Tibetan Headlines
Apr 14: Culinary Success!
The recipe book Taste Tibet: Family Recipes From The Himalayas written by Yeshi Jampa and Julie Kleeman of Taste Tibet, the British food stall and restaurant, has been ranked second of National Geographic’s five best new cookbooks for spring. Taste Tibet features nomadic food from the Himalayas where Yeshi grew up, containing over 80 Tibetan recipes. Yeshi and Julie’s mission is to “get Tibet on the global culinary map.”
Apr 14: Repression in Tibet
The 2021 Report from the United States State Department on Human Rights Practices, focusing on China, notes significant human rights abuses faced by Tibetans living in Tibet under Chinese rule. The report documents torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, political prisoners, unlawful interference with privacy, restrictions on internet freedom, interference with the right to peaceful assembly and severe restrictions on practising religion and noted harsh prison conditions.
Apr 14: Promoting Interfaith Harmony
A delegation representing the Tibetan Community has attended an inter-religions dialogue at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Paris. They were there at the invitation of Her Excellency Hend Al Qtaiba, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates. The meeting brought together the heads of different religions with the aim of promoting religious harmony.
Apr 12: College Students Conference
The 5th Tibetan College Students Conference is underway at Menri Monastery in Solan, Himachal Pradesh with 80 participants from 26 Tibetan higher educational institutes. The four day conference discusses and presents 13 different topics, including the preservation and promotion of Tibetan religion and language, and calls for productive professional and historical evidence of Tibet being a self-reliant country. Participants include students from major monasteries like Sera, Gaden and Drepung monasteries.
Apr 12: Learning Chinese
Parents in Tibet are now expected to take responsibility for teaching their children Chinese and to this end parents are required to attend workshops and classes so they can learn the language and teach it to their children. A new edict last year requires all kindergartens in ethnic rural areas to use Chinese and not Tibetan and the parents, mostly farmers and nomads are expected to support this.
Apr 12: Ministerial visit
Mr Ram Prasad Paul, the State Minister of Tripura State in north east India, has visited Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile where he met members of the Standing Committee. He asked about the current state of dialogue with China and was updated on the Tibetan Parliament’s official Middle Way Policy. His visit was coordinated by Mr Rishi Walia, the Northern India Regional Convener of Core Group for the Tibetan Cause.
Apr 11: Corruption
Wen Guodong, who was Vice Governor in the Amdo region of Tibet [Ch: Qinghai] from 2009-2020, has been given an 11-year prison sentence for taking bribes during his time in office there. Chinese state media report that Wen took more than $3 (£2.3) million in bribes from mining and construction groups, businesses and individuals. He was also fined $300,000 (£230,000) and ordered to return the assets.
Apr 11: Lobbying for Tibet
A delegation of Tibetan Parliamentarians has concluded a seven-day visit to Delhi, meeting 43 Indian lawmakers and Ministers from across the political parties, and visiting various embassies, including those of Taiwan and the United States. Their message was to urge people to express concern over the human rights situation in Tibet as well as the concern over environmental issues. The visit was covered in the major Indian media outlets.
Apr 9: Protest in Paris
A protest took place outside the Chinese embassy in Paris with Tibetans and supporters drawing attention to the three self-immolations that have taken place in Tibet in the last few weeks; all the self-immolators were protesting against the Chinese rule in their country. Dhondup Tsawa, President of Students for a Free Tibet-France said that the demonstrators were demanding Tibet’s independence from the CCP.
Apr 8: HRW Report
Sophie Richardson, China Director of Human Rights Watch, has described how China aims to control Tibetan reincarnation and says that the recent death of Lama Tulku Dawa, 86, has been shrouded in a Government campaign of secrecy and persecution. “Chinese authorities have seen fit to use force, intimidation, and intrusive supervision to remove the Dalai Lama’s influence over Tibetan Buddhism and enforce the state’s absolute control over religion”, said Richardson.
Apr 7: Grant Aid
The Indian government is to continue its grant aid to the Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC), with a further Rs40 crore (Rs 40,000,000 / US$525,000 / £400,000) over the next five years. The CTRC has received Rs 40 crore over the past five years to “meet the administrative expenses of Settlement Offices and social welfare expenses for Tibetan refugees staying in Tibetan settlements” across India.
Apr 6: Shoton Festival
The 25th Shoton (Yogurt) Festival, the festival of Tibetan Opera, is underway at the Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamshala with the eight participating opera troupes, each performing short extracts of their stories on the first day. The eight troupes are THS, Mussoorie, Poanta, Chaksamapa, USA, Kalimpong, Bhandara, Kollegal, Nepl and TIPA. The festival will conclude on April 13 with each group performing a different Lhamo story.
Apr 6: Ancient Tibetan Manuscripts
A 30-volume compendium of ancient ethnic Tibetan manuscripts, Gansu Dunhuang Tibetan Literature, is to be published this year, reports Chinese state media the Global Times. The collection, held in Dunhuang in Gansu Province, northwest China, contains more than 6,700 manuscripts. Most are ancient Buddhist texts written in Tibetan script. The publisher described the books as the “first collection to be printed as text instead of photos of the documents”.
Apr 6: Candlelit vigil
A prayer ceremony was held in Dharamshala by the Central Tibetan Administration to mourn the death of the two people who self-immolated recently in Tibet. While in the streets of McLeod, Tibetans and supporters held a candlelight vigil for Taphun, one of the two, marching through the streets, reciting prayers and carrying photos of Taphun and the Tibetan national flag.
Apr 5: Representatives Appointed
Two new Representatives of the Office of Tibet have been appointed by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Tsering Choezom to serve in South Africa - she is currently the Additional Secretary at the Kashag Secretariat, and Rigzin Choedon Genkhang who will serve as the Representative in Brussels - she is currently the European Union Advocacy Officer at the Office of Tibet in Brussels.