Tibetan Headlines
Feb 18: Failing Health
Three senior monks from Drago Monastery are still severely ill after their release from prison four years ago reports Tibet Watch, the UK-based research and advocacy group. Tsewang Namgyal, Dalha and Tengya, served six-year prison sentences and are now in failing health resulting from the forced labour and torture they underwent in prison. They were detained following mass protests which erupted in Drago County in 2012.
Feb 18: Surveillance in Monastery
A Chinese police surveillance unit has been installed at the Palyul Thartang Gonchen Monastery in Golog, Amdo [Ch: Qinghai] reports Radio Free Asia, saying this is “apparently for the first time” this has happened inside a Buddhist monastery. A surveillance police unit had previously been operating outside the monastery. Monks are now being “scrutinised” in their “daily activities” and a tracking app has been installed on their mobile phones.
Feb 18: Nobel Peace Prize
Enes Kanter Freedom, the National Basketball Association player, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A Norwegian parliamentarian has nominated him for bringing global attention to China’s human rights abuses in Tibet, East Turkestan [Ch: Xinjiang] and Hong Kong. Freedom tweeted that he is “honoured” and said, “Sometimes taking a stand is more important than your next paycheque” - he risks losing his job because of his outspoken criticisms.
Feb 17: Virtual Meeting
Representatives of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, together with the Directors of the International Campaign for Tibet, met senior officials from the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for a briefing about the Tibetan Government-in-Exile’s initiatives, and firm commitment to the Middle Way Approach. The meeting took place under the initiative of the Tibet support and policy acts passed by the US Congress.
Feb 14: Independence Day
The 109th anniversary of Tibetan Independence Day, the day declared by HH the 13th Dalai Lama on February 12, 1913, was celebrated in Dharamshala with Tibetan activists and supporters joining Students for a Free Tibet. SFT Director Rinzin Choedon said that the day is to “commemorate Tibetan Independence’s past in order to shape our future, for a free and independent Tibet” and that it is celebrated around the world.
Feb 12: Forced Apology
The Dean of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications in New York, Mark Lodato, has been forced to retract his Lunar New Year email in which he mentioned Tibet as a country separate from China in his Lunar New Year celebrations email. Chinese students at the school forced him to apologise, this despite a Tibetan student’s public confirmation that Tibetans do not consider themselves part of China.
Feb 11: Four More Detained
News of four more detentions in Drago County following a search of peoples’ phone data has now emerged reports Tibet Watch, saying the arrests took place in early January. Asang and Dota, together with a woman named Nortso, were accused of having content showing the recent demolitions of Buddha statues at Drago Monastery. A fourth, Tashi Dorje, a monk from Drago Monastery, was arrested separately for sending information outside Tibet.
Feb 10: Indian Support
Tibet supporters from UK-based Tibet advocacy group Free Tibet met Indian supporters on the bank of Brahmaputra River in Guwahati, Assam. Free Tibet – A Voice from Assam launched its bilingual newsletter Tsangpo – Siang – Brahmaputra. The newsletter in English and Assamese reports on mobilising a people’s movement in northeast India which supports freedom for Tibetans. Plans to strengthen the Tibetan freedom movement in Northeast India were discussed at the meeting.
Feb 10: Cycling for Tibet
In Taiwan, Tibet supporters have launched “Cycling for a Free Tibet” events in the runup to Tibetan Uprising Day on March 10. The annual “Cycling for a Free Tibet” campaign started in 2011 to “give a voice to those who are victims of Chinese state brutality and persecution”. Today’s bike ride is in Taipei, others will be located in Taipei and elsewhere.
Feb 10: Free Go Sherab Gyatso
Human Rights Watch, under the heading Imprisoned Tibetan Monk’s Health in Peril has called for the release of imprisoned Tibetan monk and religious philosopher Go Sherab Gyatso. HRW says that he suffers from a chronic lung condition and may not be receiving adequate medical treatment in prison. “Once again the Chinese government’s wrongful imprisonment of a Tibetan risks becoming a death sentence,” said Sophie Richardson, HRWQ’s China director.
Feb 10: US Support
The United States has passed a bill to boost US competitiveness with China; this will also expand US support for Tibetans facing repression under Chinese government. The America COMPETES Act reaffirms US policy rejecting China’s interference in the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, elevates the role of the special coordinator for Tibetan issues in the State Department, creates a Tibet desk at the US Embassy in Beijing, and more.
Feb 9: Tibet Museum
The new Tibet Museum, located in Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala, was opened today. The museum aims to enable the Tibetan people to “reclaim the right to tell their own stories” and to highlight Tibet’s historical, cultural, political, environmental and international importance through archives, photographs and personal testimonies. The museum, a Central Tibetan Administration project, is seen as an “essential medium to garner international attention to the political concerns of Tibet”.
Feb 8: Illustrators of the Future Contest Winner
Tenzin Rangdol, a teenage Tibetan student from Maryland, USA has won the prestigious Illustrators of the Future Contest for his artwork. He said he has drawn for as long as he can remember but started taking it more seriously in high school, speaking in a special interview for Fox 5. Tenzin immigrated to the US from India with his parents; they had fled Tibet as refugees.
Feb 7: Tibetan Town Twinning
Ms Rigzin Genkhang, the Tibetan European Union Advocacy Officer, participated in a video conference to discuss reviving and expanding the existing Town Adoption Campaign to other parts of Europe and the world. The conference was initiated by France-Tibet, a group supported by 189 French MPs and 67 French Senators. To date more than 76 European communes have adopted Tibetan towns and villages, in a similar way to town-twinning.
Feb 7: Indian Parliament
Shri Amarendra Dhari Singh, an Indian parliamentarian, spoke of the Tibetan issue in a speech to Parliament saying that India risks “repeating the historical mistake of once again letting down our friendly people of Tibet. It is well documented that Tibetans never accepted the sovereignty and suzerainty of the Chinese” and, still speaking of Tibet, that India “faces long term consequences of both action and inaction.”