Tibetan Headlines
Feb 27: Losar Message
Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, delivered a Losar message on behalf of the Kashag, saying “The situation inside Tibet continues to remain grim...Those of us who are in exile should be aware of it and summon courage and determination to carry forward the Tibetan freedom movement - based on truth, justice and non-violence”.
Feb 27: Losar Tashi Delek!
The team at Contact would like to wish all our readers a very happy LOSAR (Tibetan New Year). May the Fire-Bird year of 2144 bring you and your family prosperity and peace. Tashi Delek!
Feb 26: Missing, Feared Dead
Tsawa Danyuk, also known as Lodroe Palden, a Tibetan writer who disappeared in Sichuan nine years ago is now feared to be dead reports Radio Free Asia. A controversial writer from the Tsawagong region of Chamdo, he disappeared after posting online that he was being harassed by Chinese security officers and has not been heard of since despite extensive searches by his family and friends.
Feb 26: Larung Gar Raised at UN
A Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council intervention communication has been made to the Chinese Government concerning Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar, the Buddhist learning centres in Tibet currently undergoing demolition. This was made public ahead of the 34th session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and draws attention to the “severe restrictions of religious freedom in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”.
Feb 25: Solo Protestor Arrested
Lobsang Tsultrim, a young Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba was arrested following a solo protest in the town. He carried a portrait of HH the Dalai Lama and shouted slogans before being arrested. There are concerns that his protest, just before Losar, or Tibetan New Year and the forthcoming Tibetan Uprising day, may give rise to a scaling up of security clampdowns in the area.
Feb 25: Deported and Jailed
Yangdon Chorasherpa, 27, a Tibetan woman living in Switzerland, has been deported to Nepal where she has been detained in prison and is reported to be critically sick. She had been trying to seek asylum in Switzerland, using the Nepali name Chorasherpa, Nepali documentation and claiming to be Nepali. A Swiss Refugee Relief spokesperson said “It is almost impossible for Tibetans to come to Europe with real papers”.
Feb 24: Compassionate Leaders
The Women’s Empowerment Conference in Dharamshala drew to a close with an audience for participants with HH the Dalai Lama who said that women make more compassionate leaders. “Time has come”, said His Holiness, “for Tibetan Women who have both the potential and the opportunity to express their leadership prowess to contribute to global peace and harmony”.
Feb 23: Dorzong Rinpoche
Kyabje Drubwang Dorzong Rinpoche, 74, one of the most prominent masters of Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Buddhist tradition, passed away on February 16 while undergoing medical treatment in hospital in Taiwan. Dorzong Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche was born in 1943 in Nyeyul, eastern Tibet. In 1958, at the age of 15, Rinpoche left Tibet and came to India.
Feb 22: Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
The New York Daily News has featured Nyima Lhamo, the activist and niece of the revered lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche who died in custody 18 months ago, who was one of the speakers at the HR Council Summit in Geneva on February 21. Lhamo said she would “be there to provide a dissenting voice: a rare moment of truth about the tribulations of the people of Tibet”.
Feb 20: Prisoner Freed
Sherphel, a Tibetan man from Serthar county has been released after more than four years in prison in Sichuan. He was charged with alleged links to self-immolation protests on a day when a peaceful protest took place in his town, and served his full prison term. He was released several months ago but the news has only now come through because of the communications clampdown in his area.
Feb 18: Singer Banned
Amchok Phuljung, the popular Tibetan singer who was released from jail earlier this month has been told by the Chinese authorities that he is barred from leaving his home and from singing in public or releasing recordings of his music for one year. He has a lifetime ban on singing illegal or politically sensitive songs.
Feb 17: Disappeared
Sonam Tashi, 20, who staged a solo protest in Serthar county in the Sichuan province last month and was seized by police is still missing after more than 40 days in custody. The Chinese authorities have refused to give Tashi’s family any information about his present condition and whereabouts. News of his arrest did not get out of Tibet immediately due to a communications clampdown in the area.
Feb 16: Kun-ngo Narkyi
Narkyi Ngawang Dhondup, 86, the Tibetan language and literature expert and the person who founded the modern Tibetan language typewriter has died at his home in Delhi. Narkyi wrote the Narkyi Tibetan dictionary and the Charter of Tibetans in exile as well as biographies of the previous Dalai Lamas. He.was a former Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations in the exile Tibetan government.
Feb 15: Festival Security
An overt police presence has been intimidating pilgrims during the Chotrul Monlam, a major religious festival at Kumbum Monastery in the Qinghai province in Tibet. Similar tactics were deployed at the same festival last year. Radio Free Asia reports that Chinese visitors are being allowed in to see the displays of butter sculptures without waiting, “while Tibetan pilgrims…have to wait in long lines”.
Feb 14: Independence Day
The anniversary of the 1913 Tibetan Declaration of Independence was celebrated yesterday in Dharamshala; Students for a Free Tibet held an event in celebration of the Potala Palace as a monument to the achievements of Tibetans in the days before Chinese occupation, and SFT groups around the world held local events.