“Missing” – The Panchen Lama of Tibet
By Tenzin Samten / April 26, 2017
The 11th Panchen Lama – Gendun Choekyi Nyima – turned 28 years old on April 25. He remains missing since 1995. On his birth anniversary, the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile released a video entitled Missing- the Panchen Lama of Tibet featuring birthday messages read more →
22nd Tibetan Shoton Festival
By Dorji Kyi / April 25, 2017
The 22ndTibetan Shoton Festival – or the Yogurt Festival as it is commonly known – was held from at Dekyi-ling Tibetan settlement in Uttarakhand on April 19 – 24. The Festival is held annually, its origins going back to the 14th Century when it was founded by Thang Tong Gyalpo read more →
On the Campaign Trail for the Release of the Panchen Lama
By Tenzin Samten / April 21, 2017
Venerable Bagdro, a former Tibetan political prisoner, concluded his week long campaign to petition over 50 local and foreign embassies in New Delhi in India for the immediate release of the 11th Panchen Lama, who was abducted by the Chinese government on May 17, 1995 at the age of six. read more →
Seeking Access to Tibet
By Ben Byrne / April 20, 2017
A bill has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States of America to promote access for United States officials, journalists and other citizens to Tibetan areas of China. The bill, entitled The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2017, argues that the read more →
Working Together for Human Rights
By Agnes Kugler / April 19, 2017
Activists from Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong met in Taiwan’s capital Taipei for their first conference Freedom, Democracy and Right to Self-Determination. The conference, which took place from April 7 – 9, was attended by around 30 activists. The conference was aimed at forming a strong alliance and coordination within read more →
Tibetan Medicine Disharmony
By Ben Byrne / April 19, 2017
India and China have both nominated Tibetan medicine, known as Sowa-Rigpa, to be included in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Sowa-Rigpa is among the oldest documented medical traditions in the world, with records of its existence dating back to the 3rd century BC. Early practitioners would apply residual barley from read more →
Curbing Buddhist Influence
By Tenzin Samten / April 19, 2017
The forced eviction of nuns and monks from Larung Gar Buddhist academy has come to end with the final batch of 250 nuns who were sent home on April 6, according to a local source from the region. Larung Gar – the largest Tibetan Buddhist centre in the world, which read more →
Low Interest Loans for Tibetan Sweater Sellers
By Sarah Mills-Hicks / April 15, 2017
An INR 100-million loan scheme [$1,550,000/ £1,230,000] for Tibetan sweater sellers was announced by Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the leader of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, on April 6. Speaking at the Tibetan Refugee Traders Association’s (TRTA) General Body Meeting at Ludhiana earlier this month, Sikyong elaborated on the terms and aims read more →
Indian Citizenship Debate
By Ben Byrne / April 15, 2017
LobsangWangyal, the well known local producer of the Miss Tibet pageant and proprietor of the Tibet Sun online news magazine, was recently granted Indian citizenship. This has sparked a rigorous debate among the Tibetan refugee community about whether they should also take the opportunity to become legal Indian citizens. According read more →
Tibet Campaigners Disappointed
By Ben Byrne / April 12, 2017
United States President Donald Trump entertained his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his private Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida over the weekend of April 8 and 9. The meeting was the first bilateral summit between the two powers since Trump’s election in November last year and it was a hotly anticipated read more →