Tibetan Headlines
Feb 18: Junk Food Campaign
Tibetans in Rebgong, in the Golog prefecture in northeastern Tibet have launched a new campaign: “War against junk food”. Tibetans living in Gomar village in Rebkong are reported as saying the local government’s apathy towards children’s health has prompted them to wage the movement and they have started burning junk foods. University students have been sending messages through we-chat and are planning to take this movement to all the villages. The Rebgong region has become one of the focal points of political protest against the Chinese government’s repressive policies.
Feb 15: Sikyong with Dalai Lama
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit the US and Canada from February 18 - March 6. Sikyong with accompany His Holiness during the visits to Washington DC, San Francisco and Minneapolis from February 22 - March 7. His Holiness will give a series of public talks on peace, compassion, and ethics during the visit. Sikyong will address the Tibetan community and meet with dignitaries in Canada.
Feb 14: Punishments for Immolators’ Families
Woeser, a prominent Tibetan writer based in Beijing, said that the Sichuan provincial government had issued guidelines aimed at punishing family members and relatives of Tibetan self-immolators, the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration reported. The guidelines issued last year by the Dzorge County in Kham restricts movements of the family members of self-immolators. Family members are also barred from applying for loans or jobs in the Chinese government for three years.
Feb 13: Tibetan Independence Day
Tibetan exiles gathered at the Tibetan Children’s’ Village Day school in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala to commemorate the “Tibet-China Peace Treaty of 821-822 AD - secure the past, shape the future”. The organisers, Students for a Free Tibet, chose this day to mark 101 years since the proclamation of Tibetan independence by the thirteenth Dalai Lama. A replica of the stone pillar with the engraving of the Treaty which still stands in front of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa was put on display for public viewing.
Feb 13: Arrests in Sog
Four Tibetan monks of Dowa Shartsa Monastery and seven other young Tibetans have been arrested separately in Sog County, Nagchu prefecture. Tsultrim Pelsang, 20, Lobsang Yeshi, 15, Kelsang Dorjee, 23, and Kelsang Jampa, 22, were arrested on February 2 for allegedly “distributing pamphlets for Tibetan independence and destroying government-issued sign boards”. A day later, Sisum Dorje, Lhakpa, Jamyang Gyatso, Dorje, Asang, Margong, and Jigme, all from 15 to 20 years of age, were detained for allegedly writing “Tibet’s independence” on an ice-covered river.
Feb 13: US Tibetan Censorship?
Microsoft’s search engine Bing appears to be censoring information for Chinese language users in the US in the same way it filters results in mainland China, the British Guardian reports, saying “English and Chinese language queries for terms such as ‘Dalai Lama’ return radically different results on Microsoft search engine”. Searches conducted by FreeWeibo found that results in Bing’s Chinese-language search engine on sensitive topics, such as “Dalai Lama” and “Falun Gong”, come with filters. Users get more results on same topics in the English language search engine.
Feb 12: Tea with Dalai Lama
Avaaz, the largest online advocacy group, has launched a signature campaign Xi Jinping, President of China have tea with Tenzin Gyatso the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet which has a target of 2,000 signatures. Earlier, in his address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, US President Barack Obama asked China to respect the fundamental rights of minority nationalities in China, including Tibetans.
Feb 12: Obama’s Concern
US President Obama has asked China to respect the fundamental rights of minority nationalities in China, including Tibetans. Obama was speaking to legislators, officials, and clergy from all faiths and political ideologies at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 6 in Washington. “We deeply believe that it’s in our interest...to stand up for universal human rights” said Obama, “When I meet with Chinese leaders...I stress that realizing China’s potential rests on upholding universal rights, including for Christians, and Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims.”
Feb 11: ICT Delegation Visit
A delegation from the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) met Mr Penpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and Kalon Dicki Chhoyang from the Department of Information and International Relations. The delegation, which will include its newly-elected President Mr Matteo Maccaci, will meet Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and visit various non-governmental organisations. The group will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Feb 11: Student Conference
The 8th Tibetan College Student conference is currently underway at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, Gujarat. Over 40 Tibetan college students from various colleges across India are participating in the conference. The conference aims to build closer ties among Tibetan college students thereby cultivating a sense of self-realisation and self-responsibility.
Feb 10: Driru Sentences
Two Tibetans in Driru have been sentenced to up to 11 years in prison. Kelsang Choklang, a monk from Tarmoe Monastery, was sentenced to ten years for “illegally gathering a crowd”, and Dorje Dragsel, a layman, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for leading an anti-mining protest at the sacred Naglha Dzamba Mountain in Driru last year. He went missing after his arrest, prompting a hunger strike by hundreds of Tibetans who were fired on by police.
Jan 28: More Arrests
Three Tibetans were arrested on January 18 in Pema County in Tibet's Golok region for their alleged connection with a self-immolation protest by Tsering, a 20 year old Tibetan monk in November last year at Akyong Monastery. The three arrested were Gelek, Akyong Monastery's disciplinarian, his younger brother Lhakyab and another Tibetan named Tsekyap.
Jan 27: Tibetan Documentary Awarded
A documentary film by a Tibetan filmmaker based in New York, Tenzin Tsetan Choklay, has won the Young European Jury Award at the 27th International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes which was held this year in France. “Bringing Tibet Home” is about a Tibetan’s mission to bring Tibet closer to those in exile. Rigdol brought soil from Tibet on which “Tibetans set foot on their homeland”.
Jan 26: Animal Care
Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje has inaugurated a medical camp for animals at the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion in Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya. Smt Maneka Gandhi, an Indian parliamentarian and animal rights activist, was the chief guest at the ceremony. Initiated by the Kagyupa International Monlam Trust, the animal health care project involves treatment, sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccinations for dogs.
Jan 25: Crackdown in Chamdo
Chinese authorities have cracked down on a grassroots Tibetan unity campaign in Chamdo’s Damthok and Tsala villages. Police detained about 480 Tibetans who were found wearing special armbands or carrying photos of the 11th Panchen Lama. The detentions were triggered when police found three Tibetan truck drivers wearing “unity” armbands and in possession of the Panchen Lama’s photos, a local source told Radio Free Asia.