I wish to share some pictures and video of the historic eventDeclaring Independence with the re-creation of Tibet’s 1913 Proclamation of Independence this Lhakar.
Unveiling of Rangzen Proclamation by Ex Political Prisoner Palden Gyatso
35 pictures in Slide
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You can check SFT-India official blog for detail information
Lhakar Academy Alums Attend Release of Re-Creation of
Tibet’s Proclamation of Independence
Lhakar Academy Alums standing proudly with the scroll
Today for Lhakar, six alums of the Lhakar Academy joined the new class of participants in attending a historic ceremony in Dharamsala held by Students for a Free Tibet. We all came dressed in our chubas excited to attend the public unveiling of a re-creation of the Tibetan Proclamation of Independence, issued by His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama. As we watched the 12 foot-long handwritten scroll unfold to the ground I could tell each one of us was holding our breath in awe of the meaning of this beautiful replica. The scroll was bordered with brocade and silk in the style of a thangka, and was unveiled to an crowd of several hundred Tibetans and supporters including many our friends and colleagues from around the world in anticipation of the upcoming centenary of the declaration in 1913 that proclaimed the restoration of Tibet’s independence following a Manchu invasion. The scroll was unveiled by Ven. Palden Gyatso, Tibet’s second longest-serving political prisoner who was born in the time of the 13th Dalai Lama’s government.
There were many notable Tibetans speaking at the ceremony including Narkyid Ngawang Dhondup, author of the 13th Dalai Lama’s definitive biography; Serta Tsultrim, Member of Parliament; Bawa Kalsang Gyaltsen, Member of Parliament; Dhardon Sharling, Member of Parliament and youth leader; Kanyag Tsering, Kirti Monastery; Tenzin Tsundue, writer-activist; Lhadon Tethong, Director of Tibet Action Institute; and Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. Tendor encouraged the crowd that Rangzen is well within our reach, and reminded us that the longest ruling Communist government only lasted 74 years, so China only has about 10-15 years remaining so we should prepare for its downfall. He compared the long and difficult road to independence like building the bricks together for a house and shared these inspiring words,
We hope this scroll will give Tibetans everywhere a reason to celebrate our history as an independent nation. The history of Tibetan sovereignty is indisputable, and it forms the basis of unity in our struggle to reestablish a free Tibet. A century after the issue of this proclamation, Tibetans of this generation are engaging in concrete nonviolent actions such as noncooperation and civil disobedience to construct our social, political, cultural and economic independence from Chinese rule. Although China controls Tibet’s borders, it has already lost control over the Tibetan people’s actions.
What was also quite amazing was the fact that both Palden Gyatso and Narkyid Ngawang Dhondup were born during the same time as the reign of the Great 13th Dalai Lama. It is really something to think that next February of 2013 will mark 100 years since Tibet proclaimed the restoration of its independence.
Dorjee Tsetan, National Director of SFT India said that “Today is an occasion to remind all Tibetans and the global community of Tibet’s status as an independent nation in the past, as May 23rd marks 61 years since the Tibetan government was forced to sign the 17 Point Agreement. We consider the re-creation of the Proclamation of Tibetan Independence a repudiation of the 17 Point Agreement as well as a fundamental rejection of China’s ongoing colonial occupation of Tibet.”
Here’s a little historical background about the scroll.
The Manchu army sent troops to Tibet in 1909, prompting the 13th Dalai Lama to escape to India. However, as the Manchu dynasty succumbed to a Chinese revolution at home, Tibetans expelled the Manchu troops from Tibet. The 13th Dalai Lama returned to Tibet and issued a proclamation to mark the restoration of Tibetan independence. The text of this proclamation has survived, though the original document has not.
In the proclamation, issued on February 13, 1913, the Dalai Lama states in the fourth paragraph:
“…Meanwhile, the Manchu empire collapsed. The Tibetans were encouraged to expel the Chinese from central Tibet. I, too, returned safely to my rightful and sacred country, and I am now in the course of driving out the remnants of Chinese troops from DoKham in Eastern Tibet. Now, the Chinese intention of colonizing Tibet under the patron-priest relationship has faded like a rainbow in the sky…”
Students for a Free Tibet has produced a re-creation of this historic document ahead of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation. Between now and February 13, 2013, SFT aims to have this scroll distributed in 100 cities – delivered to Chinese embassies, presented to world leaders, pasted on global landmarks.
As alums of the Lhakar Academy and six contributors to Lhakar Diaries, we all felt incredibly lucky to have witnessed such a moment in Tibet’s history.
Yesterday on Lhakar one of my close activist friends, Lhamo Kyab, who is also an ex political prisoner came into my office. I could see the excitement in his face and eagerness to share something special. He took out his pen drive and made my day even more special, by sharing this moving news about Lhakar in Tibet.
On 15, April 2011 Tibetans in Machu, in Amdo, formed a group called “Bho Pha Kay Dham Sung Thuentsok,” a Tibetan Language Preservation Association, which has now spread its activities across three major areas: Tsongo, Gansu and Sichuan. Despite many challenges faced in the regions they continue to work towards their main objective of promoting Tibetan language in all part of Tibet. Their volunteer initiative and work have gained lot of respect and support from common Tibetans from all three areas.
Tibetan terms of objects that may normally be referred to in Chinese
While Lhakar is about devoting one day of the week to our cause, last week, Tibet lost a dear friend who I’m sure devoted much more than just one day a week to Tibet’s freedom.
Adam Yauch, of the Beastie Boys passed away last week way before his time. And while I don’t personally know him at all, I thought we owed it to him to at least shed some light on his large contribution to the Tibet movement.
I remember when I was about 9 years old, I travelled to New York City with my Pala and members of my Tibetan community for a Tibet protest. The protest itself wasn’t very large since back in the mid-90’s the Tibetan community was nowhere as big as it is now in the States and Canada. I can’t quite remember the significance of the protest (I’m sure there was a major reason for this since we travelled to New York, and I remember a hunger strike going on), but I do remember clearly what happened at the protest. My cousins, friends and I were hanging out at the rally while speeches were going on. I noticed this ingee skateboard past us and stop to join the protest. He was one of the very few non-Tibetans at the protest, so I found it interesting. I think the rest of the kids noticed him too and one of the boys from my community, Thundup, pointed at the same guy, and haughtily made fun of him for his skateboard’s art design, saying the likes of, “Who does he think he is?” Suddenly, when that same ingee turned around, Thundup freaked out, “Oh my god! It’s Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys!”
“Distancing ourselves clearly from self-immolation as a political method is not a betrayal of our sacrificing Tibetan brothers and sisters. Not distancing ourselves means approval and indirect encouragement of a method that is neither humanly sustainable nor politically effective.
Self-immolation is not okay even as the ultimate resort”.
Now I don’t know who Mountain Phoenix is. I’ve only just begun reading her blog this past year, and this week there was a new post published that was unlike anything I’ve read this year regarding the self-immolations in Tibet. The more I read, the more I thought man, this Phoenix is ON POINT. It’s a piece many may disagree with, and I myself am not 100% down with every part of this post, but she does put into words what I had hoped someone would do for months. Phoenix explains straight up why she believes self-immolations are not a sustainable or politically effective form of protest. Instead she calls for a movement similar to Lhakar that is more about living and planning strategically for the future rather than memorializing the growing number of martyrs each month.
We begin with ourselves, extend it to our families, which then flows into our communities. It’s “Lhakar” bottom up, magnified by seven days a week, extrapolated to 365 days of the year, for the rest of our lives. And while each of us individually goes about accomplishing these tasks, we draw on our inner strength and confidence sharing that with our family and our community.
I don’t think that there is any way to somehow measure the conduct, character and motivations of all 36 Tibetans who have self-immolated in Tibet and in exile and be able to judge whether or not they were indeed “heroic”. According to Mountain Phoenix,
For a city that’s home to about 20 Tibetans, Ottawa sure felt like the centre of the Tibetan universe this past week. This past weekend, Ottawa played host to the World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet (WPCT). This has been a dream of Canadian Senator Consiglio Di Nino’s for a very long time – even when I was working in his office back in 2006-2008, this was something that was something that was going through his mind, and it was amazing to finally see it come to life.
My whirlwind week ultimately began Thursday evening – I was at my office when I got a surprise call telling me that Kundun was arriving at his hotel shortly and that I should come. I rushed to the hotel like a madwoman. Being that Ottawa has such a small Tibetan population, it wasn’t too much of a struggle to get a jeykha. His Holiness touched my hands as he walked through the hotel lobby. Even though, I’ve been fortunate to receive many blessings by Kundun in the past, I couldn’t help but make sure I got another – over the weekend, talking to other young Tibetans here, it was described to me as getting “our fix” – you just can’t get enough!
Arriving at the hotel
Early the next morning, members of the Tibetan community volunteered in different capacities for the first official day of the WPCT. I was tasked with walking parliamentarians from the hotel to the convention centre. This was such a great opportunity to speak with parliamentarians from all over the world, and ask them how they got involved, what they’ve done for Tibet in their respective countries, and of course thank them for their actions for Tibet. I spoke with parliamentarians from Italy, Iceland, France, the United States, Russia, and from our own Tibetan government. It was really inspiring, humbling, and educational.
When I was younger, I never really fully understood when I saw my Amala or other older Tibetans cry when His Holiness the Dalai Lama was on television. I just watched the very interesting Piers Morgan interview with Kundun on CNN, and couldn’t stop tearing up (between the laughter from Kundun’s amazing sense of humour of course). Maybe it’s because of everything that’s been going on inside Tibet lately? Maybe it’s because Kundun seems to be getting older and it feels like time is running out? All I know is that I’m sure I’m not the only young Tibetan who felt this way, so the spirit of Tibetan-ness continues.
In 2011, I spent three months in northern India, interviewing people for a book project on the modern Tibetan identity in exile. While speaking with one of the subjects of this project, I was asked if I was Tibetan. I replied, “I am half Tibetan and half Canadian.” Shocked with my response, this man replied that I was not half Tibetan, nor was I half Canadian, but instead fully Tibetan and fully Canadian. In his view, I was not half of each, but rather, both. This thought stuck with me. For my entire life, when asked my ethnicity, I had always replied that I was “half Tibetan”. This meditation that I had with my identity as someone of mixed race made me reevaluate the way I self-identify. I wanted to find out how other Tibetans of mixed race interacted with their own identity.
This series, shot on a 4×5 camera, explores the duality and singularity one may experience as a person of mixed race. The traditional Tibetan chupa, contrasted with the apparent North American background, is intended to create tension, and highlight the biplicity of the mixed race.
The following was sent in by Sonam Palmo from Switzerland who attended the 2nd European Tibetan Youth Parliament workshops from April 6th-8th.
On their website they have concluded:
After two productive and intense days, the Second European Tibetan Youth Parliament has come to an end this evening.
In this morning’s phase two of the Parliament, the different groups of the three workshops had the time to elaborate their initial ideas from yesterday into concrete action plans.
The result of each workshop was then presented in front of all the parliamentarians in the afternoon, which was followed by discussions and the final voting for the proposed action plans. The Official Proclamation of the Action Plan can be viewed in the next few days on this Website in English and Tibetan.
The organising committee is very pleased with the results of the Second European Tibetan Youth Parliament and filled with pride and hope to have gathered such a dedicated young generation of Tibetans in exile.
This Lhakar, we would like to share another beautiful calligraphy piece by our friend, Tibetan contemporary artist Puntsok Tsering in Germany. It is a great addition to the artwork we posted earlier this year in a series dedicated to Lhakar.
Below is also writing by Puntsok Tsering, accompanying the calligraphy.
