Students For A Free Tibet Pune

TENZIN TSUNDUE`S VISIT

2011-04-14T02:40:00.000-07:00

This is the second visit of Tenzin Tsundue to Pune, and as expected it was a very inspirational and he made us realize so many things that which we are ignorant of. There were around 15 Tibetans and 2 Indians in the meeting. We started our meeting with a introduction of everyone and then he started with the “His Holiness’s devolvement of powers to an elected leadership and Tibetan people’s responsibility” So, the most striking thing about his speech was his comparison of His Holiness the dalai lama caring the Tibetan people like a mother does to her son like the case in which the mom teaches her son cycling but the son is not confident enough to ride on his own and so insists his mom to help more but rejected for his earlier self reliant. This comparison made us realize that the decision taken by the His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the wise and the best for the Tibet.
After the meeting we bid our farewell and thank you notes to all and Tenzin Tsundue left on Moiyat`s bike waving his hand and made us realize that we are here for a purpose because we are born refugee.

4th April 2011

2011-04-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

What prompted a monk to burn himself, knowing that when the burning wrath takes to his body, it will hurt like when a candle burns your finger but a thousand times more. First the clothes will rip off burning, then the hair will vanish like it wasn’t there to start with, the skin will melt and drip off leaving a trail and when people try and succeed putting off the flames, only a charred and smoky resemblance is all that will remain in the end. This is how heroes die these days.
Phuntsok Jarutsang, a monk from Tibet’s Amdo Ngaba immolated himself on the 16th March 2011, he was only 20 years old. The extreme Chinese military scrutiny and the violent crackdown of the region took yet another victim, this time of this brave monk who couldn’t take the “shut up and get on with the raw deal” treatment anymore, his is an example of courage of a different league, in fact the elite.
SFT, Pune on the 4th of April 2011 sat together and prayed for his well-being and chipped in the ‘SFT Fast For Freedom’ to show solidarity and cohesion to his sacrifice and the people in Tibet who still continue to suffer. We Tibetans believe if you dedicate your life for the good of greater interest, you will see your labor bear fruit in the next, we hope and whisper prayer for Pawo (martyr) Phuntsok Jarutsang and mourn the life of this willing victim.
Take notice people, in the scheme of things this is how a hero dies these days.
Tenzin Dharpo

2011-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

10th MARCH

2011-03-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

The first thing I did when I entered the auditorium was look for the dreaded bunch of unoccupied seats, the relative danger of addressing an empty room was in fact the lesser of our worries as people did show up and the evening at the engineering college auditorium was more or less consumed with an energy best described as 'support'.
The screening of documentary did what it was supposed to do, garner people's interest and on a basic stage, tell the story of Tibet and 10th March to the hitherto unaware, uninterested and unrelated hoards of people that otherwise might have gotten surprised on reading a new word in the newspaper that actually turns out to be a nation called 'Tibet'. On seeing the graphic images in the film, the audience erupted in subtle ohh's and ahh's and claps after the documentary films gave us the notion of uniform sympathy towards Tibet and her tribulations.
The market for the product called Tibet is quite infinite and the assortment of the people present spelled likewise, besides Tibetan students, Indian students quite understandably, Bhutanese , African, Indonesian, Nepalese, Mongolian and others who-we-were-too-busy-to-ask-where-they-were-from sat through the showcase of the cult Tibetan documentary 'Cry of the Snow Lion', and three other short documentaries. Later the SFT members set up food stalls that boast momos and laphings further intrigued the audience into a rather prosperous social pot(place where ideas were hatched, friendships made and 'thank you for the experience' exchanged )and finally coming together for a goodwill group photo that captured each present gleaming, some with hope, some with satisfaction, some with collaboration and few of just belly full of momos and laphings but to say it was a good evening for Tibet, her clause and SFT,Pune wouldn't be a farfetched observation.

2011-03-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

MOVIE SCREENING

2011-03-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

Time : Thursday, March 10 · 4:30pm - 8:30pm
Location : Institution of Engineers India,
Opp.COEP boys hostel,JM road,Shivajinagar
Pune, India

More Info

Tibet

(The story of a forgotten nation)

For centuries, living in peace and tranquility, humble and righteous, happy and contented, were the faithfully religious people from the roof of the world --- Tibetans. All ended with the advent of the atheist Chinese communist onslaught that came burning, killing, looting, raping and destroying, and thrown the heavenly kingdom into hell. Twenty percent people of the nation were slaughtered, ninety-nine percent monasteries plundered and burnt, monks were sent to labor camps and nuns were raped and forced to marry. Religion to them was a laughing stock and so to worship was a crime! Cultural genocide, environmental destruction and exploitation of natural resources have since then been intensely going on for the past 50 years.

Fortunately, their spiritual and temporal leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama succeeded escaping the Chinese assassination attempt into India along with many of his followers as refugees who brought the struggle here and fought this epic battle against the Communist China for 50 years.

Thus, our screening of the documentary film, 'Tibet: Cry of The Snow lion' on March 10, coincides with the historic uprising of Tibetans on March 10, 1959 against the Chinese invasion. This film depicts the unimaginable pains of the Tibetans and their courage for the struggle which we tend to forget. Please come, if not help, let's at least know the pains that this forgotten nation is undergoing. Let's stand for a cause!

NEW MEMBERS AND EXECUTIVE

2011-02-09T01:44:00.000-08:00

Following are brief introductions of the members of executive body of SFT Pune 2011:

Dr. Passang Thopchen: He is a well-known and respected doctor here in Pune. Having stayed in Pune for more than 10 years, he is the senior-most member of the executive body and his familiarity to this place and rich experience will be an indispensable factor for our organization to grow and succeed. His designation is Advisor.

Ogyen: Being a recipient of Gaden Phodrang Student Merit award for topping All India CBSE class XII exam among all Tibetans and completed his bachelors in the most prestigious college, St. Stephen's college, he is going to utilize his expertise for this organization to thrive and he will be an important component of our success.He currently works in an IT company. His role is also Avisor.

Tenzin Tendhar : He does his animation after completing BA. He has always been one of the most active and enthusiastic participants of our public activities which is clearly shown by him being elected as the president for this year. He is the overall head of the executive body of SFT Pune 2011.

Dolma Sinon :She does her first year LLB in ILS Law College. Her being energetic and enthusiastic towards our nation's cause is very well-known here. That's why she has been elected as the General Secretary, second highest post of SFT Pune 2011.

Tsering Dorjee :His pursuit of M.Sc Maths in Pune University naturally makes him one of the brightest Tibetan students here. Being good at numbers, he is our cashier.

Tenzin Dharpo :Known for his expressive and beautiful English, he has been requested to keep and update our exclusive blog for SFT Pune.

I am sure, SFT Pune 2011 is going to excel with these pioneers!

AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

2010-12-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my life I was in jail but I never felt it was a jail except for the bars in front of me. The constable and the police official were sweet and they know why we are here.
I was with eleven more girls, all kicked WEN JIA BAO`S ass so hard that no body regretted coming and spending a night in Jail.
I was missing my mom and a comfortable bed, but I thought of those people who are in Tibet, they are suffering in Jail physically and mentally. That thought made me feel proud that I have contributed to this struggle and will continue to do such things.
Tenzin Tselha
SFT PUNE

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

2010-12-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

The event started with Ujawala of Open Space India talking about Human Rights and the need of people`s activism in the injustice that is happening all over the world, she stressed more on using the liberty that they have in their country"FREEDOM OF SPEECH"
Then Alia of Socio Club in Fergusson college started her Poem and then followed by Introduction on Tibet by Tenzin Tselha and the poems on Tibet by Tenzin Tsondue and Shakapa.
It ended nicely with a group song by Socio Club.

POETRY AND MUSIC SESSION

2010-12-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

I am not a foreigner. by Tsewang Phuntsok

2010-10-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

I HAVE A FOREIGN LOOK
I DRESS UP NOT AS U
I SPEAK DIFFERENT
AND SOME TIME SAME IN DIFFERENT ACCENT
I ATE UR FOOD BUT IT TASTES DIFFERENT TO MY TONGUE
YA, M FOREIGN TO UR PLACE
AND U ASSUMED ME AS FOREIGNER
I LIVES HERE ON SOMEONE'S CHARITY
AND YOUR HOSPITALITY
DONT MISUNDERSTAND ME
I TOO HAVE A HOME LIKE YOU
BUT NOT LIKE YOU
YOU ARE LIVING AS YOU WISH
AND DOING AS U DARE
I WAS THROWN OUT FROM MY BELOVED HOME
AND THEY SAID I HAVE TO WISH AS THEY WISH
AND DO AS THEY DECIDE
I WILL GO BACK ONE DAY WITH ALL MY BROTHERS N SISTERS
BUT EXCUSE ME,
I M NOT FOREIGNER, M REFUGEE HERE ON UR LAND.............

The Tibetan Indians by Sakhi Deshpande on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 10:42pm

2010-09-26T04:29:00.001-07:00

Pune, a haven for students from all streams, cultures and backgrounds is a city which can very well be classified as a melting pot. People of myriad nationalities from the nooks and corners of the world find home in this college town and Pune readily assimilates them in its culture. One such community is that from Tibet.

With an effort to become a part of the world culture, the Tibetan community in Pune is not only trying to propagate the cause for a free Tibet, but is also working to be a united, close knit group by preserving their identity amongst themselves. Small in number, the Tibetan community in the city comprises of 22 students, 5 or 6 of them working in call centres and approximately 100 of them selling sweaters. The energetic and smart lot of students here are a part of the large international foreign student commune the city is blessed with. There is only one minor aberration; most of them have been born and brought up in India. “I like to call myself a Tibetan Indian rather than a Tibetan refugee living in India”, says the 22 year old Tenzin Tselha. Thoughtful and endearing, Tenzin is pursuing a Masters Degree in English from Abeda Inamdar College and has been living in the city for the past 5 years. With both her mother and father in the Special Forces of the Army, she was born and brought up in the small, intimate Tibetan community in Ladakh away from the frenzy and wrath of the outside world. Educated at the Tibetan Children Village School (TCV) in Ladakh, one of the 14 TCV schools in the country, Tenzin wants to be a teacher like her mother and her sister. But more so, she wants to go back and teach in the Tibetan community. “I want to go back and work in the Tibetan society and teach at one of the TCV schools or at the Central School of Tibetans, where my sister is teaching now. The Central School for Tibetans comes under the Tibetan Government in Exile in India. TCV was set up by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s sister. You can find thriving Tibetan communities in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. After I finished 12th grade from Dharamshala, I thought of moving out. My sister was studying in Mumbai at that time and she told me about Pune and that it’s a good place to study further. I, then, moved here to study Arts.” says Tenzin.

Throwing more light on her experiences after moving to Pune from an absolutely secure and close knit Tibetan community in Ladakh, she said the transition was very extreme and the life here was starkly contrast to the life she was accustomed to. “There was just so much exposure when I came to Pune, it was difficult to handle initially. But one of the main issues was with landlords and people we lived under as tenants. They would try to cheat us, extort money from us. I had no clue about all this when I first came but by third year of college, I knew how things worked here”, says Tenzin. Following Tenzin’s thoughts, Sonam Gangsang, a 23 year old working at the Infosys BPO, retorts, “It’s when you hang out at random places that people tease you as “chink chau” and think we are from the North East or Nepal. But we don’t take it seriously. Food was a major problem for me. Despite of living in India all my life, I had never eaten Indian food before! We live in India, but as thorough Tibetans. Talking from the work perspective, working here in Pune has been great. My perception about Indians has completely changed. My colleagues are just like my Tibetan friends now.” After graduating from St. Francis College, Hyderabad, Sonam came to Pune to study and become a librarian but took up a job in a call centre later to support herself and her two young sisters of the nine daughters in her family! After her sisters become self reliant, Sonam plans to get back to teaching in Tibetan schools too. Recalling her life in Ladakh, it’s been 7 years that she has spent away from all the festival celebrations. She misses going to the monasteries the most.

Spending time with each other on Tibetan holidays or watching movies, going to malls is something these students always love. They celebrated their New Year, Losar, on 14th February where all of them got together in their traditional dresses, cleaned their houses, made Tibetan food like “Desil”, a type of rice and “Momos”. They offered their prayers to His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. The week before, they had a noodle eating ceremony at their friends place.

As we talk about the issue of an estranged Tibet and the struggle to have its independence, the community seems poignant and strongly poised to make itself heard albeit the distance that separates them from the country. The international organization, Students for Free Tibet (SFT) was started in Pune a year ago and the Tibetan Student Association (TSA) started in the city was inculcated into it. “SFT was founded in Canada in 1994. There are a lot of foreigners who are a part of this organization and a lot of them are from Bhutan. We try to do something all the time but its difficult to get permission from the commissioner. We try to meet every month, discuss issues, and talk about how we can inform people about Tibet. The TSA became a part of it since we didn’t have resources to run it properly.” says Tenzin, who is also the coordinator for SFT from Pune. They held several candle marches in 2008 and had a couple of film screenings and introductory sessions last year to inform people about their culture and its people. They also held a hunger strike outside Pune Station when the monks from the many monasteries in Karnataka had come for a visit.

Despite having a distinct belongingness to India, Tenzin, Sonam and their friends hope to go back to their nation and they hope it evolves into autonomy by then. While that would give them great pride, Tenzin is of the opinion that it will be best for Tibet and its people to go under China. “We lack infrastructure and engineering right now. Albeit being under China, I think we could still preserve our culture and individuality”

“You must have noticed that Tibetans are generally very shy people. We later realized that it’s not a good quality to possess” quips Sonam in her quiet, articulate manner. Anything but under confident, the Tibetan community stands firm on its feet as it passionately yearns for progress and taking it to their people. Having grown up in a secluded community that strongly holds on to its roots and despite of living in India all their life, these Tibetan students have their own share of trials but an equally high sense of self. They stand exactly for what today’s struggling Tibet wants to represent- unity, self reliance and a calm, peaceful strength.

The Tibetan Indians

2010-09-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

Dalai Lama calls for harmony among world religions

2010-09-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Pretoria - In the midst of religious wars and intolerance worldwide, the Dalai Lama says the world’s major religions should find common ground to help people find their quest for happiness. I asked his representative for Africa to elaborate.
The Dalai Lama was speaking on the subject during a visit to Hungary, linked to Tibet by the work of Hungarian scholars starting in the Nineteenth Century. The representative of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, Sonam Tenzing, said in an interview religions had common ground. Speaking on the telephone from his office in Pretoria, South Africa, Tenzing said:
I think, Number One, is to understand Inter-religious harmony. He is trying to focus on inter-religious harmony that is essential in the modern century.
But with extremists calling for conflicts, wars, banning of each other’s clothing, I wondered whether harmony among religions was possible?
Inter-religious harmony is possible, because in all the different faiths ad religions throughout the world, what is most commonly found is love and forgiveness. And all of these religions speak of happiness. I think all of these religions speak of discarding all the miseries and bringing joy and happiness to the adherent of whichever said religion it might be. I think that is really the common ground where all religions harmoniously promote all these human or ethical and moral values. I think he (the Dalai Lama) was referring to these moral values.
Tenzing stressed the Dalai Lama had done a great deal to build bridges between religions:
In the past years efforts were being made with clergy of different other religions: Jewish, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Muslims, I think he has been in touch with most of the important religious figures in the world. I think his approach to meeting different leaders of different faiths have been applauded and appreciated. I am sure that you would not disagree to the statement that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the leaders who makes a definite effort to promote interreligious harmony.
He added the Dalai Lama’s appreciation of Christian religious contemplatives who practice something not dissimilar to Buddhist meditation. He said:
In his books, he has made references to Christian clergy, especially the late the late Father Thomas Merton, who I think he appreciates very much.
During his visit to Hungary, Tenzing Gyatso, to give the Dalai Lama’s name, paid homage to the first Tibetologist, Sándor Csoma de Kőrösi, and (1784-1842) who went to the east in to find the ancestral homeland of the Hungarians. He was Gottingen-trained linguistic genius who soon spoke a dozen languages and planned to travel to East Turkestan (now the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Republic of China) but was diverted by a local war to British India. There he joined the Asiatic Society and began his study of Tibetan language and culture. He was the first to publish a Tibetan-English dictionary and a grammar of Tibetan. Throughout his journeys he identified with local people and never lived like a “superior” European.

Wikimedia Commons
Sándor Csoma of Kőrös, the Hungarian pioneer of Tibetan studies.
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He lived in great poverty in Ladakh where he studied Tibetan and planned to visit Lhasa in 1842, but contracted malaria and died. He is buried in Darjeeling. The Dalai Lama described the sum of his work as “a great act.” I asked Tenzing whether the Tibetan people knew of Kőrösi:
The Hungarian scholar Kőrösi Csoma Sándor, or to the Tibetans he may be known as Alexander Csoma Kőrösi: What can be said, after they fled Tibet in 1959, the first and second generation who escaped, because of education, interaction with cultures with different people (including) scholars, have led to a knowledge of this pioneering scholar.
Religion and education often go hand in hand. Of Kőrösi possible conversion to Buddhism, Tenzing said:
I would say he studied Buddhist culture and he actually studied under Buddhist masters, so one could say he made an effort to become a Buddhist through his learning.
Relations between Hungary and the Tibetans are very good. Tenzing said:
The pioneering scholar has contributed to this relationship. Today educated Tibetans, when they want to refer to how relations between Tibetans and Hungarians developed, would refer to this scholar and I have seen articles by Tibetan scholars and western scholars and the great effort he made close to Tibet border studying Buddhist culture and his effort to get it to outside world.
There is also a consistent rumour that Kőrösi was made a Buddhist saint or bodhisattva, but if so, this would only apply to a monastery in Japan and could be based on an error.

TIBET AS A STATE

2010-09-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

This year SYMBIOSIS COLLEGE of Pune, India has put up TIBETAN FLAG as well with other countries flag. (Tibet is Independent country).

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets a group of students whose parents and relatives live in the earthquake affected area

2010-04-21T04:38:00.000-07:00

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets a group of students whose parents and relatives live in the earthquake affected area of Kyigudo at his residence in Dharamsala on April 18th, 2010. His Holiness offered his condolences to the bereaved and his prayers for the dead and the survivors. His Holiness advised the students not to lose hope, to keep up their courage, and to continue to study hard.

FACE TO FACE WITH TENZIN TSUNDUE

2010-03-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

What was presumed before as an official meeting with a SFT representative turned out to be an evening of laughter, casual exchange of heart felt conversation and memorable gathering.
Tenzin Tsundue visit to pune was indeed in a way replenishing touch for the Tibetan students and quite fitting, Tenzin describes himself as someone who reminds and redirects any who in the rhythm of life strays from the domain that is identity, freedom and Tibet.
He regards health and education as the two most important factors for anyone who aspires to fight on through the challenges how so ever grave and larger than life,answering the queries from the students and sharing intimate knowledge and ever relating moments from his own life, Few hours passed swiftly.
tsundue spoke with fierce dedication and with such compassion chipped with humorous anecdotes, it really hard not to think about his words after he left waving GOOD BYE

International Students stood in solidarity with Tibetans

2010-03-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

Pune – Students from 16 different countries in Pune met today to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising day at Symbiosis Auditorium.

March 10 holds a special significance in the hearts of all Tibetans as on this day, 51 years ago, Tibet experienced one of the bloodiest massacre in the history of our struggle. Thousands of innocents and nonviolent protesters were killed by the People's Liberation Army(PLA) in Lhasa. The day also signifies Tibetan people's resistance against Chinese occupation of Tibet when thousands of Tibetans gathered infront of the Potala palace to guard the Dalai Lama and defy the foreign occupation.

“It is our responsibility as Tibetans growing in the free world to share the plight of our brothers and sisters in Tibet to the global community.” said Tenzin Tselha, Coordinator of Students for a free Tibet – Pune chapter. “Organizing this meeting of international students enable us to educate our peers from different parts of the world to understand Tibetan struggle better.”

In today's event, "Knowing the Others", Tibetan students did a special presentation on the Tibetan freedom struggle and Tibetan culture to the gathering followed by presentation of culture by student participants from different countries. The participants also sang their feelings through songs, hence creating an atmosphere of international union.

“Through this meeting, we were able to highlight the current situation in Tibet to the participants.” said Tenzin dolkar, a Tibetan participant and member of Students for a free Tibet. “Situation in Tibet has never improved since the Occupation. We demand the Chinese government to stop oppressing people of Tibet.”

Pune is a city of many communities and diverse culture. Known for its educational facilities with more than hundred educational institutes and nine universities, Pune has attracted international students for different parts of the world.

Students for a free Tibet, Pune chapter remembers this day and wants to acquaint the plight and tragedy of Tibet that is fragmented into the hearts of six million Tibetans to Pune and beyond.

KNOWING OTHERS

2010-02-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

STUDENT FOR A FREE TIBET,PUNE cordially invites you all for knowing others an event organised to mark the anniversary of Tibetan National uprising day. We aim to promote universal kinship and understanding of a wider perspective when it comes to international cultures or to say the culture of the world.
This is to bring your kind notice that it will be held on the 9th march due to unavailability of auditorium on the 10th.
THANK YOU

Why Tibet?

2010-02-26T00:46:00.000-08:00

HISTORY LEADING UP TO MARCH 10TH 1959
Immediately after the communist party took power in China in 1949 it began asserting its claim that Tibet was part of Chinese territory and its people were crying out for "liberation" from "imperialist forces" and from the "reactionary feudal regime in Lhasa".

By October 1950 the People's Liberation Army had penetrated Tibet as far as Chamdo the capital of Kham province and headquarters of the Tibetan Army's Eastern Command. The region was routed and the Governor, Ngawang Jigme Ngabo, taken prisoner. Chinese forces were also stealthily infiltrating Tibet's north-eastern border Province, Amdo, but avoiding military clashes which would alert international interest.

That year the 15-year-old Dalai Lama, his entourage and select government officials, evacuated the capital and set up a provisional administration near the Indian border at Yatung. In July 1951 they were persuaded by Chinese Officials to return to Lhasa. On September 9, 1951, a vanguard of 3,000 Chinese "liberation forces" marched into the capital.

By 1954, 222,000 members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were stationed in Tibet and famine conditions became rampant as the country's delicate subsistence agricultural system was stretched beyond its capacity.

In April 1956, the Chinese inaugurated the Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet (PCART) in Lhasa, headed by the Dalai Lama and ostensibly convened to modernize the country. In effect, it was a rubber stamp committee set up to validate Chinese claims.

In the later fifties, Lhasa became increasingly politicized and a non-violent resistance evolved, organized by Mimang Tsongdu, a popular and spontaneous citizens' group. Posters denouncing the occupation went up. Stones and dried yak dung were hurled at Chinese street parades. During that period, when the directive from Beijing was still to woo Tibetans rather than oppress them, only the more extreme Mimang Tsongdu leaders and orators faced arrest.

In February 1956, revolt broke out in several areas in Eastern Tibet and heavy casualties were inflicted on the Chinese occupation army by local Kham and Amdo guerilla forces. Chinese troops were relocated from Western to Eastern Tibet to strengthen their forces to 100,000 and "clear up the rebels." Attempts to disarm the Khampas provoked such violent resistance that the Chinese decided to take more militant measures. The PLA then began bombing and pillaging monasteries in Eastern Tibet, arresting nobles, senior monks and guerrilla leaders and publicly torturing and executing them to discourage the large-scale and punitive resistance they were facing.

In Lhasa, 30,000 PLA troops maintained a wary eye as refugees from the fighting in distant Kham and Amdo swelled the population by around 10,000 and formed camps on the city's perimeter.

By December 1958, a revolt was simmering and the Chinese military command was threatening to bomb Lhasa and the Dalai Lama's palace if the unrest was not contained. To Lhasa's south and north-east 20,000 guerrillas and several thousand civilians had been engaging with Chinese troops.

On March 1, 1959, while the Dalai Lama was preoccupied with taking his Final Master of Metaphysics examination, two junior Chinese army officers visited him at the sacred Jokhang cathedral and pressed him to confirm a date on which he could attend a theatrical performance and tea at the Chinese Army Headquarters in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama replied that he would fix a date once the ceremonies had been completed

This was an extraordinary occurrence for two reasons: one, the invitation was not conveyed through the Kashag (the Cabinet) as it should have been; and two, the party was not at the palace where such functions would normally have been held, but at the military headquarters - and the Dalai Lama had been asked to attend alone.

March 7, 1959. The interpreter of General Tan Kuan-sen - one of the three military leaders in Lhasa rang the Chief Official Abbot demanding the date the Dalai Lama would attend their army camp. March 10 was confirmed.

March 8, 1959. This was Women's Day, and the Patriotic Women's Association was treated to a harangue by General Tan Kuan-sen in which he threatened to shell and destroy monasteries if the Khampa guerrillas refused to surrender. "... we knew that the ordinary people of Lhasa were being driven to open rebellion against the Chinese though they would have to fight machine-gunners with their bare hands", writes Mrs. Rinchen Dolma (Mary) Taring in her autobiography, Daughter of Tibet.

March 9, 1959. At 8.00 am two Chinese officers visited the commander of the Dalai Lama bodyguards' house and asked him to accompany them to see Brigadier Fu at the Chinese military headquarters in Lhasa. Brigadier Fu told him that on the following day there was to be no customary ceremony as the Dalai Lama moved from the Norbulinka summer palace to the army headquarters, two miles beyond. No armed bodyguard was to escort him and no Tibetan soldiers would be allowed beyond the Stone Bridge - a landmark on the perimeter of the sprawling army camp.

By custom, an escort of twenty-five armed guards always accompanied the Dalai Lama and the entire city of Lhasa would line up whenever he went. Brigadier Fu told the commander of the Dalai Lama's bodyguards that under no circumstances should the Tibetan army cross the Stone bridge and the entire procedure must be kept strictly secret.

The Chinese camp had always been an eyesore for the Tibetans and the fact that the Dalai Lama was now to visit it would surely create greater anxiety amongst the Tibetans.

March 10, 1959. The invitation provoked 30,000 loyal Tibetans to surround the Norbulinka palace, forming an human sea of protection for their Yeshe Norbu (nickname for the Dalai Lama, meaning "Precious Jewel"). They feared he would be abducted to Beijing to attend the upcoming Chinese National Assembly. This mobilization forced the Dalai Lama to turn down the army leader's invitation. Instead he was held a prisoner of devotion.

March 12, 1959. 5,000 Tibetan women marched through the streets of Lhasa carrying banners demanding "Tibet for Tibetans" and shouting "From today Tibet is Independent". They presented an appeal for help to the Indian Consulate-General in Lhasa.

Mimang Tsongdu members and their supporters had erected barricades in Lhasa's narrow streets while the Chinese militia had positioned sandbag fortifications for machine guns on the city's flat rooftops. 3000 Tibetans in Lhasa signed their willingness to join the rebels manning the valley's ring of mountains.

On March 15, 3000 of the Dalai Lama's bodyguards left Lhasa to position themselves along an anticipated escape route. Khampa rebel leaders moved their most trusted men to strategic points. Stalwarts of the Tibetan Army merged with civilians to cover the chosen route. By this time the Tibetans were out-numbered 25 to 2. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Chinese troops wielded modern weapons and had 17 heavy guns surrounding the city. While the Chinese manned swiveling howitzers, the Tibetans were wielding cannons into position with mules.

March 16, 1959. Chinese heavy artillery was seen being moved to sites within range of Lhasa and particularly the Norbulinka. Rumours were rife of more troops being flown in from China. By nightfall Lhasa was certain that the Dalai Lama's palace was about to be shelled.

March 17, 1959 4 pm. The Chinese fired two mortar shells at the Norbulinka. They landed short of the palace walls in a marsh. This event triggered the Dalai Lama to finally decide to leave his homeland.

"... when the Chinese guns sounded that warning of death, the first thought in the mind of every official within the Palace, and every humble member of the vast concourse around it, was that my life must be saved and I must leave the Palace and leave the city at once", recalls His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in his autobiography, My Land and My People "There was no certainty that escape was physically possible at all - Ngabo had assured us it was not.. If I did escape from Lhasa, where was I to go, and how could I reach asylum? Everything was uncertain, except the compelling anxiety of all my people to get me away before the orgy of Chinese destruction and massacre began".

At 10 pm. on the night of March 17, wearing a soldier's uniform with a gun slung over his shoulder, the Dalai Lama marched out of the Norbulinka and onto the danger-filled road to India and freedom His mother and elder sister had preceded him.

March 19, 1959. Fighting broke out in Lhasa late that night and raged for two days of hand-to-hand combat with odds stacked hopelessly against the Tibetan resistance.

At 2.00 am the Chinese started shelling NorbuLingka. The Norbulinka was bombarded by 800 shells on March 21 Thousands of men, women and children camped around the palace wall were slaughtered and the homes of about 300 officials within the walls destroyed. In the aftermath 200 members of the Dalai Lama's bodyguard were disarmed and publicly machine-gunned. Lhasa's major monasteries, Gaden, Sera and Drepung were shelled -the latter two beyond repair - and monastic treasures and precious scriptures destroyed. Thousands of their monks were either killed on the spot, transported to the city to work as slave labour, or deported. In house-to-house searches the residents of any homes harbouring arms were dragged out and shot on the spot. Over 86,000 Tibetans in central Tibet were killed by the Chinese during this period.

The Dalai Lama and his party crossed the Indian border at Khenzimane Pass on March 31. Pandit Nehru announced on April 3 in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) that the Government of India had granted asylum to the Dalai Lama. The party took a couple of days to reach Tawang the headquaters of the West Kameng Frontier Division of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now known as the Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Dalai Lama stayed four days in Tawang where he had the opportunity to visit the beautiful monastery Tawang Gompa and Urgyeling, the place where the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyaltso spent his first years. The Dalai Lama later proceeded to Bomdila where he was officially received by an envoy of the Indian Government a welcome message from Nehru. After a few days of rest, the party left for the plains of India.

On April 18, 1959, the Dalai Lama, his mother, sister, brother, three ministers and around 80 other Tibetans crossed safely into India at Tezpur, Assam, to be greeted by Indian officials and a Press corps of nearly 200 correspondents, all eager for what they called "The Story of the Century".

>From Tezpur he made his famous statement known as the Tezpur Statement in which he repudiated the 17 Point Agreement signed under duress" in 1951 in Beijing.

He then left for Mussorie.

ï»¿

US refuses to cancel Obama's Dalai Lama meeting

2010-02-13T06:52:00.000-08:00

By Stephen Collinson (AFP) – 19 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The United States on Friday escalated a mounting row on multiple fronts with China, refusing Beijing's demand to cancel President Barack Obama's meeting next week with the Dalai Lama.

The deepening public spat over Tibet, a row over US arms sales to Taiwan, China's dispute with Google and trade and currency disagreements, come at a key diplomatic moment, as Obama seeks Chinese help to toughen sanctions on Iran.

The White House announced Thursday that Obama would hold his long-awaited meeting with the revered Dalai Lama at the White House next week, drawing an angry reaction from China and a demand for the invitation to be rescinded.

But Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs signalled the White House would defy China's warning that the encounter would damage already strained Sino-US relations.

"I do not know if their specific reaction was to cancel it," Gibbs said.

"If that was their specific reaction, the meeting will take place as planned next Thursday."

Obama avoided the Dalai Lama when he was in Washington in 2009, in an apparent bid to set relations with Beijing off on a good foot in the first year of a presidency which included several meetings with President Hu Jintao.

But he warned Chinese leaders on an inaugural visit to Beijing in November that he intended to meet the Buddhist monk.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said earlier that Beijing firmly opposed "the Dalai Lama visiting the United States and US leaders having contact with him."

"China urges the US... to immediately call off the wrong decision of arranging for President Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama... to avoid any more damage to Sino-US relations."

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He denies he wants independence for Tibet, insisting he is looking only for "meaningful autonomy."

Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama will take place in the White House Map Room and not, in an apparent effort to mollify China, in the Oval Office, where US presidents normally meet VIPs and visiting government chiefs.

The Obama administration has insisted disputes over Tibet, Taiwan, currency and Google will not hamper efforts to win the support of China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, on toughened nuclear sanctions against Iran.

China has yet to agree to the concept of toughened sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, calling for more negotiations, even as Russia appears closer to backing the move to punish Tehran.

US officials say that the Sino-US relationship is mature enough to override disagreements on key issues but the temperature of public disagreements has risen sharply in recent days.

The powers have clashed over a 6.4-billion-dollar US arms deal for Taiwan, with China accusing the United States of violating the "code of conduct between nations" with the sale to what it sees as a Chinese territory.

Beijing also has been angered by Washington's support for Google after the web giant announced it would no longer abide by China's strict Internet censorship rules and could quit the country over cyberattacks.

The foreign ministry denied involvement in the hacking of Gmail accounts and accused Washington of "double standards" after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented the restrictions on China's 384 million Internet users.

Earlier this month, Obama said he planned to be "much tougher" about enforcing trade rules with China, and favoured constant pressure on Beijing over opening markets and on currency rates.

China responded by dismissing US "wrongful accusations and pressure

A letter from a Chinese student in Austria: What makes Tibet so charming?

2009-10-13T03:56:00.001-07:00

The "3.14" incident in Lhasa last year is engraved in my memory. As I was the only Chinese student in my class, I was mocked by some of my class mates who were unaware of the truth. At that time, I knew little about Tibet and had no choice but to swallow my resentment rather than fight back. Since then, my dream of personally seeing and feeling Tibet became increasingly strong.

During the summer vacation this year, my dream came true. We chose the difficult journey of traveling to Tibet by train, aiming to physically adapt to the altitude gradually and enjoy the spectacular scenery of the Plateau through the train window over a long period.

On August 15, we set out from Shanghai and met many people who shared our dream during the journey, including elderly people of over 70 and preschool kids. There were also tourists from New Zealand and students from the U.S. and Germany studying in China. We finally realized a long-held dream, arriving in Lhasa after a 52-hour journey and the test of the Tanghla Mountain Pass with an altitude as high as 6,000 meters.

What makes Tibet so charming?

The unique religious atmosphere fills Tibet with mystery. The Potala Palace is an ancient palace and chateau complex constructed at the highest altitude in the world and the residence of generations of Dalai Lamas. It is also the most sacred place in the hearts of the Tibetan people. The Tashilhunpo Monastery is the residence of generations of Panchen Lamas. These two places have been carefully protected and renovated, and have become not only centers to disseminate Tibetan Buddhism culture, but also two art treasure houses. Visiting them in person deepened my understanding of Tibetan religion and culture.

The beautiful scenery endowed by nature to Tibet is incomparable and amazing. The Namtso Lake, a salt lake with the highest altitude in the world, the Yamdroke Lake, which is called "jade," the Karola Glacier and the Yalu Tsangpo River all reflect the line in a poem: "This scenery exists only in heaven."

During my one-week visit to Tibet, I also discovered a power there, the power of ethnic harmony. Streets and schools named after Chinese provinces or municipalities that aided their construction can be seen everywhere in Lhasa and Shigatse. Gymnasiums and hotels constructed under the assistance of the Chinese mainland can also be found everywhere. Talented people are often reported on television and newspapers. Austrian friends traveling with us agreed that without the support and assistance of the Chinese mainland, today's prosperous Tibet would not exist.

The power of religion, nature and ethnic harmony constitute Tibet's unique charm. Tibet is a massive land and what I experienced is only the tip of the iceberg. The true Tibet I saw has enriched my mind and helped me to be confident and capable enough to face possible prejudice and challenges in the future. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, I sincerely hope our country will become increasingly dynamic and prosperous, and the Tibetan people and compatriots will achieve common prosperity and share various benefits brought about by reform, opening-up and economic development.

By People's Daily Online

Why India Fears China

2009-10-11T08:28:00.001-07:00

On June 21, two Chinese military helicopters swooped low over Demchok, a tiny Indian hamlet high in the Hima-layas along the northwestern border with China. The helicopters dropped canned food over a barren expanse and then returned to bases in China. India's military scrambled helicopters to the scene but did not seem unduly alarmed. This sort of Cold War cat-and-mouse game has played out on the 4,057-kilometer India-China border for decades. But the incident fed a media frenzy about "the Chinese dragon." Beginning in August, stories about new Chinese incursions into India have dominated the 24-hour TV news networks and the newspaper headlines.
China claims some 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory. And most of those claims are tangled up with Tibet. Large swaths of India's northern mountains were once part of Tibet. Other stretches belonged to semi-independent kingdoms that paid fealty to Lhasa. Because Beijing now claims Tibet as part of China, it has by extension sought to claim parts of India that it sees as historically Tibetan, a claim that has become increasingly flammable in recent months.
Ever since the anti-Chinese unrest in Tibet last year, progress toward settling the border dispute has stalled, and the situation has taken a dangerous turn. The emergence of videos showing Tibetans beating up Han Chinese shopkeepers in Lhasa and other Tibetan cities created immense domestic pressure on Beijing to crack down. The Communist Party leadership worries that agitation by Tibetans will only encourage unrest by the country's other ethnic minorities, such as Uighurs in Xinjiang or ethnic Mongolians in Inner Mongolia, threatening China's integrity as a nation. Susan Shirk, a former Clinton-administration official and expert on China, says that "in the past, Taiwan was the 'core issue of sovereignty,' as they call it, and Tibet was not very salient to the public." Now, says Shirk, Tibet is considered a "core issue of national sovereignty" on par with Taiwan.
The implications for India's security—and the world's—are ominous. It turns what was once an obscure argument over lines on a 1914 map and some barren, rocky peaks hardly worth fighting over into a flash point that could spark a war between two nuclear-armed neighbors. And that makes the India-China border dispute into an issue of concern to far more than just the two parties involved. The United States and Europe as well as the rest of Asia ought to take notice—a conflict involving India and China could result in a nuclear exchange. And it could suck the West in—either as an ally in the defense of Asian democracy, as in the case of Taiwan, or as a mediator trying to separate the two sides.
Beijing appears increasingly concerned about the safe haven India provides to the Dalai Lama and to tens of thousands of Tibetan exiles, including increasingly militant supporters of Tibetan independence. These younger Tibetans, many born outside Tibet, are growing impatient with the Dalai Lama's "middle way" approach—a willingness to accept Chinese sovereignty in return for true autonomy—and commitment to nonviolence. If these groups were to use India as a base for armed insurrection against China, as Tibetan exiles did throughout the 1960s, then China might retaliate against India. By force or demand, Beijing might also seek to gain possession of important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries that lie in Indian territory close to the border. Both politically and culturally, these monasteries are seen as key nodes in the Tibetan resistance to Chinese authority.
Already Beijing has launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at undercutting Indian sovereignty over the areas China claims, particularly the northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh and one of its key cities, Tawang, birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama in the 17th century and home to several important Tibetan monasteries. Tibet ceded Tawang and the area around it to British India in 1914. China has recently denied visas to the state's residents; lodged a formal complaint after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the state in 2008; and tried to block a $2.9 billion Asian Development Bank loan to India because some of the money was earmarked for an irrigation project in the state. All these moves are best understood in the context of China's recent troubles in Tibet, with Beijing increasingly concerned that any acceptance of the 1914 border will amount to an implicit acknowledgment that Tibet was once independent of China—a serious blow to the legitimacy of China's control over the region and potentially other minority areas as well.
The reports of Chinese incursions can be read as a signal that it is deadly serious about its territorial claims. The exact border has never been mutually agreed on—meaning one side's incursion is another side's routine patrol—but the Chinese have clearly stepped up their activity along the frontier. The Indian military reported a record 270 Chinese border violations last year—nearly double the figure from the year before and more than three times the number of incidents in 2006, says Brahma Chellaney, an expert in strategic studies at New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research, an independent think tank. Noting that there was a reported incursion nearly every day this summer, Chellaney says this amounts to "a pattern of Chinese belligerence." In June the People's Daily criticized recent moves by India to strengthen its border defenses and declared: "China will not make any compromises in its border disputes with India." It asked if India had properly weighed "the consequences of a potential confrontation with China."
To many Indians, China is an expansionist power bent on thwarting India's rise as a serious challenge to Beijing's influence in Asia. They are haunted by memories of India's 1962 war with China, in which China launched a massive invasion along the length of the frontier, routing the Indians before unilaterally halting at what today remains the de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). They are fearful of China's expanding naval presence in the Indian Ocean, seeing its widening network of naval bases as a noose that could be used to strangle India. They blast Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for alleged weakness in the face of this growing threat. Bharat Verma, editor of the Indian Defence Review, predicted in a widely publicized essay this summer that China would attack India sometime before 2012. With social unrest rising within China due to the worldwide economic slump, he says, the leadership in Beijing needs "a small military victory" to unify the nation, and India is "a soft target," due to Singh's fecklessness. In recent weeks India's defense minister and the heads of the Army and Air Force have felt compelled to reassure the public that "there will be no repeat of 1962."
These warnings completely misread China's intent. While India worries about the larger army and wealth of China, China worries about the larger military and economy of the United States. In Asia, its stated aim is to follow a "peaceful rise" that benefits all its neighbors, India included, and there's little reason to doubt this goal. Beijing is an insecure power, not an aggressive one, because of the real threat of social and economic unrest at home. China's growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean reflects a legitimate interest in protecting the sea lanes upon which Beijing depends for its supply of oil and natural resources from Africa and the Middle East. The border movements should be seen in the same light: it's not about an external threat from India per se, but India's relationship to the internal threat from Tibet.
Still, if Tibet is the new Taiwan, it requires extremely delicate diplomacy. If anything, the West tends to under-estimate China's willingness to fight independence moves in Taiwan—it has fired missile warning shots as recently as 1996—and the same may now be said of Tibet. Taiwan, however, has maintained the parlous status quo by arming itself to the teeth, while avoiding any rhetoric or action that crosses Beijing's red lines.
India is trying a similar approach. Last year it denied the Dalai Lama permission to visit Tawang—ostensibly because of parliamentary elections—and now he has scheduled another trip in November. It would be prudent for New Delhi—and perhaps others with influence on the Dalai Lama, such as the United States—to find a face-saving reason for the Dalai Lama to indefinitely postpone the trip. India needs to be especially vigilant against militant activity within the Tibetan exile community, the single most likely trigger for a Chinese attack, and it might be wise to end the policy of simply avoiding any discussion of Tibet in its dealings with China. "There are ways to highlight the centrality of Tibet without being provocative or confrontational," says Chellaney. "If New Delhi were to say in public that Tibet has ceased to be the political buffer between India and China, and India would like Tibet to be the political bridge between New Delhi and Beijing, that, in one stroke, would change the narrative fundamentally."

India's position in talks needs to be backed by strength in arms. New Delhi has already started repositioning border forces, launched a road-building program to match the roads and airfields that China has built on its side, and recently conducted a three-day combined air-and-land war game, seemingly designed to show that it is on guard. But India needs to be careful not to overreact: it views with alarm the tens of thousands of troops China has deployed to the border region since the 2008 Lhasa riots, but most of these moves are designed to reassert control over Tibet. M. Taylor Fravel, an MIT expert on the India-China border dispute, says many of the troops deployed in Tibet are internal-security forces, lacking heavy armor or artillery, representing less of a threat to India than Indian hawks believe.
India would be wise to invest in -longer-range weapons—such as missiles and advanced-strike aircraft—that allow it to maintain a standoff deterrent, without the need to go toe-to-toe with Chinese troops on the border. India has also begun deploying sophisticated radar systems along its frontier with China—a way to police inhospitable terrain while avoiding direct confrontation. India might also seek to share intelligence with other nations—such as the United States, Japan, and Taiwan—about China's actions and troop movements in Tibet, both to prevent being taken by surprise and to avoid an accidental conflict.
A final lesson from Taiwan is that New Delhi should pursue ways to open the border to commerce and communication, binding itself closer to China. Shirk says China is now opening ties to Taiwan, as part of an effort to "win the hearts and minds of the people," raising hopes that China may eventually pursue a more tolerant approach toward Tibet and other minority regions. Amid all the reports of border incursions, both India and China have sought to lower the volume. Chinese military officials invited Indian generals from all three of the regional commands that face off against it across the LAC to visit China for confidence-building measures, including a rare visit to Lhasa. Indian officials have pleaded with news organizations to tone down reporting on border incursions. Indian national-security adviser M. K. Narayanan warned that the beating of war drums might become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leading to "an unwarranted incident or accident" with China. This is now an issue that should be handled at the highest levels—not left to hotheads—on all sides.

Dalai Lama Honored in Washington With Human Rights Award

2009-10-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

By Chris Simkins
Washington
06 October 2009

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was honored by U. S. lawmakers with a human rights award on Tuesday. But for the first time since 1991, the Dalai Lama will not meet with the sitting president of the United States.

The Dalai Lama received a warm reception and the first Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize from U.S. lawmakers.

Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The medal, in memory of the late Congressman and longtime human rights activist, honored Tibet's exiled spiritual leader for his achievements.

Accepting the award, the Dalai Lama said he will continue to champion human rights.

"Although now I am 74-years-old, the rest of my life I dedicate for the promotion of human values, emotional human affection, human compassion, equality and basic human rights in Tibet or in mainland China or everywhere," he said.

House of Representatives speaker Nancy Polosi praised the Dalai Lama's work in pressing China to improve its human rights record.

The Dalai Lama, left, is congratulated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, and Annette Lantos, widow of California Rep. Tom Lantos, in Washington, 06 Oct 2009
The Dalai Lama, left, is congratulated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, and Annette Lantos, widow of California Rep. Tom Lantos, in Washington, 06 Oct 2009
"Unless we speak out for human rights in China and in Tibet we loose all moral authority to talk about human rights anywhere in the world," she said.

But President Obama has decided to postpone his meeting with the Dalai Lama.

The spiritual leader's representatives were informed last month that the president would not meet with him until after Mr. Obama's first official trip to Beijing, scheduled for November.

Meanwhile, Tibetan exiles living in northern India protested against the 60th anniversary of China's communist takeover. The demonstrators want China to stop what they called decades of violence and oppression of Tibet.

TENZIN (ACTIVIST): "Over the last 60 years the Chinese not only illegally occupied Tibet, they also violated human rights. They [people in Tibet] has no rights of freedom, no rights of the freedom movement, they have no freedom [of] the religious movement."

Beijing accuses the Buddhist leader of being a separatist.

During Mr. Obama's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in April, the Chinese leader repeated Beijing's demand that no foreign officials meet with the Dalai Lama.

Political analysts say a White House visit now would cast a shadow over talks next month between Mr. Obama and Mr. Hu. The US administration is seeking greater cooperation with China on foreign policy, the global economy and the environment.

China improving: Dalai Lama Says environment more important than oil sands wealth

2009-10-04T01:12:00.000-07:00

By Jamie Komarnicki, Canwest News ServiceOctober 2, 2009
As the Dalai Lama expressed optimism over China's progress in recent years, a group of protesters in Calgary said a more forceful message is needed to prompt change in the Communist country.
Speaking Thursday in Calgary, the Tibetan spiritual leader said he had "nothing much to say" about the 60th anniversary of Communist China. The Dalai Lama noted the country has left behind its socialist past in favour of capitalism. He also told reporters that meetings with influential Chinese have left him optimistic about progress in China's attitude toward him and Tibet.
"Judging from a wider perspective, things are moving," he said.
But a group of about 30 Uighur protesters outside the Chinese Consulate said the Dalai Lama's message of peace and compassion is ineffective in China.
"We are here today because China's government today is celebrating 60 years of communism," said Abduluhat Nur, of the Alberta Uighur Culture Society.
"But eastern Turkistan is crying because they are under oppression."
The Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic ethnic group in China's Xinjiang region, staged anti-Chinese riots last year that resulted in violent unrest. Similar violence erupted in Tibet in March.
At Thursday's protests, members of the local Uighur community said they aren't advocating violence, but said messages of peace and harmony do little to motivate China to change.
"We would like to see more strongly the demand against China," said Gheyret Aush.
"Compassion, it works for the democratic countries. It doesn't work for the communist countries."
The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 after Chinese troops invaded Tibet, said he believes he will one day return to his homeland.
In the city for a University of Calgary conference, the Tibetan spiritual leader broached a wide range of topics in a question-and-answer session with reporters.
He called military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq "a failure."
The billions of dollars spent on war would be better used in health care and education, the Dalai Lama said.
Asked about the development of Alberta's oilsands, he said given a choice between "destruction of environment or losing money, then we have to choose losing money."
He said leaders must find a middle ground, "using nature's resources with maximum care of environmental protection."
(CALGARY HERALD)

China strikes back on Arunachal

2009-09-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Pranab Dhal Samanta
Posted: Friday , Sep 18, 2009 at 1439 hrs New Delhi:

Barely weeks after it failed in its attempt to block Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds to a project in Arunachal Pradesh, China has successfully struck back.
Last month, in a development New Delhi has been quiet about, China won a vote on a “disclosure agreement,” which prevents ADB from formally acknowledging Arunachal Pradesh as part of India. (A disclosure agreement is a formal notification of a project once it’s approved by the ADB Board).
On June 16, India had successfully isolated China — the entire ADB Board except Beijing had voted in India’s favour — and secured approval for its $2.9-billion country plan. China had raised objections to the plan because it included $60-million projects in Arunachal Pradesh. It argued that ADB cannot fund projects in “disputed areas” like Arunachal Pradesh.
Clearly, China did not give up after that defeat and the reversal is symptomatic of its growing clout. It’s learnt that India lost the vote despite US and most of the Western bloc voting in India’s favour. In what was relatively a narrow margin, the scales were tilted in China’s favour by Japan, Australia and a group of other South East Asian countries. Despite US support, India was also surprised by the fact that Australia chose to go with China. Pakistan, of course, also went with China.

FILM SCREENING ON TIBET; A Report

2009-08-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Pune: Well at least the plan was to have a packed auditorium with people jeering China and applauding and giving us standing ovation but, it didn’t happen. There were quite a few empty seats and the screening went by rather quietly, and lesson learned that support comes seldom and in meager measures.

With a total of( 20 members), the film screening was held in Symbiosis college auditorium and three films, two documentary films and a feature film was shown. An introductory SFT footage was shown first and then another titled ‘leaving fear behind’, filmed by Dhondup Wangchen who has been arrested for filming the same. The last motion picture shown was ‘Kundun’ a biographical film on His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama , followed by a speaker who thanked the guests and let them know the vacancy for SFT’s membership if they were willing to join and concluded the evening saying ‘thank you’.

The evening had ended officially except for the guests that included students from different countries including Bhutan, Ethiopia, Belgium and even China who came to us and told us to continue the good work and put pen to paper joining the organization which is at the end of the day is fruit to our labor and aid to our cause. SFT Pune thus stepped its first step and we know there is a much longer walk to go.

Tenzin Dharpo
SFT Pune, reporter.

Freedom calling

2009-08-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

Mustafa Naley’s Tibetan friend once told him, “I can’t go back to my country. If I go, I will be killed. We are fighting to get our country back and I am confident that we will get it back once.”

Naley, a Somalian national and a graphic design student in the city, who until then, had no knowledge of the history of Tibet and its present crisis, did a research on the Tibetan struggle and decided to join Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), an organisation of students which works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence.

SFT, formed world wide in 1994, is soon going to have the formal launch of its Pune chapter as more and more non-Tibetan students like Naley, are coming forward to support the cause of Tibet.

“It all started with the informal talks we have had with our classmates and their friends on Tibet. Most of them didn’t know anything about the country. Some even thought that Tibet is part of India. That is how we thought we should have a forum where even non-Tibetan students can support us that will strengthen our fight for justice,” says Tenzin Dolkar, a Tibetan member of SFT.

The SFT had been active during Olympic protests and uprising day marches across the world in support for a free Tibet. Up till now, the city had only a Tibetan Students' Association, which had close to 15 members. The association also will be merged in SFT now. So far, nearly 30 students in the city have registered with SFT, which include students from countries like Sudan, France, Mauritius, Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Bhutan and Eritrea. “I could relate to Tibetan struggle better. The ongoing civil war has shattered my country. I too cannot go back to my homeland. So, I know how it feels like,” says Naley, 25, who has lived most of his life in Saudi Arabia. He added that he is trying to create awareness among as many friends as he could on the Tibetan issue and bring them under SFT's fold.

“I have nothing against China. But, I am against Chinese policies on Tibet. A country should have its freedom. Its people should be allowed to live peacefully,” says Naley, who is also the cultural co-ordinator of International Students’ Council, Symbiosis University.

Dolkar, who was the vice president of the erstwhile Tibetan Students Association, Pune, says they would like to have more Indians in SFT as well. “We live in India and we are grateful to the country. But, it is sad that most Indians do not even know that there exists a country called Tibet. Also, SFT would serve as a platform to discuss various international human rights issues. There will be more voices and more ideas now and we are confident that we have support from across the world,” she says.

Until the Beijing Olympics torch reached his country, which invited widespread protests from the supporters of Tibet, Joseph Danamme, a French national and now a student of Symbiosis Law College, didn’t know what Tibetans were fighting for.

But, as he started learning more about it, he felt students should be educated on the subject and thus, he joined SFT. “Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, was a spiritual city and China converted it into a business capital. There were lots of temples then but now pubs are aplenty. This is cultural genocide. SFT can do a lot to create awareness,” he says.

SFT will be organising a movie screening on Tibet at Symbiosis, SB Road, 5 pm onwards today, as part of the organisation’s worldwide screening of the same. “It will serve as a platform for many to get to know about Tibet,” says Dolkar. This is also SFT’s maiden event in the city.

WHY.. MY COUNTRY???

2009-08-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

I lost my homeland even before i was born,
under the oppression of mighty empire.
I've been taught that truth always holds the victory,
But why there are no ears listening to the truth of my country?
People are executed if convicted of single murder,
But why hundreds of murders in my country are being ignored?
Young kids anywhere are always embraced by their parents,
But why kids of my country have to leave their parents in search of freedom?
Freedom of religion is observed in any part of the world,
But why my countrymen are stopped from following their religious leader?
Everyone is born with the birthright of freedom of speech,
But why people in my country are not allowed to voice their heart out?
Laws are passed to protect the endangered species everywhere,
But why species in my country are still brutally hunted?
This poses a serious question the world's CONSCIOUS...
Where is the justice 21st century claims to give???
TENZIN CHUNZIN
B.sc nursing

"TIBET FILM FESTIVAL" pune

2009-08-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

2009-08-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

2009-08-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Event: Screening of movie “KUNDUN”

What: Informational Meeting
Host: SFT Pune
Start Time: Friday 28th.august.09 at 5:00pm
End Time: Friday 28th.august.09 at 8:30 pm
Where: symbiosis auditorium, SP ROAD.

contact : +91-9970219257,+91-9975691757

www.studentsforafreetibetpune.blogspot.com
Email-sftpune@gmail.com

ENTRY FREE

p:s- i request all the visitor to wear "MASK" during the film. symbiosis authority have requested us to do so..
thank you

Student For a Free Tibet,Pune

2009-08-16T06:35:00.001-07:00

In our Fourth Group meeting since we started our Chapter we formally got organised and distributed responsibilities in the core group.Tenzin Tselha and Tenzin Rigten was elected as the joint coordinator, Tenzin Ngodup as a accountant, tenzin tsewang incharge of merchandise, tenzin darpo as a media coordinator,Tsering Topgyal as a photographer
In this meeting we welcome Tenzin Palden as a new member in the group, also in this meeting Shibayan Raha Outreach Coordinator from SFT,India who had come down from Delhi too meet the Chapter, also briefed us about the coming projects in the India network and also highlighted the present condition inside Tibet.
We pay our sincere thanks to him for coming down to Pune even though the swine flu scare was there and giving us the guidance for our activities in Pune.
Till now we have 12 members and we expect more people to join us in the coming days.
Any one interested in joining the SFT,Pune can contact us by email or call us.Our contact details are on the left hand side of the blog.

fim screening delayed

2009-08-13T04:36:00.000-07:00

i am really very sorry to inform you all that the film screening on the 14th august in symbiosis auditorium has been delayed due to swine flu scare in the city. so we will let you know about our film screen program soon.

invitation for a movie

2009-08-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

Event: Screening of a movie
What: Informational Meeting
Host: SFT pune
Start Time: Wednesday, August 14 at 5:00pm
End Time: Wednesday, August 14 at 8:30pm
Where: symbiosis auditorium,SP ROAD.

RSVP-+919970219257,+919766488100

www.studentsforafreetibetpune.blogspot.com
Email-sftpune@gmail.com

Autonomy? Think Again

2009-07-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

As if any further evidence were needed of the ways in which China has been running rings around the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile,

recent events have made the situation abundantly clear. Last November the Tibetans presented a memorandum to China, meant to demonstrate that the Dalai Lama's position on Tibetan autonomy was wholly compatible with China's existing laws on regional nationality autonomy. The memorandum was vehemently rejected and the dialogue process between the two sides screeched to a halt.

On June 22, there were reports that exiled Tibetan officials were meeting to draft a statement clarifying their stand and, it was hoped, would open a way out of the impasse. The new statement is intended to demonstrate that the Tibetans want to reach an accord with China on the basis of Chinese autonomy laws. Unfortunately, the ignorance with which the authorities in exile deal with China is now on display in embarrassing detail.

The Dalai Lama's chief negotiators, Kelsang Gyaltsen and Lodi Gyari, have met with other officials to hammer out a position that they fantasise will interest China, and Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard-trained expert, has been reinforcing the exiled government's views with his own analysis of the law. But the fact is that all of these people are functionally illiterate in the hundreds of articles and books all in Chinese that constitute the body of interpretive literature on regional nationality autonomy in China. That never seems to have perturbed the Dalai Lama's people as they wander quite blindly around major issues of Chinese policy.

Since the spring of 2008, China has responded to criticism of its historical claims to Tibet by scrapping its common line, that 13th-century Mongol conquerors made Tibet part of China, with the more forceful, take-no-prisoners position that Tibet has been a part of China "since human activity began". Much as this exemplifies the attitude that history is not an objective measure against which to weigh Chinese claims, so too a new debate has opened in China that demonstrates that the laws on autonomy are not to be considered fixed standards against which the government can be challenged. To the contrary, they are tools of the government and party, dispensable when they are not serving the desired political ends.

In April, seemingly unbeknownst to the Dalai Lama's authorities, Ma Rong, a scholar who often writes on minority demographic and population issues, proposed a drastic measure, akin to what was done in the area of history: scrap the regime of regional nationality autonomy laws. The real problem, according to Ma Rong, is that China's autonomy laws derive from a Stalinist heritage (which, in the Soviet Union, included rights to secession and independence), saddling China with a system that alienates minorities from the notion that they are part of the larger Chinese nationality. Now, with uncanny timing, the recent unrest in Xinjiang has underscored his contention.

As Ma Rong puts it, the nationality laws encourage minorities to exclude others from their regions, privilege their own language, assert economic rights of their own and maintain and strengthen the historical consciousness, religions and practices that differentiate them from others, all in accord with Stalin's definition of "nationality". For Ma Rong, this is the crux of the problem: the current system leaves minorities with little or no sense that they are Chinese. Only three other countries, he notes, ever implemented a similar system with specific geographical regions for minority nationalities: the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. It goes without saying that the historical track record is not good.

In contrast, India and the United States provide useful counter-examples. Jawaharlal Nehru in particular is cited for imbuing the members of various groups with the sense of being part of "the Indian nation", while at the same time dulling the areas of ethno-national conflict between them. In the US, the election of Barack Obama is presented precisely because his platform was directed at the benefit of all Americans, with no taint of racial interest. Neither country has regional minority nationality autonomous structures.

The debate that Ma Rong opened up in April is of critical importance to China's Tibet policy. But no one in Dharamsala seems to have noticed. Rather than devote resources to acquiring the databases that would allow them to access the wide range of Chinese materials available online, the Dalai Lama decided in May to send $1,00,000 to Florida International University to support its religious studies programme. Though American dharma students are hardly an endangered species, such are Dharamsala's priorities.

Sonam Dagpo, of the Dalai Lama's Department of Information and International Relations, told a news agency towards the end of June that the Tibetans "want to settle the issue mutually and within the framework of the Chinese constitution, law and national regional autonomy". Best of luck with that one, guys.

The writer directs the Tibetan Studies programme in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, US.

Studies in Pune to serve Tibet better

2008-12-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

Renitha Raveendran

Posted: Dec 14, 2008 at 0251 hrs IST

Pune: A group of 30 Tibetan students in the city has a common ambition, to serve the cause of their motherland. That’s why, when most friends headed for Bangalore and Chennai, they chose Pune. “Pune had a very strong Tibetan student association some years ago. But, as students gradually left, it stopped functioning. The city has a sizeable Tibetan population. Most people here do not know about Tibet. We felt the need to create awareness,” Tenzin Dolkar, vice-president, The Tibetan Students' Association (TSA), Pune and second year BA Economics student, Wadia College, says.
Dolkar had dreams of becoming a dancer. She let her passion die and decided to study a subject that will help people back home. Does she regret it? “Yes, sometimes. I was so passionate about dance and music that it was a tough decision.”
Others like her have chosen their subject with ‘their country’s future’ in mind. “I can’t stand injustice. That’s why I am studying Law. It will help me fight for the rights of Tibetans,” says Tsering Choedon, a BA-LLB student at Azam Campus in the city.
Dharpo Tenzing, a B Com student at Poona College wants to be a journalist. “There is no press freedom in Tibet. Tibetans are cut off from the outside world. A journalist can be a bridge,” he says. They have stories of separation and identity crisis to share. But, nothing deters them from dreaming about going back, not even the recent refusal of Chinese government to allow further talk on more autonomy to Tibet. “We are eagerly looking forward to further negotiations with China. We have faith in the Dalai Lama,” says Lhakpa Dolma, an MSc Maths student at the University of Pune. To commemorate the day (December 10) the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Prize, the TSA is organising an exhibition, ‘A glimpse of Tibet’ on Saturday at Om Krishna Hall, Raj Gulab Height, Shree Krishna Nagar, Senapati Bhapat Road.

Visit Little Lhasa in India (October 6-11,2008)

2008-09-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Visit McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala - the Little Lhasa in India from (October 6-11, 2008.) Trekking… Meeting ex-political prisoners and activists from occupied-Tibet…Visiting Buddhist monasteries Experiencing Tibetan culture... art... way of life …… And so much more.

Click here for a guide to Little Lhasa in India:

INTERESTED???

Please e-mail a 250-word write-up to Students For A Free Tibet India at shibayan@studentsforafreetibet.org by 17th September telling us more about you and why you would like to participate in this camp.

For more information contact -

Shibayan Raha - +919810465415

Indian activists condemn Tibet leg of Olympic Torch Relay; call it a failure

2008-06-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

Phayul[Saturday, June 21, 2008 15:56] By Phurbu Thinley

Dharamsala, June 21: A group of Indian Tibet activists today condemned the parading of the Olympic torch through Tibet’s capital Lhasa, accusing China of “using the Olympic Games as a tool for legitimizing its control in Tibet”.

Indian and Tibetan protesters wrapped in Tibetan National flag stage a street play in Dharamsala, on Saturday, June 21, 2008, to protest against Olympic torch relay going through Tibetan capital, Lhasa, accusing China of doing it against the interest of Tibetan people. (Phayul)

The group joined by Tibetans, all wrapped in Tibetan National Flag, took part in a street play depicting the “current situation of fear in Tibet” and China’s policy of using the games for consolidating its grip on Tibet. They also shouted slogans demanding China to leave Tibet and “Free Tibet Now”.

The Olympic torch, which was marred by protests in greater part of its relay around the world, was paraded through Lhasa, on Saturday; starting in front of the Norbulingka and ending below the Potala Palace, both former residences of the Tibet’s exiled leader the Dalai Lama.

The three-hour relay was paraded amid tight security with police on guard every 200 metres and hand-picked spectators along the torch relay route, according to media reports. Reports described seeing trucks full of troops and riot police in other areas.

Contrary to China's vows to allow unimpeded media access in the lead-up to the Games, only a selected group of journalists accompanied by officials was allowed into Lhasa for the relay, Reuters reported Saturday, adding “The city remains off bounds to free reporting”.

While protesting the Tibet leg of torch relay, the Indian activists also called on the Chinese government to release details of the 12 people sentenced by courts on Thursday and Friday for allegedly involved in the March unrest as reported earlier by China’s state news agency.

Tibetan Government-in-exile claim they have confirmed information that Chinese crackdown in Tibet has killed more than 200 Tibetans following widespread anti-China unrest since March 10. It also says 1000 more were injured and several more are being held under arbitrary arrest after the heavy military crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators.

China released 1,157 people who were involved in the riots in Lhasa, the official Xinhua news agency said on the eve of the relay, a move, described by AFP as, seen as an attempt to defuse tension about the event.

The move also comes amid concerns raised by Amnesty International, earlier this week, that a quarter of about 4,000 people detained by police during the riots in Tibet in March are unaccounted for. China is also routinely accused by other rights and activist groups of turning Tibet into a virtual prison.

“We are completely against the arrival of the torch in Tibet after all the violent crackdown on Tibetan people,” Tenzin Norkyi, who took part in today’s street protest here, told Phayul.

The Chinese government considerably shortened the original relay route in Tibet to just one day instead of three. The event was further cut short from eight hours to three, citing last month's massive earthquake.

Rights groups and pro-Tibet protests have condemned China’s decision to take the torch to Tibet and demanded China to cancel the torch relay through Lhasa because of the recent anti-China unrest.

Speaking to Phayul, Shibayan Raha, the coordinator of today’s protest, said “We condemn the decision of the Chinese Government to take the torch to Lhasa. Today’s torch relay in Lhasa was clearly a rehearsed event without any open support and welcome from the Tibetan people”.

“For the Chinese Government, to carry the torch to Tibet is to show to the world that Tibet is part of China and to showcase a harmonious Tibet,” the Indian activist, who is also the Outreach Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet (India), said.

“Chinese government’s plan to showcase a harmonious Tibet regardless of the deep resentment of Tibetan people against its rule will fail,” he added.

According to him, after the recent unrest in Tibet has sown more awareness about the issue among Indian masses and that there has been a growing support for the Tibetan cause from them.

He feels Indians have greater role to play for the Tibetan cause and thinks his government is not “up to the mark” even when it knows the historical truths about Tibet.

“China wants to show to the world that everything is fine in Tibet; reality we know is Tibetans are dying there and Tibet is locked down to the outside world,” Mr Raha asserts.

“We will seize every opportunity to highlight the situation in Tibet during the days leading to the Olympics in Beijing,” Chintan Raj from Mumbai, who is currently in the town on Tibet study tour under ‘Gurukul Project’ initiated by Universal Responsibility Foundation in Delhi, said.

“In the case of Tibet, we believe in only one thing - ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’, he says.