans who have self-immolated in India and Nepal, such as Thubten Ngodup, the first Tibetan to self-immolate, who did so in Delhi in 1998.

Dakapa, 22, said: “In Tibet, Tibetan people have no rights. They sacrificed their lives for freedom.

“In Tibet many students have no right to learn their traditional

culture and language. Many people burned their bodies so we did this march to support them.

“I’m very tired and my feet are very painful. So many students hurt their feet.”

Class 10 students, Kelsang Tsering and Konchok Rinchen, who organized the march, said in a statement: “We urge the United Nations and the international community to stand for justice in Tibet and strongly pressurize the leaders of the Chinese government for a peaceful and meaningful resolution to the Tibetan problem. ”We also express our solidarity with the thousands of Tibetan school students who staged a protest rally inside Tibet, raising slogans for the freedom of language, respect for truth and freedom of religion and cultural identity.

“We appeal to all the Tibetans in exile and Tibet support groups spread across the world to continue the freedom struggle with more gravity and determination to fulfill the demands of the self-immolators, and all Tibetans in general.”

Protest against the Chinese government in Ba county of Amdho. eastern Tibet. Photo: TPI/File

By Sophie Jay, December 27, 2012.

Dharamshala: - A Tibetan man accused of leading a protest against the Chinese government has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

A Tibetan monk based in south India, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, reported that Tsering Wanggyal, 36, from Yengag Village, in Ba county, Amdho, was sentenced on December 24.

Tsering was arrested on March 18, charged with having led the protest three days earlier.

2

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International

I

n

t

e

r

n

a

t

i

o

n

a

l

Editorial: Tibet’s natural resources should be considered similar to “blood diamonds”

By Yeshe Choesang

A Chinese security man holding an electric baton intimidates Tibetans protesting against the government’s rampant mining in Shigatse: TPI/File

Dharamshala: - China’s one-sided policy has robbed the Tibetans of their basis for cultural identity.

This is causing the loss of their language in their homeland, and commerce in dealings with communist authorities, and now they’re facing natural resource genocide.

Tibetans have completely lost the right to independently practice their beloved Buddhism and adhere to their traditional way of life. They’ve lost their once sacred, pristine environment, and their confidence as a people, for they are truly treated as third class citizens in their own country under Han Chinese occupation.

“There is evidence that the number of Chinese people in Tibet is increasing month by month,” Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has told international communities on various occasions, calling the population shift a “form of cultural genocide,” causing Tibetan marginalization by mass migration, which will render its people an insignificant minority.

A minority that can be basically overlooked and ignored, for the Han Chinese and Chinese Communist Party authorities hold all the power; economic, military, financial and political. The Han Chinese “reasoning” is that once Tibetans no longer exist as a distinct people, and their land is settled by a Han Chinese majority, China will have legitimized its illegal occupation and annexation of Tibet.

Over 3,000 mine beds, deposits and sites containing up to 102 types of minerals have been discovered in the so called Tibet Autonomous Region, Chinese official media has reported, quoting officials from the regional bureau of land and resources.

What sweet words for the Han Chinese. When an occupying power exploits the resources of the occupied land at the expense of the original inhabitants, it builds itself on the ruins of what it has destroyed, and such theft of resources is obvious, even when the occupier tries to hide its actions behind noble principles. This misconduct is made worse by claiming that the benefits in question are a financial gain for the communist regime. When such wrongdoing is compounded even further by acts of genocide against the Tibetan people, killing thousands and dispossessing hundreds of thousands in acts of ethnic cleansing, the situation becomes very serious indeed.

According to various news reports, mineral resources in the Himalayan region have an estimated potential value up to 600 billion Yuan ($US 100 billion). Tibet is reported to contain far greater Chromium and Cuprum (copper) reserves than other regions of mainland China. Twelve other mineral reserves rank among the top five across the whole country.

Reading this has truly incensed me, because it lays bare the motivations of the Chinese government for the world to see. Knowing about the genocide of

the Tibetan people and their cultural identity, how can the world do so much business with this country knowing what its government is doing? It boggles the mind. The Communist leaders are corrupt, they deplore freedom of speech, and they do not care for the people, the environment, or the spiritual ties this land has to those who live there.

Imagine the environmental damage their 21 highway project will cause. Imagine the damage to the land all the aqueducts and other means of stealing Tibet’s natural resources, particularly mineral water, will do, and the excuses they will come up with to shirk responsibility for what they are doing in their own country. It is no wonder no date has been set for their latest scheme. There should be international condemnation for their blatant attempt to strip Tibet and other holy places of their resources, particularly their water, and take the identity of their people just for their own profit.

But what of the legality of such processes? China has invited many companies and transnational oil giants including BP and Shell to explore for oil and gas equivalents after realising its own companies lacked the expertise to drill in a region known for its complex geology.

In 25 years of watching this experiment on my homeland, I feel that Tibetans are unable to exercise their economic rights to determine how their resources are utilised. They live in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation where opposition to an unsuitable project such as hydrocarbon extraction would have dire consequences. Perhaps one of the most controversial Chinese plans to tap Tibetan resources to date is China’s new water scheme, labelled the Big Western Line.

Tibet’s natural resources should be considered similar to “blood diamonds”, the term referring to illegally obtained diamonds, sold to finance violent acts including genocide and human rights abuses in Africa. The blood diamond trade has been recognised as a global problem, with illegal organisations in a wide range of nations benefiting from the trade of these stones.

Tibet is a case in point. China’s extraordinarily repressive human rights abuses against the Tibetan people, combined with its efforts to exploit Tibet on a colonial mode, include policies such as capital punishment, the one-child policy, laws affecting the social status of Tibetans, and lack of protection regarding freedom of press and religion. The trade in Tibet’s natural resources plays a similar role and is a global problem, with dictator and communist states around the world benefiting from the trade of these resources.

In 1998, China signed the three covenants comprising the International Bill of Rights, but it is still far from implementing these domestically and in Tibet. Individual and collective rights abuses continue to challenge Tibetan people in their daily lives, and the future survival of their unique cultural identity.

VIEWS & ANALYSIS

January 6, 2013 Dharamshala

China tightens grip on western region

By Brian Spegele/Wall Street Journal, Dec. 28, 2012

Beijing: - Chinese authorities appeared to tighten their grip over a restive portion of western China following a spate of ethnic Tibetans setting themselves on fire to protest heavy-handed Chinese rule.

The state-run Qinghai News Net reported Thursday that authorities in western Qinghai province’s Huangnan prefecture were intensifying patrols by paramilitary security forces, stepping up check points to block outsiders from entering and cracking down on audio-visual equipment that helps Tibetans tune in to overseas news programs.

The new measures underscore authorities’ growing concern over stability in far-western China.

Huangnan has been the site of several selfimmolations since mid-November, according to activists and the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India.

The government-in-exile said this month at least 95 Tibetans have self-immolated since February 2009, at least 82 of which came in 2012.

The steady stream of self-immolations and occasional clashes between restive monks and security forces this year came as party leaders in Beijing orchestrated a once-a-decade leadership transition. Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as Communist Party general secretary in November, though it remains unclear whether Mr. Xi will pursue a different tack than Mr. Hu on Tibetan issues.

Party leaders over the past decade have embarked on ambitious efforts to spur economic development in Tibetan-populated regions to quell longstanding calls for greater autonomy there. Such programs spawned migration of ethnic Han Chinese in search of business opportunities to the rugged, traditionally Tibetan areas, which in many cases have exacerbated ethnic tensions.

Among the new initiatives announced in Huangnan, authorities pledged to deepen propaganda efforts aimed at drumming up support for the ruling Communist Party and painting Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as a separatist bent on destabilizing China’s Tibetan regions, which are among the country’s least developed.

The state media report said Thursday that authorities would “adopt all kinds of methods to penetrate the grassroots, the schools and the monasteries.”

The new measures appeared to be in response to a spate of self-immolations that left the prefecture on edge over the past month. Tibetan activists and

the government-in-exile said in November that thousands of students from around Huangnan, known as Malho in Tibetan, took part in protests calling for a return of the Dalai Lama, among other demands.

China regards Tibet as part of its territory and views the Dalai Lama as a separatist. The spiritual leader fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising against communist forces. Today, the Dalai Lama says he is fighting for greater autonomy, not independence, for China’s Tibetan-populated regions.

Growing unrest in Qinghai province in recent months apparently is worrying local leaders. Earlier self-immolations had been largely concentrated in the adjacent province of Sichuan. The uptick in

tensions in Tibetan portions of Qinghai suggests deepening distrust of local party leaders. Tibetans activists lament what they describe as forced cultural assimilation, political and religious repression and environmental degradation as some of the problems that underlay the self-immolations and wider unrest across the region.

Authorities in Huangnan are also pledging to “block harmful outside information,” according to Thursday’s state media report. It said authorities had already begun dismantling satellite and other equipment used to broadcast overseas programming.

Authorities described the programming—much of it produced with the backing of Western governments— as “anti-Chinese” and vowed to increase access to Chinese state-backed programming instead.

Task Force on Negotiations discusses the ongoing political crisis in Tibet

Tibetan political leader Dr Lobsang Sangay presides over the one-day meeting of the Task Force in Dharamsala, India, on October 10, 2011. Photo: File

By Yeshe Choesang, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: - “The urgent need for a peaceful resolution in Tibet” was discussed during a Task Force on Negotiations meeting, on December 31January 1.

In a statement, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said that the two day meeting chaired by Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong, Dr Lobsang Sangay, also reviewed the deepening political crisis in Tibet - including the tragic spate of selfimmolations, and the recent changes in the Chinese leadership and their possible implications for Tibet.

“Substantive assessments were made on the genesis of the Tibetan dialogue process, its future prospects and challenges, based on the situation in Tibet, China and in the international community”, said the statement.

“Various constructive opinions were expressed to continue the dialogue. The procedure for appointment of envoys of His Holiness the Dalai

Lama was also discussed.

“The Tibetan leadership remains firmly committed to non-violence and the Middle-Way Approach, and strongly believes that the only way to resolve the issue of Tibet is through dialogue.

“We continue to appeal to Tibetans not to undertake drastic actions, including self-immolations. We welcome the statements of concern by the United Nations and governments about the current situation in Tibet as well as their encouragement for dialogue”.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Sangay, said: “Substance being primary and process secondary, we are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue anywhere and at anytime”.

The Task Force, established in 1999 to assist His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s envoys in dialogues with the Chinese government, will be reconstituted this year with additional members, and will reconvene in March, when the new Chinese leadership will assume full responsibility.

China academics warn of “violent revolution” if no political reform

By Ben Blanchard, Reuters, December 31, Beijing: – A prominent group of Chinese academics has warned in a bold open letter that the country risks “violent revolution” if the government does not respond to public pressure and allow longstalled political reforms.

The 73 scholars, including well-known current and retired legal experts at top universities and lawyers, said political reform had not matched the quick pace of economic expansion.

“If reforms to the system urgently needed by Chinese society keep being frustrated and stagnate without progress, then official corruption and dissatisfaction in society will boil up to a crisis point and China will once again miss the opportunity for peaceful reform, and slip into the turbulence and chaos of violent revolution,” they wrote.

The letter began being circulated on the Internet earlier this month, but online references to it in Chinese media reports have now been removed.

The government, which since 1949 has been controlled by the Communist Party, needed to push democracy and independence of the judiciary as well as deepen market reforms, the letter said.

He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University and one of the signatories, told Reuters he believed the demands were rather moderate, but that now was the time to make them as President Hu Jintao prepared to hand over the reins of state power to Xi Jinping, who was made party chief in November.

“We have come to that period again when the leadership is changing. People expect continuing advances when it comes to reform of the political system,” he said.

“The Chinese people, including intellectuals, have been talking about this for a while, but little has happened. So I think we have the opportunity now to push it again.”

Other signatories include Zhang Sizhi, defence lawyer for Mao Zedong’s widow, Jiang Qing, leader

Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, chats with Vice President Xi Jinping, Nov. 8, 2012. Photo: AP/file

of the “Gang of Four” that wielded supreme power during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. She was given a suspended death sentence in 1981 for the deaths of tens of thousands during that period of chaos.

About 65 Chinese academics, lawyers and human rights activists have signed a similar letter demanding top party members reveal their financial assets, saying it is the most fundamental way to end corruption.

Analysts have been searching for signs that China’s new leaders might steer a path of political reform, whether by allowing freer expression on the Internet, greater experimentation with grassroots democracy or releasing jailed dissidents.

But the party, which brooks no dissent to its rule and values stability above all else, has so far shown little sign of wanting to go down this path, despite

Xi trying to project a softer and more open image than his predecessor.

However, Xi himself warned shortly after becoming party boss that if corruption were allowed to run wild, the party risked major unrest and the collapse of its rule.

The letter said democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights were “a global trend that could not be stopped”.

“China’s 100 years of bloody and violent history – especially the painful and tragic lesson of the decade-long Cultural Revolution – show that once we go against the tide of democracy, human rights, rule of law and constitutional government, the people will suffer disaster and social and political stability will be impossible,” the letter said.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Editing by Nick Macfie)

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International

His Holiness graces Samyeling Tibetan Settlement’s golden jubilee celebration

EXILE NEWS

January 6, 2013 Dharamshala

Former Tibetan prime minister, Sonam Topgyal, dies in Dharamshala aged 71

3

By Sophie Jay, December 31, 2012.

Dr Lobsang Sangay addresses the crowd during the celebration, December 26, 2012. Photo: TPI

By Yeshe Choesang, December 26, 2012.

New Delhi: - The spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama joined thousands of Tibetans celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Delhi’s largest Tibetan settlement.

The Tibetans and well wishers filled the Samyeling Tibetan Colony’s public school, in Majnu-Ka-Tilla, north Delhi, for the celebration entitled: “Thank you India, and Thank you Delhi”, on December 26.

Crammed with Tibetan guesthouses, shops, market stalls and restaurants, the settlement on the banks of the Yamuna river, has become the first port of call for many international travellers seeking an introduction to the Tibetan people and their culture, upon arrival in India.

Welcoming the crowd, settlement officer, Lekyi Dorjee Tsangla, explained that a handful of Tibetan refugees, who had arrived in Delhi in the wake of the 1959 Lhasa uprising, lived at the city’s Buddhist Vihar, inhabited by Tibetan Buddhist Lhadaki people from India’s far north, until the strip of land was allotted for their use by Indian Prime Minister, Pandit Jawa Lal Nehru, in 1963.

The majority of the refugee families relocated to the land, now known as New Aruna Nagar, which today comprises 12 blocks and is home to 350 families, as well as numerous students and other tenants.

“Restaurants serving Tibetan delicacies, shops selling jewelry, artifacts reminiscent of Tibet, and lodging houses are the main facet of the colony,” he said, adding that 51 families continue to live at the Ladakhi Buddhist Vihar.

The event was attended by a number of Indian and Tibetan dignitaries including Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, Parlad Singh Sawhney, MP, representing Delhi’s Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, Tibetan Home Minister, Dolma Gyari, and Dongchung Ngodup, Minister of the Department of Security.

After Dolma Gyari thanked Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other Indian officials for the regularisation of the colony, the Dalai Lama presented each of them with a portrait of the Buddha.

Dr Sangay expressed his gratitude to the Indian government and people for accommodating Tibetan refugees in their country, stating: “Tibetans in exile have managed to stand on their own feet because of these facilities provided to us.

“If we will be able to achieve and fulfill the aspirations of Tibetan people, that is to restore freedom for Tibetans and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, then the Tibetan people’s success will be India’s success.”

Exile parliament’s Solidarity with Tibet campaign reaches Bangalore, South India

Dharamshala: - Tibet’s former Kalon Tripa (prime minister), Sonam Topgyal, died on Sunday, December 30.

It is believed that 71-year-old Topgyal, who served the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) for almost 50 years, and led the exiled Tibetan government between 1997 – 2001, passed away at his home, in Lower Dharamshala, after fighting a long battle with stomach cancer.

“He was really a jolly person,” said Chairman of the Public service Commission and Chief Election Commissioner, Jampal Chosang, who worked with Topgyal in the Department of Information.

“He was one of the foremost Tibetan civil service officers who put all the energy and expertise he had to the common purpose, but he was always very casual and never cared for anything about himself, such as his dress.

“He was very learned and especially good in Tibetan language and literature. He was very good in Chinese politics also. He didn’t speak English, but he always understood what someone was saying when they made a comment in English. He also had quite an extensive knowledge of Hindi literature which is very unusual among the Tibetans.”

Tibet’s current political leader, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, has since visited Topgyal’s family home with his cabinet colleagues to express his “deep condolences”, and a CTA spokesperson added that it would hold a prayer service in the former Prime Minister’s memory, following which its offices would remain closed, on December 31.

When news of Topgyal’s death reached McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, local Tibetans held a candlelight vigil in his memory.

According to the CTA, Topgyal was born in Chamdo (Chengdu) Kham, in 1941, and in 1959

Kalon Trisur Sonam Topgyal. Photo: tibet.net

was among the first wave of Tibetans to flee his homeland following the Lhasa uprising, escaping to India, where the following year he began studying at the Central University for Tibetan Studies, in Sarnath, near Varanasi.

After working as a researcher at Benares Hindu University, Topgyal joined the CTA in 1963, and in 1971 became a deputy secretary at the Department of Information.

Rising through the ranks, he was transferred to the Cabinet Secretariat (Kadrung) five years later, before returning to the Department of Information as its secretary in 1980. Three years later he was selected to join the public service commission, and in 1993 was nominated to the 10th Kashag (cabinet) where he served as minister for the departments of

Conference examining Chinese leadership’s effect on ethnic minorities to be held in Geneva, Switzerland

By Sophie Jay, January 3, 2013.

Dharamshala: - The challenges faced by Tibetans and China’s other ethnic minority groups in the wake of the imminent Chinese leadership change will be discussed during a special conference in Switzerland.

The World Uyghur Congress will host the conference, entitled: “China’s New Leadership: Challenges for Human Rights, Democracy and Freedom in East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia”, in Geneva between March 11-13.

The Uyghurs are an Islamic Turkic ethnic group inhabiting parts of Xinjiang in western China, where over 200 were killed during violent clashes with members of the local Han Chinese population in July, 2009.

In a statement, the World Uyghur Congress said: “The international community has reacted with

Flags and maps of East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia: Photo:file

horror at the ongoing self-immolations in Tibet and the violent suppression of peaceful protests in 2009, following which many thousands of Uyghurs have disappeared.

25 Tibetan women “take strident steps to perfect leadership skills” at conference

The six-member South Zone Tibetan Parliament delegates with Shri K.G. Bopaiah, the honorable Speaker of the Karnataka State Assembly, January 1, 2013. Photo: TPI

By Yeshe Choesang, January 2, 2013.

Bangalore: - 2013 will be the year for “Solidarity with Tibet.”

So states a memorandum presented by Tibetan parliamentary delegates to honorable Speaker of the Karnataka State Assembly, Shri K.G. Bopaiah, in Bangalore, on January 1.

Launching the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s month long “All India Solidarity with Tibet campaign” aimed at raising awareness of the current situation in the Himalayan region, six Tibetan delegates from South India described the situation that has led to the wave of self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese rule in their country, to Mr Bopaiah.

The delegates, Gyari Bhutuk, Ven Adruk Tseten, Jigme Jungney, Bumo Tsering, Tsering Youdon and Lobsang Yeshi, then presented the memorandum soliciting his support for the Tibetan freedom struggle and putting an end to the ongoing crisis in Tibet.

“In the light of the ongoing crisis in Tibet, which is both political and humanitarian in nature, the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetans the world over will observe 2013 as the year of “Solidarity with Tibet”, the memorandum states.

“It will not be unknown to you that 95 Tibetan martyrs have self-immolated since February 2009 as a demonstration of the strong resolve among Tibetans in Tibet to compel the Chinese Government to repeal its oppressive policies.

“Instead, even after the once-in-a-decade transitional change of Chinese leadership this year, the whole of Tibet is effectively under a clampdown and remains closed to foreign tourists and scribes”.

Mr Bopaiah assured his support and offered a message of solidarity for the delegation’s forthcoming Public Rally.

Thanking him for the support of the south Indian state of Karnataka, which is home to the largest number of Tibetans living outside Tibet, the delegation invited the speaker to visit the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s Dharamshala headquarters.

Whilst in the city, the delegates also addressed a press conference at the Press Club on January 2, and led a rally between Freedom Park and Cubbon Park, followed by a prayer vigil, on January 5.

After leaving Bangalore, the group will carry the campaign to Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Pondicherry, Chennai, Panaji, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

Home and Health, before becoming Kalon Tripa in April, 1997.

Alongside his distinguished political career, Topgyal was one of four founder members of the largest pro-independence NGO in exile, the Tibetan Youth Congress, and in 1968 helped found Tibetan language magazine, Sheja, which remains in print today.

In July 1993, when secretary of the Department of Information, Topgyal visited China along with Kalon Gyalo Thondup, where they met the director of the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, Wang Caogo, to whom they delivered a letter and memorandum on behalf of the Dalai Lama.

Topgyal is survived by his wife and three daughters.

“Rather than seeking to address ethnic grievances and rising tensions through peaceful dialogue with representatives of the peoples of East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, the Chinese government opts to silence them with further repression, thereby intensifying the present tensions even more.

“A conference seeking to address these issues could therefore not be timelier. Academics, activists and representatives of international organisations attending the conference will examine the current situation in East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia and their relationship with current developments in China‘s government and society.

“They will analyse the potential human rights developments for the future in view of the recent Chinese leadership change so as to provide concrete and pragmatic proposals for peacefully resolving these growing conflicts and tensions”. ....Tibetans congratulate new chief ministers

.........Continued from page one Sangay, said in a letter to Virbhadra Singh, who was sworn-in as chief minister of Himachal Pradesh in Shimla, the same day.

“Today on the occasion of your swearing in ceremony, we wish you all the best and pray for your successful tenure.

“You have been a long-time supporter of Tibetans and the issue of Tibet throughout your five-decade long career. We look forward to seeing a further strengthening of your Government’s support for the issue of Tibet under your leadership.

“Tibetans are eternally grateful to the great country of India and its people, particularly the beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh and Himachali people,” he added.

In another letter, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s speaker, Penpa Tsering, said: “On behalf of all the Tibetan people, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile wishes to congratulate you and your party for the emphatic victory in the recent state elections.

“We wish you success in your endeavour and we are sure your leadership will take your states to greater heights in future.”

Guest speakers line up for the TWA’s conference, Women’s Leadership Roles in Asia, December 27, 2012 Photo: TPI

By Sophie Jay, December 28, 2012.

Twenty five Tibetan women converged on New Delhi to attend a conference on ‘Women’s Leadership Roles in Asia’.

The women travelled from Tibetan settlements in Sikkim, Chennai, Gujarat, Dharamshala and Majnuka-tilla in Delhi to meet veteran female leaders at the Tibetan Women’s Association’s (TWA’s) third Tibetan Advanced Leadership Training conference, at the capital’s Gandhi Peace Foundation between December 18-27.

At the concluding session, speakers, who focussed particularly on the role of Tibetan women as agents

of positive change in the 21st century, included India’s first and highest ranking female officer and political activist, Dr. Kiran Bedi, former political leader and social activist, Jaya Jaitley, activist for Burmese human rights, Dr. Alana Golmei, and the Gandhi Peace Foundation’s leading activist, Radha Bhatt (alias Radha Bhen.)

A TWA spokesperson said: “The participants shared commitment to take strident steps in their everyday lives to perfect their leadership skills, and to continue the legacy of women’s leadership and thereby secure a safe and sound future for women across the globe.”

Photo story: Chinese woman, Lui Sha Sha, recently holds up a banner in Beijing on which is written: “ Welcome His Holiness, return home” Photo: TPI

4

The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

His Holiness tells Russians: “I don’t want to put anyone to any inconvenience”

Russian television presenter, Olga Lipich, interviewing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Delhi, India, on December 25, 2012.

Photo/Jeremy Russell/ OHHDL

By Sophie Jay, January 3, 2013.

Dharamshala: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that whilst he would very much like to visit Russia, he “doesn’t want to put anyone to any inconvenience.”

The 77-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, who has several times been denied a visa enabling him to visit Russia, made the comment during a Russian television interview coinciding with a four day teaching for Russian Buddhists, on December 25.

In response to interviewer Olga Lipich‘s assertation that many of those attending the teachings on Shantideva’s eighth century text, a Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, looked forward to his coming to Russia, asking when that might be, he said: “I came to Russia in 1979 and 1982, when it was still part of the USSR and it seems ironic that I was able to come when it was still a totalitarian communist state, but now that it’s free, it seems I can’t.

“Generations of Russian Buddhists have had a unique relationship with the Dalai Lamas and with Tibetans, so a historical link exists.

“I am naturally concerned about their well being and indeed for the Russian Federation as a whole. My predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, had a connection

with and concern for Russia. I also have many Russian friends who are not Buddhists.”

Laughing, he concluded: “Whatever happens, I don’t want to put anyone to any inconvenience.”

Despite the failure of the Russian government to issue him a visa, the Dalai Lama continues to enjoy popular support in the world’s largest nation, particularly in the Tyva Republic (Tuva) in which nearly 62 per cent of the population claims to be Buddhist, and the neighboring Republic of Buryatia, both of which border Mongolia.

On December 21 last year, he received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to freedom, human rights, religious harmony and environmental protection” from Tuva State University.

Almost 1500 devotees, including over 1000 from Russia, attended the teaching at the Kempinski Ambience Hotel, in Delhi, between December 24 – 27.

In a croaky voice acquired during a month of teachings in Karnataka, South India, in November and December, followed by a four day inter Buddhist dialogue between Tibetan and Thai practitioners, in Delhi, the Dalai Lama stated that the source of all our problems is self-centeredness, adding: “I read recently that in the twenty-first century, of the 7 billion people alive today, one billion describe themselves as non-believers, which means 6 billion regard themselves as believers in one religion or another.

“But when we see that apparently religious people indulge in corruption and don’t seem to want to reduce their self-centeredness or combat their destructive emotions, we might ask how deep their spiritual belief really is.”

He added: “I have no blessings to give; I don’t think of myself as the Dalai Lama, but as another person like everyone else. The important thing is that we want to lead a happy life and to do that we need to educate ourselves.”

China confiscates satellite equipment and televisions in Tibet to avoid “overseas anti-China” broadcasts

By Tenzin Desal, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: Chinese authorities in northeastern Tibet have confiscated televisions and satellite equipment from monasteries to impede the flow of information in the region.

A statement on the state run Qinghai news agency reported that search parties have been sent to over 300 monasteries in Malho, (Huangnan) Amdho, where they dismantled satellite equipment and seized televisions, which the statement said, enabled the monks to tune into “anti Chinese” broadcasts.

The local Chinese authorities also announced plans to spend 8.64 million Yuan ($US 1.39 million) to install 50 transmitters allowing them to broadcast 70 per cent of the prefecture’s TV channels.

Five of the 95 Tibetans who have self-immolated protesting Chinese rule in their country since 2009 are believed to have done so in Malho.

The statement, released in December, said that to deter self-immolations, it should be “guiding public opinion on the Dalai issue”, and “blocking outside harmful information”, adding: “The prefecture’s agricultural and pastoral areas have relied on certain satellite equipment to watch and listen to overseas, anti-China programs.

“At this critical moment for maintaining social stability in Huangnan prefecture ... (we must) strengthen measures and fully fight the special battle against self-immolations”.

When asked to confirm the report by international news agency, Reuters, the Huangnan prefecture government said:”We do not know anything about it.”

China has repeatedly denounced the Dalai Lama and exiled Tibetan groups for inciting self-immolations in Tibet.

Young scientists attend Tibetan Scientific Society conclave in Bangalore, South India

TIBET NEWS

Three Tibetan monks disappear after being detained by Chinese police in Amdho ByYeshe Choesang, December 14, 2012.

Dharamshala: - Three Tibetan monks have disappeared after they were detained by Chinese police last month.

The Dharamshala based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that on December 1, Sungrab Gyatso, 36, was taken from Khyamru Monastery in Serchen county, Amdho, in northeastern Tibet, by local Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers, charged with sharing information about a mass student protest in Chabcha on November 26.

The two other monks, Yeshi Sangpo, 37, and Draksang, 26, never returned to the monastery after they were taken to the county government office for interrogation.

Since then no one, including family members, has received any information about their condition or whereabouts.

A reliable source with contacts in the area said that on the night of December 2, a group of People’s Armed Police (PAP) arrived at the monastery to detain its caretaker, Draksang, and Yeshi Sangpo.

Some monks who were inside the prayer hall refused to open the door for the armed police who then locked it from the outside.

The next morning, other monks asked the PAP officers about the locked door. They were told that they were just doing their duty, and if anyone wanted an explanation, he should visit the local government office. Soon, over 150 monks marched in the direction of the office, but were stopped by local Tibetans who asked them not to go, fearing escalating tensions.

The report stated that a group of special armed

police along with five PSB vehicles and some government officials later arrived, who told the Tibetans they had the names of about 10 people who would be detained soon, but for the time being they wanted to question Draksang and Yeshi Sangpo.

Failure to hand over the two monks would result

By Sophie Jay, December 26, 2012.

Dharamshala: - The family of a monk sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 2008 uprising are concerned about his whereabouts.

Lhase Sonam, an exiled Tibetan based in Switzerland, reported that in spite of repeated attempts by his family to track him down, no news of Jampa Wangchuk’s whereabouts has been reported since he was handed his sentence and stripped of his political rights at the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court in June.

Jampa, from Tsothod, Phenpo Lhundhup county, near Lhasa, was arrested in April 2008, a month after 350 monks from Drepung monastery, at which he taught Buddhist scripture and had recently been appointed gaku, meaning he was responsible for laying down the rules, staged a peaceful rally protesting Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The monks are reported to have begun walking from the monastery, located on the outskirts of Lhasa, to Bharkor Street, an important landmark in the Tibetan capital, before they were stopped by Chinese police en route.

Hundreds of monks were subsequently arrested and subjected to torture, and the ancient university monastery was blockaded by Chinese military, who are reported to have forced many monks to leave the monastery and launched a compulsory patriotic reeducation campaign for those that remained.

By Tenzin Desal, January 4, 2012.

Dharamshala: - Over 80 Tibetan students from across India converged on Delhi to attend a conference on their country’s politics, education, religion and culture.

Speaking at the 7th conference of Tibetan college students at TCV Day School in Samyeling Tibetan Colony, Majnu ka Tilla, Delhi, Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, told the young people: “it is important to concentrate on education and to

Jampa Wangchuk and Ngawang Choenyi, from Drepung monastery in Lhasa, central Tibet. Photo: File

It is believed that prior to the protest, Jampa, who joined Drepung in 1982, refused a request from the Chinese authorities to prevent the monks at Tibet’s largest monastery from joining the wave of protests spreading across Tibet.

He was later arrested on charges of corruption.

Many of the arrested monks are believed to be

get a good degree.

“It is difficult to contribute in a society without good qualifications,” he continued.

“When one is able to acquire a good education then the door to various opportunities will open”.

Speaking to reporters, Sonam Dhargyal, president of the organizing committee from Delhi University said: “the goal of the conference is to improve and acquire more knowledge on unity, self-reliance and social service”.

The four day event ran between December 26-29.

Tibetan teachers meet to discuss development of education

By Tenzin Desal, January 3, 2013.

Dharamshala: - Over 60 young Tibetan scientists attended a special conference in Bangalore, south India, between December 26 – 30.

The Tibetan Scientific Society’s (TSS’s) second Science Conclave enabled the young people, who are studying a range of scientific subjects at universities and colleges across India, to meet some of the leading scientists in their fields, at the city’s Dalai Lama Institute of Higher studies TSS secretary, Tenzin Passang, who is studying for a PhD in Physics at the University of Mysore, said: “we would like to provide a platform for young Tibetan students pursuing science and create the possibility of meeting with good scientists in

various scientific fields.

“The response from the participants was overwhelming. They took great interest in the programmes and asked very good questions to the people we invited. At times we found it difficult to entertain all the questions.

Tenzin Samdup, a graduate science student from Bangalore who attended the conclave for the first time, said: “I got some ideas about how one conducts research and all the steps involved in research work.

“All the executive members were easy to approach, and I really gained something beyond the subject which I am studying.

“It was an eye opener.”

in further problems for the monastery, they warned.

Draksang and Yeshi Sangpo left for the local government office thinking they would be released after answering some questions, as was promised by the police and government officials, but never returned.

Sentenced monk’s family concerned about his whereabouts

Over eighty Tibetan students attend conference on “unity, self-reliance and social service.” in Delhi

Convener, Tenzin Nyibhum introduces his team of organisers, on December 26, 2012. Photo: TPI/Chime Tseten

January 6, 2013 Dharamshala

By Tenzin Desal, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: - Over 150 teachers from Tibetan schools across India gathered to discuss the development of education at a meeting at Dharamshala’s Lower TCV school, between January 2 – 5.

At its inauguration ceremony, Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, who is also minister for the Department of Education (DOE), responsible for overseeing 73 schools educating 24,000 students, which organized the event, said: “Improving the education system will take our joint effort over not just two or three years but many enduring years. We all should make concerted efforts to bring development.

“Although the roles of parents, relatives and family are crucial for the development of education, the

greatest responsibility lies on the shoulders of the teachers.

“The literacy rate for Tibetans in exile is 84 per cent, and this is very respectable in comparison to our neighbours, but it is also obvious that we lack the quality to become experts.”

In November, the DOE announced new scholarship schemes that would “provide incentives to talented and hard-working students” and “promote academic excellence, produce more scholars and professionals, and also support economically disadvantaged students.”

It also launched the Tibet Education Project, a twoyear program funded by the United States Agency for International Development to help improve the quality of educational opportunities for Tibetan refugee students in India and Nepal.

imprisoned in Nyari prison in Tibet’s second city, Shigatse, and in Chushul prison near Lhasa.

Lhase Sonam also reported that fellow monk Ngawang Choenyi, 42, from Sharsarsul, Lhasa, who was arrested on the same day, has received a seven year prison sentence.

Chinese authorities arrest three Tibetans for holding prayers for self-immolator Wangchen

By Tenzin Desal, January 5, 2013.

Wangchen Norbu, who died on November 19, 2012. Photo: TPI/file

Dharamshala: - Chinese authorities arrested three Tibetans for conducting a prayer ceremony for a self-immolator, on November 21.

Local sources reported that monks Tsundue,23, and Gendun Tsultrim, 30, as well as Wangyal, 23, were detained after local Chinese authorities in Tsoshar, Amdho, northeastern Tibet, objected to the ceremony honouring Wangchen Norbu, who had died after setting himself alight two days earlier.

Eyewitnesses reported that Wangchen set himself ablaze near Kangtsa Gaden Choephelling Monastery, shouting slogans calling for “ the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, the release of the Panchen Lama and freedom for Tibet.”

When monks from a neighbouring monastery came to pray for Wangchen two days later, Chinese authorities banned the ceremony and arrested the three.

The report stated that Wangchen’s uncle said that the arrests were due to: “ the expression of solidarity and leading the prayer ceremony for the deceased.”

The condition and whereabouts of the three detained Tibetans is unknown.

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International

His Holiness the Dalai Lama expresses concern over degenerating human values in India

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

January 6, 2013 Dharamshala

International China experts suggest regime’s greatest threat lies within

5

By Sophie Jay, January 3, 2012.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks to NDTV. Photo: NDTV/ Video

By Tenzin Desal, January 2, 2013.

Dharamshala: - The spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed concerns over degenerating human values in India following the death of a 23-year-old medical student who was gang-raped in Delhi.

Speaking on India’s NDTV news channel, on December 30, the Tibetan spiritual leader said the key to improving human values in the country in which he has spent the last 53 years, is “Modernisation including education.”

“You should pay attention to thousands of years of tradition, which is neglected,” he said.

Alluding to the development boom India has witnessed over the past two decades, he added:

“You have buildings, material facilities, but in the meantime (there are) incidents like this, corruption, and unjust activities.

“People must think more seriously about how to keep their thousand year old tradition.”

The attack on the female student on a Delhi bus on December 16 sparked outrage in India and across the world.

Angry protestors converged on the streets of the Indian capital expressing anger over attitudes to women in India and calling for changes to the laws on violence against women, whilst many Indians including president of the governing Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, cancelled New Years Eve celebrations to mourn her death.

Sikyong and parliament welcome Senator John Kerry’s United States Secretary of State nomination

Dharamshala: - “How can China’s economic growth be sustained when there’s no transparency in the political system?”

This was just one of the questions raised at the Tibet Policy Institute’s three day conference examining the implications the new Chinese leadership might have on Tibet, held at the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA’s) staff mess, in Dharamshala, between December 28 – 30.

China experts from Tibet, the United States (US), Canada, Taiwan, India, and China attended the event, at which they discussed the direction in which the soon to be Chinese president, Xi Jinping, elected during the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCPs) 18th Party Congress in November, will steer the home of the world’s second largest economy.

Thubten Samphel, director of the Tibet policy Institute, described by Tibet’s political leader, Dr Lobsang Sangay, as “Tibet’s number one think tank”, who organized the conference entitled: Leadership Transition in China: Implications for the Chinese, Tibetans and Others, said that the aim of the event was to provide the opportunity for CTA staff members to share a platform with some of the world’s “most established scholars” of Chinese politics and economics.

“Some scholars are saying that the Chinese economy is doomed,” he said.

“Others are saying that it will grow and grow at a slower pace and displace the US economy by 2030.

“There are two opposing views among scholars and economists, who are divided between ‘the bulls and the bears.’

“Until 2011, the dominant view of the Chinese economy was that of the bulls – that it will continue to expand and become the factory of the world, that the sky is the limit for the growth of the Chinese economy.

“But by the beginning of 2012, China was experiencing an economic slowdown. At the same

Scholars discuss implications of new Chinese leadership on Tibet, Dharamshala, India, on December 28, 2012. Photo: TPI

time there has been internal political struggle.”

Referring to the case of former Communist Party chief in Chongqing, Bo Xilai, a high flyer tipped by many for top office until his wife, Gu Kailai, was handed a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman, Neil Heywood, described in some reports as the couple’s “financial middleman,” he added: “Right now, because of these political scandals and the current financial situation in China, these ‘bullish’ sentiments have been tempered.

“Many scholars and economists came to the view that the political system in China isn’t that perfect and are wondering how this economic growth can be sustained when there’s no transparency in the political system.

“The growth of the Chinese economy is dependent on China’s political stability,” he continued.

“The CCP has promised the Chinese people continued economic growth in return for their devotion to the Party, but any economic slowdown will make the Chinese people dissatisfied with the policies of their leaders.”

Speakers at the conference included US lawyer, television analyst and author of The Coming Collapse of China, Dr Gordon Chang, Taiwan’s former Deputy Minister of National Defence and author of China’s Nuclear Weapons Strategy, Professor Chong-Pin Lin, and Visiting Professor of Modern International Relations and International Law at Princeton University’s Institute of Advanced Study, Michael van Walt van Praag.

United States lawmakers urge President Barack Obama to lead efforts to resolve Tibet issue

By Yeshe Choesang, December 23, 2012.

Senator John Kerry with Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay/File photo

By Sophie Jay, December 27, 2012.

Dharamshala: - The exiled Tibetan community has welcomed United States (US) President, Barack Obama’s, nomination of Senator John Kerry as his next Secretary of State.

Massachusetts Senator Kerry, who has been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2009, is a long time friend of Tibet, who earlier this year helped steer two Tibet resolutions including one in March, expressing support for the people of Tibet and calling on the Chinese government to end its repressive policies towards Tibetans, which was passed by the US Senate.

An expert on foreign policy, he was also one of four senators who wrote a letter to President George Bush in 2008 calling on the Bush administration to visit Tibet during the Beijing Olympics, establish a consulate in Lhasa and call for access for international humanitarian officials and journalists to Tibet.

“Senator Kerry has a deep understanding of the Tibet issue,” said Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong

Dr Lobsang Sangay, following news on the nomination on December 26.

“I wish him a speedy confirmation and much success in his new role as the next US Secretary of State.

“I hope he’ll build on the efforts of Secretary Hillary Clinton, elevate the Tibet issue and human rights as American foreign policy pivots to Asia, and fully implement the Tibetan Policy Act.” Senator Kerry has twice met both Dr Sangay and the Dalai Lama.

Dr Sangay added that during their most recent meeting in Washington D.C. in July, he talked with his fellow Harvard graduate and baseball team, the Boston Red Sox fan, about the current crisis in Tibet, as well as lighter subjects including the many things the two politicians have in common.

Addressing Senator Kerry in another letter, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s speaker, Penpa Tsering, added: “We have always been very appreciative of your interest, concern and support for the Tibetan cause.

Tibetan Parliament in Exile congratulates new Korean President Park Geun-hye

Members of the United States House of Representatives have urged President Barack Obama to “take a leading role” in helping improve human rights in Tibet.

In a letter dated December 20, 2012, and signed by 58 House Members of both the Democrat and Republican parties, Representatives Jim McGovern and Frank Wolf, asked that “the US take a leading role and engage actively with partner nations on measures that could bring near-term improvements in the human rights situation in Tibet.”

“It has long been US policy to promote dialogue without preconditions to advance a solution on Tibet and to press for respect for human rights and the preservation of Tibetan religion, language and cultural heritage,” said the letter.

“Regrettably, the policies of the Chinese government towards the Tibetan people have only increased in their level of repression, their intrusion into all Tibetan institutions, most particularly religious and educational, and their denigration of Tibetan culture. These repressive conditions have led to self-immolations and protests by Tibetans.

The floor of the US House of Representatives during a joint session of Congress. Photo: File

“It is in this context that we welcome the strong November 2 statement on Tibet by United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay. She cited

Workshop enables students to “develop a clear understanding of the issue of Tibet”

By Tenzin Desal, December 29, 2012.

By Yeshe Choesang, December 23, 2012.

South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye. Photo: Reuters

Dharamshala: - The Tibetan Parliament in Exile has congratulated Park Geun-hye on her election as the next President of the Republic of Korea.

In a letter to the new President, the Parliament’s Speaker, Penpa Tsering, urged Ms Park Geun-hye, of the republic’s Grand National Party, elected on December 19, to voice her concerns over the long standing issue of Tibet, stating: “On behalf of all the Tibetan people, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile wishes to congratulate you and your party for the emphatic victory in the recent state elections.

“We wish you success in your endeavour.

“We are sure you are well informed about the situation in Tibet, and we seek your support in peacefully resolving the long standing issue of Tibet.”

Dharamshala: - A workshop to help enable students to “develop a clear understanding of the issue of Tibet” began on December 25.

During the nine-day event, the 124 participants from 21 schools across India and Nepal will be addressed by over 30 speakers including Tibet’s political leader, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, and visit a range of educational, religious and cultural institutions and NGO’s in Dharamshala.

At the opening ceremony of the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre’s ( T P P R C ’s ) n i n t h s t u d e n t w o r k s h o p , a t Dharamshala’s Lower TCV school, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s Speaker, Penpa Tsering, said: “The elder generation of Tibetans had hoped to

return quickly to Tibet after coming into exile, but they have had to remain in exile for over fifty years.

“The issue of Tibet might remain unresolved for many years, and in such an event the responsibility of sustaining the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and the freedom struggle would certainly devolve on the younger generation.

“The Tibetan polity has undergone a generational transition with many Tibetans brought up in exile such as the Sikyong, parliament speaker, and staff taking over the role to lead the CTA,” he continued.

“The younger generation will have to take the responsibility both in keeping alive our freedom struggle, and in rebuilding and administering when a solution is found to the issue of Tibet.”

‘continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights of freedom of expression, association and religion,’ and pointed to ‘reports of detentions and disappearances, of excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators, and curbs on the cultural rights of Tibetans.’

“We believe Commissioner Pillay’s statement requires stronger efforts on the part of the US and the international community to press China to respect human rights in Tibet.

“The Chinese government appears to believe that by sealing off Tibet, international interest and concern will diminish. It will not.

“We urge you, Mr. President, to take a leading role in support of Commissioner Pillay’s statement and actively engage partner nations on measures that could bring near-term improvements in the human rights situation in Tibet and serve to de-escalate rising tensions brought about by hard-line and destructive Chinese policies and actions.

“We have the moral obligation to speak out for the Tibetan people and confront China about these abuses, to convey the aspirations for change that are being expressed so desperately by the Tibetan people directly to those who have the responsibility to heed Tibetans’ demands for change, respect and basic dignity.”

6

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International

BACK PAGE FOCUS

Maverick Lama’s Tushita Meditation Centre celebrates 40 years of teaching the dharma

The stupa containing Lama Yeshe’s relics in the grounds of Tushita Meditation Centre. Photo: TPI/Sophie Jay

By Sophie Jay, January 7, 2013

Dharamshalam: - Tushita Meditation Centre’s 40th anniversary celebrations were low key considering its legacy.

Thousands of curious travellers from across the globe have flocked to the centre, in a tranquil forest glade which seems a world away from the hustle and bustle of McLeod Ganj’s busy Main Square, just a 15 minute walk through enchanting deodar and pine forest below, to study Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism since it first opened its doors in 1972.

Over the last three years, people from 78 countries have visited Tushita. In 2011 these students, aged 18 – 81, attended courses ranging from the centre’s increasingly popular 10 day Introduction to Buddhism course, focusing on key aspects of the 2,500 year old philosophy including karma, love and compassion, intermediate programmes on key Buddhist texts including Geshe Langri Tangpa’s Eight Verses of Mind Training and Ngulchu Thogme’s 37 Steps to Becoming a Bodhisattva, to in depth retreats for more advanced practitioners.

Emily Withers, 25, from Australia, who attended an Introduction to Buddhism course in 2009, said: “I have fond memories of Tushita; of the mist through the pine forest, the resident dog curled up on the chair and the calmness of everyone eating together at meal times.

“Tushita to me is not necessarily just about Buddhism. You don’t have to believe in Buddhism to stay there or to learn. It is a place you can really use to take time out, to learn, to live and to be, even just for a few days or a week.”

A little over 40 years ago, that magic glade on the “blessed hill”, nestled in the shadow of the Himalayan Dhauladhar mountains, was occupied by a picturesque colonial house owned by local family, the Nowerjees, who continue to run the shop they established in the town’s Main Square in 1860 to this day.

Then came a maverick Tibetan Lama with a great vision.

Tushita’s founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe, had a seemingly divine talent for reaching out to his fellow human beings. In her 1988 book, Reincarnation: The Boy Lama, in which she tells the compelling story of what many believe to have been Lama Yeshe’s reincarnation as a Spanish boy, British journalist, Vicki Mackenzie, described the extraordinary lengths “Lama” went to, in order to better understand the mindset of his western students.

“Revolutionary in his broadmindedness,” Lama Yeshe visited night clubs, played the tables in Las Vegas, and according to Mackenzie, dragged his reluctant disciple Lama Zopa Rinpoche (now spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, of which Tushita is part) “not only to Disneyland, where he tried most of the rides and wore a Mickey Mouse hat – but also to a strip joint, where they both sat eating ice-cream, not at all shocked by the antics of the lady on the stage.”

She said: “He was all that I had imagined a spiritual master should be: radiant, filled with a zest for life, yet at the same time an acute sensitivity for our innate sorrow; unerringly wise; suffused with humility; completely ego-less; and overflowing with an irrepressible sense of humour.

“Struck by life’s absurdity, a joke, or spontaneous joy, he would burst forth into peals of laughter,

rocking back and forth on his throne, throwing his robes over his head, hitting himself with his rosary.

“If this was holiness, it was worth emulating.”

Lama Yeshe was one of the very first Tibetans to flee his homeland following the Lhasa uprising in 1959, during which the ancient monastic university Sera, which he joined aged six, was bombarded with shells and many of the monks killed or taken prisoner.

Upon arrival in a steamy holding camp in Assam, India, Lama Yeshe distracted himself from the sickness and “terrible food” by learning English, much to the disapproval of his fellow Tibetans, often arriving late to his 9am debating sessions due to having devoted much of the night to his studies.

It is believed that Lama Yeshe was the reincarnation of an abbess and great yogini, who had resided at a nunnery two hours away by horse from where he was born. The Abbess’s devoted nuns claimed that her fervent prayer had been to be reborn in a place in which she could “bring Buddhism to those in spiritual darkness” and teach those whom no other lama would teach.

From the day he and Lama Zopa accidentally received their first western student, Hollywood starlet, Zina Rachevsky, in 1965, Lama Yeshe exhibited a particular talent for teaching and bonding with westerners – often to the distain of other Tibetans, who disapproved of his associations with the “red skinned barbarians.”

But he plodded on regardless, and once he had established a firm following in Kathmandu – mostly from hippies still searching for their guru having tried and tested a myriad of faiths and philosophies along the famed hippy trail, he and Zina founded Kopan monastery, where they set up the now legendary November meditation course, in 1971.

A year later, several former Kopan students had found their way to the pine-clad hills of Dharamshala, home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in exile, where Lama Yeshe felt it appropriate to establish a mediation centre, which he named Tushita, meaning ‘place of joy.’

He purchased the beautiful old Nowerjee residence, for the sum of US$ 5,000, which he merrily had changed into 50,000 Rupees in 100 Rupee notes which he insisted on counting with Canadian disciple, Jhampa Zangpo, in Delhi’s chaotic Shankar Market to the bemusement of passers by – the

concept of money having meant nothing to the sheltered monk for whom everything was provided by his monastery until his arrival in India.

The original house was demolished in 2007 and today, the four acres of land are home to three gompas, a kitchen, dining hall and office, above which dormitory buildings and washrooms catering for over 100 students rise up the mountainside.

Describing the feel of the Main Gompa, which is currently undergoing extensive restoration work, Tushita’s resident teacher for 2012, Australian monk the venerable Tony Beaumont, who this year taught 11 courses at the centre at which he first arrived from Kopan in 1976, said: “Right on this very location was an old British style bungalow with a corrugated roof, and if you should have your eyes closed you’d think you were walking around the same building.

“The gompa needed to be bigger because when I was there in the seventies there were just two main rooms. One was the gompa hall and another was where people slept.

“It’s different here now because so many people are travelling. Back then it was more intrepid hippy types.”

Back in 1976, the year in which Tony took refuge in the three jewels of Buddhism, the Buddha, dharma (teachings) and Sangha (fellow spiritual practitioners) with Lama Yeshe, he came to Tushita to participate in its annual Vajrasattva group retreat held between June and September, which continues to this day.

“During those three months it was raining all the time and nobody came up here,” he said.

“There were 12 people on my first course, eight men and four women. Now it’s generally the other way around.

“Lobsang Nyima was the director, and I think he got upset over a few things.

“The idea of sitting down and doing this retreat was that you would sit there and not move until you achieved enlightenment. We would put a swastika of rice under our seats (the swastika being a symbol of well-being and determination in Tibetan Buddhism). Well, the floor was concrete and at the end of the three months we moved our cushions to discover that the rice had sucked up all the water through the carpet, and it had all rotted.

“I think after that they put in a wooden floor.”

In the late 1980s the mediation centre began running courses for western and Indian students interested in learning more about Tibetan Buddhism. The courses have swelled in popularity as the word spread, and today, as well as its many residential courses, the centre also hosts short non-residential mediation retreats, movie nights and daily meditation sessions.

“My time at Tushita has influenced my life so greatly that I am living a more conscious, slower and more thoughtful life today, even back in my home country,” said Emily.

“My experience there was a follow up to an earlier Introduction to Buddhism course I did at Kopan Monastery, with a greater focus on assessing some thoughts and learning strategies to help me cope better with my life back in Australia.

“I know that my time in India, especially at Kopan and Tushita, not only helped me see, realise and understand a lot of feelings, but gave me the knowledge and understanding to let go, so that I could function in a more valuable and productive way, and be a better person.

“For myself, for others and for the planet every day.”

For more information, visit: www.tushita.info

January 6, 2013 Dharamshala

Your business could feature in this Space!

If you would like to place an advertisement in the Tibet Post International, Please Contact the editor, Yeshe Choesang, at: editor@thetibetpost.com.

Or Phone Yeshe on: 94181 43289, or Mattew Singh Toor on: 97364 82871.

I

n

t

e

r

n

a

t

i

o

n

a

l

What’s your opinion?

Do you have something to say?

The Tibet Post International would like to receive your letters and emails for publication in the newspaper.

Please email your opinions to: editor@thetibetpost.com, or send us a letter: The Tibet Post International, 2nd Floor Exile House, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Kangra District, HP, 176219 We look forward to hearing from you.

TPI Websites

I

n

t

e

r

n

a

t

i

o

n

a

l

Advisors

Dr. Franz Palh South Tyrol, Italy Mr. Thomas Keimel Austria Dr. Vincent Brucel France Ven. Thupten Yarphel India

continued from page one.........

Editorial Board

Editor in Chief Mr Yeshe Choesang

Chinese Editor Miss Keary Huang

Project Manager Mr Mathew Singh Toor

Tibetan Editor Mr Sangay Dorjee Assistant Editor Miss Pema Tso UK Correspondent Mr Samuel Ivor

Newspaper copy editor Miss Sophie Jay Designer Mr Yeshe Choesang

Contributors to this editon Keary Huang Taiwan Mathew Singh Toor India Sophie Jay UK

Tenzin Desal India Yeshe Choesang India Sangay Dorjee India Pema Tso India

Contact Us

Tushita’s resident teacher for 2012, Ven Tony Beaumont. Photo: TPI/Sophie Jay

Himalayan Literacy Trust (Head Office) 2nd Floor, Exile House Temple Road, McLeod Ganj: 176219 Dharamshala, Distt. Kangra H.P, India

E-mail: editor@thetibetpost.com Skype: dhardhophonya Moble:+91-9882423566 www.thetibetpost.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/tpinews