Sunday, May 29, 2011

Origin of Tsangla

By pekoe Tenzin Tsering

ORIGIN OF TSANGLA: MISSING LINK - There is no recorded evidence to disseminate information about the history of Tsangla. When I was 12, I first felt that I should have some acquaintance on the historical background of my ancestors and my native place. Since then, I have been asking one question “Where are we from”? Some elderly resources say that our native place is very much near to Kongpo. Other fragment information I received iterates that some pilgrims who visited the sacred river (Pemako/Pema River) of our native place, were so enchanted with its beautiful surrounding that they decided to settle, which eventually led to the establishment of human settlement and the place was later named after its river. During my school winter vacation, I spent some substantial time with my grand father…..mostly at the evening. We would lounge outside the courtyard and light bonfire to keep ourselves warm and cozy. He would take long wood rosary off his neck and begin to turn each bead with the recitation of mantra, and having completed the entire round he would close his eyes in sanctity for sometime and commence his story-telling of our native place. "It was situated in the remote area. Vegetables and fruits were in abundance and dwellers live sufficiently on the product of their cultivation. It was serene and enchanting place." says he, with a big grin on his face. Having learnt at school about Lhasa, I could not resist but to show my nodding acquaintance pertaining Tibet. I interrupted and asked “How far is Lhasa from our native place?” “Lhasa is situated at central part of western Tibet, We are at bottom part of Tibet….it is quite far to reach….First we have to cross big rivers….then only Lhasa becomes near.” I heard some people say that our ancestors are from Eastern Bhutan. For once, I thought it might be true owing to the mass migration and settlement of Bhutanese in the southern part of Tibet during early nineteenth century, because of the recurring civil disorder and war in Bhutan. These people were Tsangla who sought a place for survival. From this source of information, I was seemingly convinced that the Tsangla were descendants of Bhutanese people. But when I further delved into the detailed history, I came to know that Tsangla are descendant of Tsangma, who was a prince of Tibet and grandson of Trisong Detsen and borther of Tri Ralpachen and Lang Dharma. King Sadnalegs, youngest son of Trisong Detsen had five Sons: Tsangma, Lang Darma, Tri Ralpachen, Lhaye and Lhundup. The eldest son Tsangma became monk and two youngest died in their early childhood. When king Sadnalegs died in 815 A.D, his ministers bypassed Darma and enthroned the younger son Tri Ralpachen as a king. Failing to acquire the throne, agitated Lang Darma murdered his brother Tri Ralpachen and also succeeded in sending his elder brother Tsangma to the eastern Bhutan into exile. This fateful event led to the flight of many Tsangma followers to Bhutan and settle in exile, subsequently marking the spread of Buddhism in eastern Bhutan. That is how Tsangla People descended in Bhutan and from that to Southern Tibet. And if this information is not just fabricated but legitimately authentic, we are descendants of not Eastern Bhutanese but of the central Tibetan. Friends, as I already mentioned at the beginning that we Tsangla do not have any recorded history, the above information are based on what I have drawn from the sources available (people, internet and book "Tibet: A Political History by Tsepon Shakabpa") Above information may or may not be true, hence there is a need of further research into the same. My feeble foray can be seen as an effort to link the Missing part of history.

There is no recorded evidence to disseminate information about the history of Tsangla.

When I was 12, I first felt that I should have some acquaintance on the historical background of my ancestors and my native place.
Since then, I have been asking one question “Where are we from”?

Some elderly resources say that our native place is very much near to Kongpo.

Other fragment information I received iterates that some pilgrims who visited the sacred river (Pemako/Pema River) of our native place, were so enchanted with its beautiful surrounding that they decided to settle, which eventually led to the establishment of human settlement and the place was later named after its river.

During my school winter vacation, I spent some substantial time with my grand father…..mostly at the evening. We would lounge outside the courtyard and light bonfire to keep ourselves warm and cozy. He would take long wood rosary off his neck and begin to turn each bead with the recitation of mantra, and having completed the entire round he would close his eyes in sanctity for sometime and commence his story-telling of our native place.
"It was situated in the remote area. Vegetables and fruits were in abundance and dwellers live sufficiently on the product of their cultivation. It was serene and enchanting place." says he, with a big grin on his face.

Having learnt at school about Lhasa, I could not resist but to show my nodding acquaintance pertaining Tibet. I interrupted and asked
“How far is Lhasa from our native place?”
“Lhasa is situated at central part of western Tibet, We are at bottom part of Tibet….it is quite far to reach….First we have to cross big rivers….then only Lhasa becomes near.”

I heard some people say that our ancestors are from Eastern Bhutan. For once, I thought it might be true owing to the mass migration and settlement of Bhutanese in the southern part of Tibet during early nineteenth century, because of the recurring civil disorder and war in Bhutan. These people were Tsangla who sought a place for survival.

From this source of information, I was seemingly convinced that the Tsangla were descendants of Bhutanese people. But when I further delved into the detailed history, I came to know that Tsangla are descendant of Tsangma, who was a prince of Tibet and grandson of Trisong Detsen and borther of Tri Ralpachen and Lang Dharma.

King Sadnalegs, youngest son of Trisong Detsen had five Sons: Tsangma, Lang Darma, Tri Ralpachen, Lhaye and Lhundup. The eldest son Tsangma became monk and two youngest died in their early childhood. When king Sadnalegs died in 815 A.D, his ministers bypassed Darma and enthroned the younger son Tri Ralpachen as a king. Failing to acquire the throne, agitated Lang Darma murdered his brother Tri Ralpachen and also succeeded in sending his elder brother Tsangma to the eastern Bhutan into exile. This fateful event led to the flight of many Tsangma followers to Bhutan and settle in exile, subsequently marking the spread of Buddhism in eastern Bhutan.

That is how Tsangla People descended in Bhutan and from that to Southern Tibet. And if this information is not just fabricated but legitimately authentic, we are descendants of not Eastern Bhutanese but of the central Tibetan.

Friends, as I already mentioned at the beginning that we Tsangla do not have any recorded history, the above information are based on what I have drawn from the sources available (people, internet and book "Tibet: A Political History by Tsepon Shakabpa")
Above information may or may not be true, hence there is a need of further research into the same. My feeble foray can be seen as an effort to link the Missing part of history.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The opening session of the Second Tibetan National General Meeting being held at the TCV School auditorium

Dharamsala, on 21 May 2011/Photos by Namgyal Tsewang/Tibetonline TV

DHARAMSHALA: Hundreds of Tibetan delegates representing Tibetan community from across the globe have begun discussing amendments to the Charter on the devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's administrative and political powers and responsibilities to the elected leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration.

The meeting is being held in accordance with the His Holiness the Dalai Lama's decision to relinquish his formal authorities in order to bring about complete democratisation of the Tibetan polity. (Message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Fourteenth Assembly of the Tibetan People's Deputies)

The delegates will deliberate on insertion of a new Preamble and Article 1 into the Charter and 39 related articles prepared by Charter Amendment Drafting Committee. (Click here to read Draft Preamble and Article 1)

The drafting committee has amended 39 articles including the Article 19 concerning the executive powers assigned to His Holiness in the Charter. The amendments made to 9 executive powers assigned to His Holiness in the Charter will be devolved to the elected leadership and the three pillars of Tibetan democracy, Speaker Penpa Tsering said in his opening statement.

One of the major draft amendments made to the Charter is the withdrawal of provisions (Article 31 – 35) of appointing Council of Regency.

Kalon Tripa reiterated three long-term visions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to devolve his political authorities to the elected Tibetan leadership. “His Holiness aims to complete the democratisation process of Tibetan society, to establish a sound system of governance and self-reliant exile Tibetan administration when he remain able and healthy and to sustain the exile administration until the issue of Tibet is resolved,” Kalon Tripa said.

Kalon Tripa stressed the changes made in the Charter must ensure the continuity of the special historic and karmic bond between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, safeguarding the Central Tibetan Administration as the legitimate governing body and representative of the whole Tibetan people, in whom sovereignty resides.

Kalon Tripa underscored the need to ensure Central Tibetan Administration to get recognition in the international arena and to maintain relations with governments across the world.

He said efforts must be made to remove impediments which might undermine the sustenance of the Central Tibetan Administration.

The delegates will present to His Holiness the Dalai Lama the final outcome of the final Draft Preamble and the First Article Amendments to the Charter on 24 May.

A total of 418 delegates from over 20 countries, including India, Nepal, the US, Europe and Russia, are taking part in the 4-day historic meeting being held in Dharamsala.

On the advice of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the meeting which is previously scheduled to be held for three days from 21-23 May has been extended for a day. His Holiness said all the delegates should get the opportunity to express their views and those of the Tibetan community on the devolution of his political authorities to the democratically elected leadership, Speaker Penpa Tsering said.

Monday, May 16, 2011

SPECIAL REPORT! 16 MAY 2011

Central Tibetan Administration Appeals for Help to Diffuse the
Kirti Monastery Crisis in Tibet

The Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration is deeply concerned
over the security clampdown on Kirti Monastery in northeastern Tibet
since last month, which came about after Phuntsog, a monk of the
monastery set himself on fire to remember those who participated in the
wide-spread and peaceful protests that shook Tibet in 2008.
The Chinese government has sealed off Kirti Monastery by deploying
armed security forces to crackdown on Tibetans following the monk's
suicide on 16 March.
Since then a large group of Tibetans stood guard at the Kirti monastery to prevent the Chinese
police from taking away monks for detention. The Tibetans gathered at the monastery, who were
mostly elders, were severely beaten by the police as they attempted to resist the police from taking
away around 300 monks in around 10 military trucks on the night of 21 April. The crowd was
dispersed by the police who indulged in indiscriminate beating. Two elderly Tibetans, Dongko,
aged 60, and Sherkyi, 65, died due to severe beating. The latest report we have says that 300
monks have been removed from the monastery and are detained at unknown locations.
Moreover, the Chinese government has enforced ban on foreigners from entering the Tibetan
areas of Kanze and Ngaba. The order issued by provincial public security authorities on 21 April
said foreigners already in the aforementioned areas must leave.
Judging from the information available, the situation is very tense and critical. In the absence of
outside monitoring teams and lack of adequate legal protection and free media we are concerned
that the situation might grow into one of genocide.
In view of the grim situation in Kirti Monastery, the Kashag strongly and urgently appeals to the
international community, governments and parliaments around the world to persuade China not to
use force to resolve the crisis that is facing the monks of Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, northeastern
Tibet. We also urge them to make an appeal to the Chinese government to release the detained
monks at once.
It is also the sincere hope of the Kashag that the crisis prevailing in Kirti Monastery and Ngaba
town will be raised and discussed during the annual meeting on human rights between the United
States and China next week. We make the same appeal to other countries to raise this issue in
their bilateral dialogues with China.
Kashag in its considered judgment thinks that force is not the answer to correctly address the
genuine grievances of people. We believe that the monks of Kirti Monastery have genuine
grievances that require willingness on the part of the Chinese authorities to address these with
tolerance and broadmindedness.
The Kashag
Dharamsala

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A laid-back Dalai Lama speaks about democracy at SMU

From Flacker

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, surprised his Texas audience Monday with his laid-back style, spontaneous wisdom and revelations, including calling himself a rehabilitated hypocrite when it comes to democracy and, when it comes to economic policy, a "Marxist." The 75-year-old exiled spiritual leader of Tibet quickly wowed the crowd by walking onstage at SMU's McFarlin Auditorium in his traditional maroon-and-saffron monk's robes and then slapping a red SMU cap on his head. The Dalai Lama acknowledged being a fervent believer in democracy, but only this spring did he step back from politics as the unelected leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, headquartered in Dharamsala, India. Not to have done so would have meant remaining a "hypocrite," he said. Last month, Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard-educated academic who has lived in the U.S. for the past 15 years, was elected prime minister of the exiled leadership. The Dalai Lama made clear that he is now seeking political retirement. That didn't mean he devoted his remarks solely to religious matters after being awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from SMU. After acknowledging former first lady Laura Bush in the front row, he described her and former President George W. Bush as close friends. Then he admitted that he "sometimes had reservations" about Bush's policies, adding diplomatically: "But his motivations were good." The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate urged the numerous high school and college students in the audience of more than 2,300 to clean up the mess that 20th-century people like himself had caused, stirring laughter as he did numerous times. He also said that the U.S. version of democracy is not the world's only model, citing India, Taiwan and postwar Japan. "If you think of democracy as an American possession, you are wrong," he said. And he urged governance through nonviolent means., a possible reference to events in Syria and Libya. "How can you develop true harmony through force? Impossible," he said. He was beginning began to explain that economically, he is a European-style social democrat and a Marxist, but he his remarks were cut short by an official who concluded the event. Remarks about China Earlier, a Dallas high schooler asked how he became the 14th Dalai Lama. He made it sound as if casual luck led him to be deemed the reincarnation of the previous Tibetan Buddhist leader at age 2 by correctly picking out objects that had belonged to his predecessor, among other tests and "rumors" that he was smart. Throughout, he made conciliatory remarks about China, which occupies Tibet, saying he would accept autonomy that would allow Tibetans freedom to enjoy their own culture while Beijing controlled Lhasa's defense and foreign affairs. "He seems much more approachable than I imagined," said Li Zining, 36, a Chinese-born accounting professor at SMU's Cox School of Business, acknowledging that she had gotten a negative image from China's media. "He's a human being to whom I can relate. There's much compassion. And he's quite cute." Mary Shafer, wife of the SMU campus police chief and a self-described Roman Catholic, couldn't follow all of the Dalai Lama's halting English but was thrilled. "To me, it's like meeting the pope," Shafer said.

His Holiness Meets George W Bush, Talks on Democracy



Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Dallas, Texas, USA, 10 May 2011 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama began his day on 10 May with a meeting with former US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Paula Dobriansky. Therefore, he left for the residence of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush for a meeting with them. His Holiness spent around an hour with them. President Bush said he was honoured with His Holiness' coming. Later, speaking at a luncheon where President Bush was there, His Holiness said he had been waiting to meet President Bush again, calling him "my dear friend."
His Holiness went from the Bush residence to the Meadows Museum of Southern Methodist University, the venue of an interview on democracy conducted by Ambassador Jim Glassman, who is the Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute The interview will be broadcast on PBS (American public television) and also archived in the Bush Center's democracy collection. In the interview His Holiness dwelt on his overall view of democracy being universal and explained the historical development of the Tibetan democratic experience.
Thereafter, His Holiness attended a luncheon hosted by the George W. Bush Center and was greeted at the door by President Bush. Ambassador Glassman in his welcome remarks announced that during the meeting with President Bush, His Holiness had presented a copy of the draft document, having His Holiness' editorial correction, which resulted in the Constitution of Future Tibet promulgated in 1963. He said that this document is the first contribution to The Freedom Collection at the George W. Bush Institute, which "presents the personal stories of struggle and achievement told by the men and women who led freedom movements from the last century through present day." Ambassador Glassman added that the document is being regarded as the founding document of the collection. The document is the copy of the Tibetan manuscript, Principles of the Constitution of Future Tibet, which was the framework for the Draft Constitution of Future Tibet of 1963. The Bush Center is releasing a statement on this document and photos on its Facebook page.
President Bush spoke next and recognised some individuals, including former senator Bill Frist. He said that he had been looking forward to today's meeting with His Holiness saying that during his presidency there have been extraordinary moments and some of these were his meetings with His Holiness. He said, "When you spend time with him, you realise that there is something unusual about him." The President called His Holiness "courageous but humble" and "a delight to be around." "When I think of the Dalai lama, I smile," he said. He said that His Holiness was courageous in the defense of liberty and understands that freedom means peace and he is a man of peace. Terming His Holiness' presence as a "priceless contribution" to the Bush Center and a "great gesture of friendship," the President invited him to the podium.
His Holiness began by saying that since their last meeting during the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in 2007, he had been looking forward to meeting President Bush, whom he called "my dear friend." Revealing that President Bush had telephoned him soon after his gall bladder surgery, His Holiness said that he felt greatly touched by the gesture.
His Holiness said that he considered the President's support as being pro-justice and not pro-Tibet.
His Holiness said that irrespective of the status of people, whenever he met anyone he viewed that at the fundamental human level. Thus, from the first meeting with President Bush, His Holiness said that he found him "a wonderful person, a good person."
Terming President Bush' laudatory words about him as being "positive exaggeration," His Holiness said he was fundamentally just one of the six billion human beings working to contribute his share for the wellbeing of humanity. Emphasising the importance of developing inner peace, His Holiness said that even President Bush would know from his experience that money and power alone did not bring about inner peace. He added that scientists have also found that a warm-hearted person enjoyed better health.
His Holiness said his approach at promoting these human values is not based on religious belief but developed out of common sense, common experience and through scientific evidence.
His Holiness said that at the secondary level, he was a Buddhist and in the course of his meetings with leaders of the different spiritual faith, he found that all religions had the potential of bringing inner peace. Therefore, there was the need for inter-religious harmony, he said, adding that whether one liked it or not, realistically we all have to live together.
Talking about Tibet, His Holiness explained that everyone knows that he had relinquished political responsibility. However, he said he was a Tibetan. From this perspective he asked the people to understand the impact of Tibet to the world. He specifically highlighted the issue of Tibet's ecology saying that Chinese scientists have termed the Tibetan plateau as the Third Pole to indicate its significance, equal to the north and the south poles. He said many of the rivers of Asia originate in Tibet and that more than a billion people depend on the water from these rivers.
His Holiness said caring for Tibetan ecology had nothing to do with politics. He commended former Chinese president Zhu Rongji for recognising the importance of Tibetan forests for the environment and limiting deforestation for national interest. His Holiness, however, said that dues to corruption, etc., environmental degradation, including indiscriminate mining continue to be taking place in Tibet.
His Holiness concluded by suggesting that the participants in the luncheon who may know of ecologists could think of forming teams, in full co-operation with Chinese government officials, to study the status of Tibetan environment and to find ways to protect it.
His Holiness then took some questions from the audience in a session that was moderated by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky. To a question on whether the Chinese Communist regime was sustainable and whether there would be a democratic China, His Holiness said that China would change although no one knew when it would be. He said the Chinese authorities seem to be nervous about their position and referred to the report that the internal security budget of China surpassed that of the external defense budget.
Asked what were his greatest lessons, His Holiness said that the loss of his country was one; being the longest guest of the Government of India was another; appreciating the freedom of speech was another. His Holiness also said he learnt that tragedy brings about more inner strength adding that the Tibetan people were hardened by our tragedy.
His Holiness said that the world was heading towards a positive direction in response to another question. He recalled his conversation with the late Queen Mother of England who had lived for most of the 20th century and who had said that the humanity was becoming better as during her childhood days the issues of human rights and right to self-determination were not known. His Holiness also referred to increased ecological awareness as well as interest of scientists in inner values that showed the world was becoming better. His Holiness reminded everyone of the impact of global warming and said some of his people have said that next year 2012 there would be some solar storm.
When asked whether he considered it an auspicious sign to be sharing the same birthday on 6 July with President Bush, His Holiness first joked that the question should be asked to the President. His Holiness said that some Tibetans believe that being born on the same day it was in order to work together. His Holiness said he was born in Asia and President Bush was born here but he believed that this meant that they had the same purpose for their lives. He said he was fully committed to democracy and suggested that President Bush to speak more forcefully for the promotion of democracy. Referring to the development in North Africa and the Middle East, His Holiness said he felt that President Bush could make a contribution on these issues.
Following his remarks, His Holiness presented a mounted Tibetan scroll painting of the Buddha for the George W. Bush Center.
His Holiness then departed for Fayetteville in the state of Arkansas for the next stage of his visit. On arrival officials of the University of Arkansas received him. His Holiness will have two events at the University on 11 May. These will be webcast live on 11 May at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m (7 pm and 11 pm in India and 8:30 pm and 12:30 am in Tibet) will be streamed live at http://dcestream.uark.edu/HHDL

Top Level Bilateral Talks on Tibet-Nepal Trade

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Dharamshala: A meeting in the so called Nepal-Tibet Trade Facilitation Committee (NTTFC), a top level forum for bilateral trade talks, has resulted in the formation of a working committee at the border point for trade barrier simplification, according to the Himalaya Times. The meeting took place in Kathmandu on May 9-10 and was led by joint secretary at the ministry Toya Narayan Gyawali while the visiting delegation was led by Ye Yinchuan, deputy secretary general of so called Government of Tibet Autonomous Region.

During the two-day meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties for a Nepal-Tibet Trade Fair which is to take place from November 2-6, also in Kathmandu. Under-Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Binod Acharya told the Himalaya Times that "As per the MoU, the trade fair will have around 50 stalls each from Nepal and China".

During the two-day talks that concluded on Tuesday, Nepal had sought Chinese assistance to give leverage to its exports by ensuring transparency in customs, providing trade-related services and supporting development of trade-related infrastructures. "Representatives from Nepal and Tibet discussed the simplification of non-tariff barrier, encouragement to Chinese investment and increased Chinese technical assistance in Nepal" said Acharya.

Also on the drawing board was a branch of Chinese bank on the Nepal side of the border, a move that is thought to alleviate long standing trade problems related to payments. "The Chinese side has assured us that they are ready to open a branch of Chinese bank in Nepal. They have promised to take up matter with the central government," said Toya Narayan Gyawali, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS

Monday, May 9, 2011

མཁས་དབང་བློ་བཟང་སེང་གེས་བོད་མི་ཚོར་འཚམ་འདྲི།

འདོན་སྤེལ། ༢༠༡༡/༠༥/༠༩

བཀའ་བློན་ཁྲི་པའི་འོས་འདེམས་ཀྱི་ལས་རིམ་ལ་བོད་མི་ཚོས་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་གནང་བར་གུས་བརྩི་ཆེན་པོས་དང་ལེན་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་དང་། འཛམ་གླིང་འདིའི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ ༣༠ ལྷག་ཙམ་གྱི་ནང་དུ་གནས་སྡོད་བྱེད་མཁན་བོད་མི་ ༥༠༠༠༠ མ་ཟིན་ཙམ་གྱིས། ཐེངས་འདིའི་བཀའ་སྤྱིའི་འོས་འདེམས་ཀྱི་ལས་རིམ་ནང་མཉམ་ཞུགས་གནང་ཡོད་པ་ཤེས་རྟོགས་བྱུང་སོང་བས། ཁྱེད་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ཚད་མེད་གནང་བར་གུས་བརྩི་ཞུ་བ་དང་སྦྲགས་ཏེ། ང་སྒེར་གྱི་ངོས་ནས་ཀྱང་བོད་མི་ཚོས་ང་ལ་རེ་བ་གནང་དོན་ལྟར་གང་ནུས་ཅི་འཇོན་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ཡིན།
ངས་བཀའ་ཁྲིའི་འོས་མིའི་ལས་རིམ་གྱི་བརྒྱུད་རིམ་ཁྲོད་ནས་ཆིག་སྒྲིལ་དང་རང་མགོ་རང་ཐོན། གསར་གཏོད་བཅས་རྩ་དོན་གསུམ་དེ་རྨང་གཞིར་བཟུང་ཡོད་པ་དང་། བཀའ་ཁྲིའི་འོས་མི་ཁྲི་ཟུར་བཀྲས་མཐོང་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ལགས་དང་། བཀའ་ཟུར་བཀྲིས་དབང་འདུས་ལགས་རྣམ་གཉིས་ལའང་དེ་བཞིན་དུ་མཐོང་ཆེན་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད་ལ་ཧ་ཅང་གིས་གུས་བརྩི་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད། དེ་བཞིན་ཁོང་གཉིས་ནི་མཁྱེན་རྒྱ་ཤིན་ཏུ་ཡངས་པ་དང་བོད་པའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ནང་སྲི་ཞུ་བསྒྲུབས་པའི་བྱས་རྗེས་ཅན་ལ། འོས་འགྲན་གྱི་གོ་སྐབས་ཐོབ་པ་དེ་ནི་ཧ་ཅང་གི་སྐལ་བ་བཟང་པོ་ཞིག་རེད་དྲན་གྱི་ཡོད། དེ་དང་འབྲེལ་ནས་བཀའ་ཁྲི་མཁས་དབང་ཟམ་གདོང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་གིས། འདས་པའི་ལོ་ ༡༠ ལ་བཀའ་ཁྲིའི་ཕྱག་ལས་གནང་ཡུན་རིང་། བོད་པའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་གནད་དོན་གང་ཞིག་ཡིན་ནའང་སྲ་བརྟན་གནང་ཡོད་པར་སྙིང་ནས་བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ་ཞུ་འདོད་བྱུང་།
ད་ཐེངས་ཀྱི་བཀའ་སྤྱི་གཉིས་ཀྱི་འོས་འདེམས་ཀྱི་གྲུབ་འབྲས་དེ་སྔོན་ཆད་བྱུང་མྱོང་མེད་པ་ཞིག་ཆགས་ཡོད་པ་དང་། ད་ལྟའི་འབད་བརྩོན་གྱི་གནས་སྟངས་འདི་འདྲ་བ་བཀའ་སྤྱི་གཉིས་ཀྱི་འོས་མི་དང་འོས་བསྡུའི་ལས་ཀ་བྱེད་མཁན་ཚོས་སྔོན་ཆད་མཐོང་མྱོང་མེད་པའི་གནས་སྟངས་ཤིག་ཏུ་གྱུར་ཡོད་པ་རེད། འབད་བརྩོན་འདི་བཙན་བྱོལ་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་ཚོ་གཅིག་པུ་མིན་པར། བོད་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་ཚོ་ཡང་འོས་འདེམས་འདི་དང་ཉེ་པོར་གནས་ཡོད། དེ་ཡང་ངས་གོ་ཐོས་བྱུང་བ་ཞིག་ནི་འོས་འདེམས་ཀྱི་བརྒྱུད་རིམ་ཁྲོད་ནས། བོད་ནང་གི་བོད་མི་ཚོས་བསང་གསོལ་མཆོད་འབུལ་དང་ཤོག་སྦག་བརྒྱབ་པ་སོགས་ཀྱི་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་བྱས་ཡོད་པ་དང་། ང་ལ་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་མཚོན་བྱེད་དུ་བོད་ནས་ཁ་བཏགས་དང་བརྡ་འཕྲིན་སོགས་འབྱོར་སྐབས། སྙིང་ལ་ན་ཟུག་ལངས་པའི་ཚོར་སྣང་ཡོང་གི་འདུག བལ་ཡུལ་དུ་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་བཙན་བྱོལ་བ་ལྟ་བུར་མཚོན་ན་བལ་ཡུལ་གཞུང་གིས་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་འོས་འཕེན་ལ་ཐེ་གཏོགས་བྱས་ཡོད་པ་དང་། བོད་མི་སྟོང་ཕྲག་མང་པོའི་འོས་འཕེན་ལ་བཀག་འགོག་བྱས་ཡོད་རུང་ད་དུང་ཡང་ཞུམ་པ་མེད་པའི་ཐོག་ནས་གནས་ཡོད་པ་དང་། རྒྱལ་ཁབ་༣༠ ལྷག་ཙམ་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་ཚོས་འོས་འཕེན་ནང་མཉམ་ཞུགས་བྱས་ཡོད་པ་རེད། ངས་འོས་འདེམས་འདི་ལ་ངོས་འཛིན་བྱེད་སྟངས་ནི། ༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་གིས་དུས་ཡུན་རིང་པོའི་རིང་ལ་ཆབ་སྲིད་ཀྱི་དགོངས་པ་བཞེས་ཕྱོགས་དང་། བོད་པའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་དེ་མང་གཙོ་ཡང་དག་པའི་ཕྱོགས་སུ་མདུན་བསྐྱོད་བྱེད་རྒྱུའི་བཀའ་དགོངས་མངོན་དུ་གྱུར་པ་རེད་བསམ་གྱི་ཡོད།
ད་ཐེངས་བཀའ་སྤྱི་གཉིས་ཀྱི་འོས་འདེམས་ལམ་ལྷོང་བྱུང་བ་དེ། འོས་འཕེན་གྱི་ལས་རིམ་ནང་ཞུགས་མཁན་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་བཟང་སྤྱོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་ཁ་ཆེན་པོ་ཞིག་ལ་ངོས་འཛིན་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད། དེ་བཞིན་ལས་འགུལ་དེའི་ཁྲོད་ནས་ང་སྒེར་གྱིས་འགྲུལ་བསྐྱོད་ཆེན་པོ་ཞིག་བྱས་ཐུབ་ཡོད་པ་དང། རྒྱལ་ཁབ་མང་པོའི་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་ཚོར་ཐུག་འཕྲད་ཀྱི་གོ་སྐབས་ཐོབ་ཡོད་པ་མ་ཟད། རྒྱ་གར་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་གཞིས་ཆགས་ཁག་མང་ཆེ་བའི་ནང་སྐོར་བསྐྱོད་ཐུབ་སོང་། བཀའ་ཁྲིའི་ལས་འགུལ་སྐབས་འབྲེལ་ཡོད་བོད་མི་ཚོར་འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་བྱས་པ་རྣམས་ལྷང་ལྷང་དྲན་གྱི་འདུག་ལ། མི་དེ་དག་གི་རེ་འདུན་དང་སྐུལ་ལྕག་བྱས་པ་རྣམས་ངའི་བསམ་བློའི་ནང་རྒྱུན་གནས་བྱས་ཏེ། གལ་གནད་ཆེ་བའི་བཀའ་ཁྲིའི་ལས་དོན་དེའི་འོས་འགན་འཁྱེར་རྒྱུར་གྲ་སྒྲིག་བྱེད་བཞིན་ཡོད།
ངས་ཆབ་སྲིད་ཀྱི་འགན་འཁུར་ལེན་པའི་སྐབས་འདི་༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་གིས་བགྲེས་ཡོལ་ཆ་ཚང་ཕེབས་རྒྱུའི་ཐུགས་ཐག་བཅད་པ་དང་། མི་མང་གིས་བདམས་པའི་མགོ་ཁྲིད་ཚོར་དབང་ཚད་ཆ་ཚང་མར་གནང་འཆར་ཡོད་པའི་སྐབས་དང་འཁེལ་ཡོད་པ་རེད། དེང་སྐབས་འཛམ་གླིང་ནང་འགྲོ་བཞིན་པའི་མེ་ཏོག་ཀུནྡ་གསར་བརྗེའི་ལས་འགུལ་ (Jasmine revolution) ལ་མཚོན་ན། མི་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་མང་གཙོའི་ལམ་ལུགས་སྲུང་སྐྱོབ་ཀྱི་ཆེད་དུ་རང་སྲོག་བློས་བཏང་བྱེད་བཞིན་ཡོད་རུང་། ༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་གིས་བོད་མི་རྣམས་ལ་ཡིད་ཆེས་གནང་སྟེ་མང་གཙོ་མར་གསོལ་བསྩལ་གནང་ཡོད་པ་རེད། ༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་ནི་ངའི་སེམས་ཤུགས་ཀྱི་སྐུལ་ལྕག་ཡིན་ལ། ཁོང་གིས་ང་ཚོར་བསྐྱངས་པའི་དགོངས་གཞི་དེ་ལེགས་འགྲུབ་ཡོང་བར་འབད་བརྩོན་བྱ་ངེས་ཡིན་ཞིང་། ངས་ལས་དོན་འདི་དགའ་ཚོར་ཆེན་པོས་དང་ལེན་ཞུ་ཡི་ཡིན། གང་ཡིན་ཞེ་ན་ད་ལྟའི་སྐབས་༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་གི་སྐུ་གཟུགས་གསལ་ཐང་ཡིན་པ་དང་། ང་ཚོའི་ལས་དོན་གང་ལའང་ཁོང་གིས་གཟིགས་སྐྱོང་གནང་ངེས་ཡིན་པས། ང་ཚོས་དུས་ཚོད་འདི་བརྒྱུད་ནས་ཁོང་གི་དགོངས་གཞི་རེ་རེ་བཞིན་ལག་བསྟར་ཐུབ་པ་བྱེད་དགོས་ལ། དེ་བཞིན་དུ་ང་ཚོའི་མང་གཙོའི་ལམ་ལུགས་དང་གཞུང་གི་ཐོག་ནས་མ་འོངས་པར་བོད་ཀྱི་ལས་འགུལ་འདི་སྲ་བརྟན་ཡོང་བ་ལའང་གདེང་ཚོད་ཆེན་པོ་ཡོད།
འོས་འཕེན་གྱི་ལས་རིམ་ནང་ཞུགས་མཁན་ཚང་མས་ང་ཚོའི་མང་གཙོའི་ལམ་ལུགས་འདི་སྲ་བརྟན་དུ་བཏང་ཡོད་པས་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ་ཞུ་འདོད་བྱུང་ལ། ལྷག་དོན་དུ་རང་གཅེས་དང་གཞན་སྨད་སྤངས་པའི་ང་ལ་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་བྱེད་མཁན་ཚོས། ལས་འགུལ་རྣམས་ཚུལ་མཐུན་ལུགས་མཐུན་གྱི་ངང་ནས་སྤེལ་སོང་བས་དམིགས་བསལ་གྱིས་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ་ཞུ་འདོད་བྱུང་། འདི་དང་འབྲེལ་ནས་ངའི་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་བ་ཚོར་ཞུ་འདོད་པ་ཞིག་ནི། འོས་ཐོབ་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་ཁ་འདི་མི་སྒེར་བར་རྒྱལ་ཕམ་གྱི་འཐབ་རྩོད་མིན་པ་དང་། འདི་ནི་བོད་མི་ས་ཡ་དྲུག་གིས་རེ་འདུན་ཕྲག་སྟེང་དུ་བཞག་པ་ཞིག་ཡིན་པས། འདི་ལ་སྤྲོ་སྐྱིད་སོགས་ཀྱི་གྲ་སྒྲིག་རིགས་མ་གནང་རོགས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན་ལ། ད་ལྟའི་སྐབས་བོད་མདོ་སྨད་ཨ་མདོ་རྔ་པ་ཁུལ་དུ། རྒྱ་ནག་གཞུང་གིས་བོད་མི་རྣམས་གསོད་རྡུང་བཙོན་འཇུག་སོགས་ཀྱི་གནས་སྟངས་ཛ་དྲག་ཆགས་ཡོད་པ་རེད། དེ་བཞིན་དུ་གནས་སྟངས་ཧ་ཅང་གི་དཀའ་ངལ་ཅན་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་ནང་གི་བོད་མི་ཚོས། ང་ལ་ཚད་ལས་བརྒལ་བའི་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་དང་སྙིང་སྟོབས་གནང་བར་ངས་སྙིང་ཁོངས་རུས་པའི་གཏིང་ནས་བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན་ལགས། ང་ཚོའི་སྙིང་དང་བསམ་བློ་གཡོ་བ་མེད་པར་ཁྱེད་ཚོ་དང་མཉམ་དུ་ཡོད།
བོད་མི་དང་བོད་པའི་གྲོགས་པོ་ཚོར་ནན་སྐུལ་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ཞིག་ལ། དཀའ་སྡུག་དང་བཙན་འཛུལ་འོག་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་ནང་གི་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་དཀའ་ངལ་སེལ་ཐབས་དང་། ༧གོང་ས་མཆོག་ཁོང་ཉིད་ལ་དབང་བའི་ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏཱ་ལའི་ནང་ཕྱིར་ཕེབས་ཐུབ་རྒྱུའི་གནད་དོན་ཐད་ལ་མཉམ་རུབ་གནང་རོགས་གནང་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན། འོས་འཕེན་བརྒྱུད་རིམ་ཁྲོད་ཀྱི་འཛུལ་ཞུགས་དང་སེམས་ཤུགས་དེ་ང་ཚོའི་མཐོང་ཆོས་སུ་གྱུར་ཡོད་པས། ངས་ལས་དོན་གང་ཞིག་གི་ཐད་ལའང་མུ་མཐུད་ནས་བོད་མི་ཚང་མ་མཉམ་ཞུགས་གནང་རོགས་ཞེས་ནན་སྐུལ་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན། ད་ལྟའི་དུས་ཚོད་འདི་བོད་མི་ཚོས་འོས་འགན་ཆེན་པོ་ཞིག་འཁྱེར་དགོས་པའི་དུས་ལ་བབས་ཡོད་པ་དང་། ངའི་ངོས་ནས་བོད་མི་ཚོས་གནས་བབ་ཅིག་གི་ཐོག་ལ་བཞག་པ་བཞིན་གང་ཐུབ་བྱེད་ངེས་ཡིན་ཞིང་། བསླེབ་ལ་ཉེ་བའི་བཀའ་ཤག་གི་ལས་དོན་ལམ་ལྷོང་ཡོང་དང་མི་ཡོང་བོད་མི་ཚང་མའི་འབྲེལ་ལམ་དང་ལས་དོན་བྱེད་ཕྱོགས་ལ་རག་ལས་པ་ཞིག་རེད། མཉམ་རུབ་ཀྱི་ཐོག་ནས་མ་འོངས་ལམ་ཕྱོགས་དེ་ཚད་ལྡན་ཞིག་གི་ཐོག་མདུན་བསྐྱོད་བྱེད་ཐུབ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན་པ་ང་ལ་གདེང་ཚོད་ཆེན་པོ་ཡོད། བོད་རྒྱལ་ལོ།།

Sunday, May 8, 2011

An Overview of Sino-Tibetan Dialogue

DIIR.Dasa

It has been the consistent position of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that the question of Tibet must be resolved peacefully through dialogue with the best interest of the Tibetan people in mind. His Holiness already engaged the Chinese commanders in Lhasa in dialogue in 1951, immediately after China invaded Tibet, and held talks with Mao Zedong and Chou En-lai in 1954 in order to avoid confrontation and bloodshed. Following his flight to India during the bloody suppression of the Tibetan national uprising of 1959, His Holiness continued to call for a peaceful negotiated solution, but in the years of radical communist reforms and the so-called Cultural Revolution, the Chinese leadership was in no mood to dialogue.

The death of Mao Zedong and the end of Cultural Revolution ushered in a period of liberalization and open-door policy. The new Chinese leadership took a bold step of reaching out to the Tibetan leadership in exile. Towards the end of 1978, Li Juisin, the then head of the Xinhua News Agency in Hong Kong (de facto embassy of the PRC) contacted Gyalo Thondup, elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and invited him for a private visit to Beijing. Thondup, in turn, sought the approval of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and visited Beijing in February-March 1979. There, he met a number of Chinese leaders, including the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping on 12 March 1979. Deng told Thondup that "apart from independence, all issues can be discussed". He even invited the Tibetan leadership to send delegations to Tibet and see things for themselves. As a result, the exile leadership dispatched three fact-finding delegations to Tibet in 1979 and 1980. To the bafflement of China, crowds besieged the delegates wherever they went and poured out stories of "hell-on-earth" tragedies that had befallen on them and their families over the past two decades.

In 1980, Communist Party Secretary Hu Yao-bang made a historic trip to Tibet and recognized the mistakes that had been made by his government and announced major changes in policy, including the withdrawal of most Chinese cadres from Tibet. In 1981 the Chinese government expressed its willingness to allow the Dalai Lama to return to the "Motherland" (to China but not to Tibet) but refused to acknowledge the need for any political negotiations, thus attempting to reduce the Tibetan issue to the conditions for the Dalai Lama's return. Two senior Tibetan delegations were sent to Beijing for exploratory talks in 1982 and 1984, respectively. They insisted the issue was not the Dalai Lama but the welfare of the six million Tibetans and proposed earnest political negotiations on a status short of independence for the entire Tibetan people, comprising the three provinces of U-tsang, Kham and Amdo. But hopes for substantive talks came to an end with the firing of Hu Yao-bang (among other reasons, for his willingness to address the Tibetan issue) and the turning back of announced reforms.

The Tibetan leadership was then left with only one option: to appeal directly for the assistance of international community. Addressing the United States Congressional Human Rights Caucus on 21 September 1987, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced his Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet. The five points are: (i) Transformation of the whole of Tibet into a zone of peace; (ii) Abandonment of China's population transfer policy which threatens the very existence of the Tibetans as a people; (iii) Respect for the Tibetan people's fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms; (iv) Restoration and protection of Tibet's natural environment and the abandonment of China's use of Tibet for the production of nuclear weapons and dumping of nuclear waste; and (v) Commencement of earnest negotiations on the future status of Tibet and of relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

His Holiness did not call for a restoration of Tibetan independence in this speech, rather he implied that a solution that would not require separation from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and would be based on cooperation. China's reaction was negative, and its criticism of the Dalai Lama blunt. This precipitated large-scale demonstrations in Tibet, which were violently repressed by the Chinese armed forces. The cycle of resistance and repression culminated in the declaration of martial law in March 1989. Despite the worsening situation in Tibet, His Holiness persisted in his efforts to seek dialogue with China.

On 15 June 1988, His Holiness the Dalai Lama elaborated on the fifth point of his Five Point Peace Plan in an address to members of the European parliament in Strasbourg, and laid out a framework for negotiations with the PRC on the future status of Tibet. In what came to be known as the Strasbourg Proposal, His Holiness called for the unification of the three provinces of Tibet and its transformation into "a self-governing democratic political entity founded on law by agreement of the people for the common good and protection of themselves and their environment, in association of the People's Republic of China." The essential characteristics of His Holiness' proposal were that Tibetans would govern themselves and be responsible for their internal affairs under a democratic system and leaders of their choice, while the government of the PRC would be responsible for foreign affairs and would be permitted to maintain a limited military presence in Tibet for defence purposes only.

Beijing's reaction to this and subsequent initiatives was mixed at best. On 23 June 1988 China's foreign ministry issued a press statement, saying that the PRC would not accept Tibet's "independence, semi-independence or independence in disguised form". But, a few months later, on 21 September the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi told the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that its government was interested in direct talks with the Dalai Lama. A press statement to this effect was issued the following day which said, "The talks may be held in Beijing, Hong Kong, or any of our embassies or consulates abroad. If the Dalai Lama finds it inconvenient to conduct talks at these places, he may choose any place he wishes." However, no foreigner, the release further added, should be involved and that the new proposal put forward by the Dalai Lama in Strasbourg could not be considered as the basis for talks. The Tibetan leadership reacted on the same day by issuing a press release, which stated, "Though we have different views and stands on many issues, we are prepared to discuss and resolve these through direct dialogues".

On 25 October 1988, the Tibetan leadership gave a message to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, proposing Geneva as a venue for talks. The Chinese government rejected the Tibetan choice of venue and blamed the Dalai Lama of insincerity. Refusing to accept the negotiating team proposed by the Tibetan leadership, Beijing said it would rather talk to the Dalai Lama in person.

On 28 January 1989, the Panchen Lama, one of the most influential Tibetan leaders in Tibet, passed away suddenly, and under mysterious circumstances. On 7 February China invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to attend the Panchen Lama's cremation ceremony, due to take place on 15 February. Because of the short notice, His Holiness was unable to accept the invitation. Nevertheless, on 21 March 1991, His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered his assistance in the search for the reincarnation. Similarly, in his address to Yale University on 9 October 1991, His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a proposal to visit Tibet in the company of some senior Chinese leaders and international media. This visit, His Holiness said, would help him to ascertain the situation inside Tibet and persuade the Tibetan people in Tibet not to renounce non-violence as a means of their struggle.

In December of the same year (1991), His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked for a meeting with the Chinese Premier Li Peng during the latter's visit to New Delhi. Thereafter, on 26 February 1992, the Tibetan leadership released a document, entitled Guidelines for Future Tibet's Polity and Basic Features of its Constitution. The document states that the present Tibetan administration-in-exile will be dissolved the moment the Tibetans in exile return to Tibet, and that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will then hand over all his traditional political power to an interim government. The interim government, it explains, will be responsible for drawing up a democratic constitution, which will pave the way for a direct election of the new government of Tibet. Even this failed to interest the Chinese leadership.

Under the circumstances, the Assembly of Tibetan People's Deputies, elected representatives of the Tibetan Diaspora, passed a resolution on 23 January 1992 stating that the Tibetan administration-in-exile should not initiate any new move for negotiations with China unless there was a positive change in the attitude of the Chinese leadership.

In April 1992, the Chinese Ambassador in New Delhi contacted Gyalo Thondup and told him that the Chinese Government's position in the past had been "conservative", but that it was willing to be "flexible" if the Tibetans were prepared to be "realistic". He invited Thondup to visit Beijing once again. But when Thondup met the Chinese leaders in Beijing in June 1992, he was treated to a litany of accusations against His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He did not hear anything signalling flexibility in Beijing's stand.

His Holiness felt that the accusations indicated the Chinese leadership's lack of understanding of his views and stand on the Tibetan issue. His Holiness, however, renewed his efforts to open dialogue by sending a personal letter and a detailed memorandum to Chinese leaders, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, in September 1992, reiterating his preparedness to accommodate China's interest and calling for negotiations. At the end of that memorandum His Holiness stated: "The time has come now for the Chinese to show the way for Tibet and China to live together in friendship. A detailed step by step outline regarding Tibet's basic status should be spelt out. If such a clear outline is given, regardless of the possibility or non-possibility of an agreement, we Tibetans can then make a decision whether to live with China or not. If we Tibetans obtain our basic rights to our satisfaction, then we are not incapable of seeing the possible advantages of living with the Chinese."

His Holiness also decided to dispatch a three-member delegation to China to clarify his views. Beijing accepted only two members of this delegation. In June 1993 the delegates discovered in Beijing that the Chinese leadership's hardline attitude towards His Holiness had remained unchanged.

On 4 September 1993, His Holiness the Dalai Lama issued a brief press statement and released to the press the text of his letters to Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. His Holiness once again unequivocally called on the Chinese government "to start negotiations without delay and preconditions". His Holiness reiterated the Tibetan willingness to negotiate a "reasonable and just solution within the framework formulated by Mr. Deng Xiaoping" and clarified: "I have never called for negotiations on independence of Tibet." On numerous occasions since then, His Holiness made clear that he was not seeking independence, but "genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese Constitution." This stand His Holiness most recently reiterated in the 10 March 2005 statement: "I once again want to reassure the Chinese authorities that as long as I am responsible for the affairs of Tibet we remain fully committed to the Middle Way Approach of not seeking independence for Tibet and are willing to remain within the People's Republic of China."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's tireless efforts were amply recognized with the award of the 1989 Nobel Prize for peace. Many other awards were bestowed on the Tibetan leader, but the Nobel Prize and the overwhelming reaction to it demonstrated the international community's recognition and support for His Holiness' steadfast commitment and activities in pursuit of a peaceful negotiated solution to the suffering of the Tibetan people.

On 27 June 1998, US President Bill Clinton and President Jiang Zemin held a live televised joint press conference in Beijing. During this TV appearance ? broadcast worldwide ? Clinton asked Jiang to open dialogues with the Dalai Lama. Jiang replied, "As long as the Dalai Lama makes a public commitment that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and Taiwan is a province of China, then the door to dialogue and negotiation is open." The Taiwan issue surfaced this time as a new pre-condition to negotiation.

Then again, in a written interview to the French daily, Le Figaro, on 25 October 1999 President Jiang Zemin repeated all the earlier pre-conditions and added: "The Dalai Lama must truly give up his advocacy of independence of Tibet and stop his activities to split the motherland; and declare the Government of People's Republic of China is the legitimate government representing whole China."

Over many years His Holiness did his best to engage the Chinese leadership in an honest dialogue. Unfortunately, a lack of political will and vision on the part of the Chinese leadership resulted in their failure to reciprocate the numerous initiatives of His Holiness. Finally, in August 1993 the Tibetan leadership's formal contact with the Chinese government came to an end.

Since then to September 2002, the two sides did not have any formal and direct contact. It was only on 9 September 2002 that Beijing hosted a four-member Tibetan delegation, headed by Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari. During the visit, the delegates met a number of Chinese and Tibetan leaders both in China and Tibet. As outlined in the press statement issued by the delegation on their return from Beijing, the purpose of the visit was two-fold: One, to re-establish direct contacts with the leadership in Beijing and to create a conducive atmosphere for direct face-to-face meetings on a regular basis; Two, to explain His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Middle Way Approach towards resolving the issue of Tibet.

In order to sustain the new contact, the same delegation visited China and Tibetan areas for the second time from 25 May to 8 June 2003. The visit followed the changes in leadership of the Chinese Communist Party as well as of the Chinese Government and had given the delegation the opportunity to engage extensively with the new Chinese leaders and officials responsible for Tibet and relationship with the leaders of the Tibetan people in exile. In Beijing the delegation met with Ms. Liu Yandong, head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Zhu Weiqun, deputy head, Mr. Chang Rongjung, the Deputy Secretary-General, and other senior officials.

The Tibetan delegation had the third round of meetings with their Chinese counterpart in Beijing in September 2004. At this meeting, both sides acknowledged the need for more substantive discussions in order to narrow down the gaps and reach a common ground. This was followed by the fourth round of meetings that took place on 30 June and 1 July 2005 at the Embassy of the People?s Republic of China in Berne, Switzerland. Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen, accompanied by three senior assistants, Sonam N. Dagpo, Ngapa Tsegyam, and Bhuchung K. Tsering, met with Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and his six-member delegation. Vice Minister Zhu declared that their direct contact with the Tibetan delegation had now become stable and an "established practice." He also conveyed to the Tibetan delegation that the Central leadership of the Chinese Communist Party attached great importance to the contact with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan side put forward some concrete proposals that will help build trust and confidence and move the ongoing process to a new level of engagement aimed at bringing about substantive negotiations to achieve a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibetan issue.

Meanwhile, in order to resolve the issue of Tibet on the basis of His Holiness the Dalai Lama?s Middle-Way Approach, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has made every effort within its power to create a conducive atmosphere for negotiations and taken a series of confidence-building measures. The CTA is committed to take these steps till the issue of Tibet is resolved through a negotiated settlement in the best interest of both the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

For further information on the overview of Sino-Tibetan Dialogue, read the following article: Snow Lion And Dragon: Can They Coexist In Harmony?

རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཞི་བར་བྱ་དགོས།

ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པས་ང་ཚོ་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་གཅིག་ནང་བསླེབས་ཡོད་ཟེར་ནས་ཧ་ལས་ལས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད་ཀྱང་། ནང་པ་ཚོ་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་དྲུག་ནང་བསླེབས་ཡོད་པ་མ་ཟད། ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པ་ལས་ལོ་ ༦༠༠ ལྷག་གི་སྔོན་ལ་ཕྱིན་ཡོད། དུས་རབས་ཉེར་དྲུག་ནང་སྡོད་མཁན་ཚོས་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་གཅིག་ནང་ལྷག་ཡོད་པ་ཚོར་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོས་རོགས་རམ་དང་། བསླབ་བྱ་ལམ་སྟོན་བྱ་དགོས་ཟེར།
དེ་རིང་ཕྱི་ཚེས་ ༦ ཉིན་གྱི་ཞོགས་པའི་ཆུ་ཚོད་ ༩ པའི་སྟེང་། གངས་སྐྱིད་སྤྱི་ཐབ་ཚོགས་ཁང་དུ་བོད་ཀྱི་གཞུང་འབྲེལ་མིན་པའི་ཚོགས་པ་༼རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་༽དབུ་བརྙེས་ཏེ། མི་ལོ་ཧྲིལ་པོ་ ༡༠ འཁོར་བའི་དུས་དྲན་མཛད་སྒོ་ཞིག་ཚོགས་ཡོད་ཅིང་། མཛད་སྒོའི་སྐུ་མགྲོན་གཙོ་བོར་བོད་གཞུང་བཀའ་ཁྲི་ཟམ་གདོིང་རིན་པོ་ཆེས་གཙོས་པའི་བོད་མི་མང་སྤྱི་འཐུས་ཚོགས་མཆོག་དང་། ངྷ་ས་ཧིན་བོད་མཛའ་འབྲེལ་ཚོགས་པའི་ཚོགས་གཙོ། རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་གི་འགན་འཛིན་ལྷན་ཚོགས། བོད་གཞུང་སྡེ་ཚན་ཁག་གི་འགན་འཛིན་དང་སྤྱི་འཐུས་རྒྱུན་ལས། དེ་བཞིན་ས་གནས་རྒྱ་གར་ལས་བྱེད་བཅས་ཕེབས་འདུག
མཛད་སྒོའི་ཐོག་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་གི་འགན་འཛིན་ཀརྨ་ལེགས་བཤད་ཀྱིས་ཚོགས་པའི་དམིགས་ཡུལ་སྐོིར་ངོ་སྤྲོད་གནང་དོན། བོད་ཀྱི་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་འདི་ནི། དང་ཐོག་བོད་མི་ལས་བྱེད་གསུམ་གྱིས་ཕྱི་ལོ་ ༢༠༠༡ ལོའི་ཟླ་ ༥ ཚེས་ ༡ ཉིན། བོད་གཞུང་ནང་སྲིད་དང་མཉམ་འབྲེལ་ཐོག་གསར་འཛུགས་བྱས་པ་ཞིག་ཡིན་ཞིང་། ད་ཆར་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་འདི་རྒྱ་གར་གཞུང་ལ་ཁྲིམས་མཐུན་དེབ་སྐྱེལ་བྱས་པའི་གཞུང་འབྲེལ་མིན་པའི་ཚོགས་པ་ཞིག་ཆགས་ཡོད། ལྟེ་གནས་ཁང་འདིས་འགྲོ་བ་མིའི་རིགས་སྤྱི་དང་བྱེ་བྲག་བཙན་བྱོལ་བོད་མིའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ནང་། འཚེ་བ་མེད་པའི་ཐོག་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་དང་མང་གཙོའི་བརྒྱུད་རིམ་མཐོར་འདེགས་གཏོང་ཆེད། ད་བར་ལས་འགུལ་རྣམ་གྲངས་ ༢༠༠ ལྷག་སྤེལ་ཡོད་པ་མ་ཟད། ལས་འགུལ་དེར་གཞི་རིམ་མང་ཚོགས་ ༥༥༠༠ ཙམ་མཉམ་ཞུགས་བྱས་ཡོད། ཅེས་བརྗོད་བྱུང་།

རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཁང་གི་ཟབ་སྦྱོང་གི་ཁྱབ་ཁོངས་སྐོར་ལ། ང་ཚོའི་ཟབ་སྦྱོང་ལ་རྣམ་གྲངས་ཁ་ཤས་ཡོད་ཅིང་། དང་པོ། རྒྱ་བལ་གཉིས་ཀྱི་བོད་མིའི་གཞིས་སྒར་ཁག་ཏུ་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་སྐོར་གོ་རྟོགས་སྤེལ་རྒྱུ་དང་། གཞུང་འབྲེལ་མིན་པའི་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག་དང་། མཐོ་སློབ་ཏུ་སྐྱོད་བཞིན་པའི་བོད་རིགས་སློབ་མ་ཚོས་ཕྱི་རྒྱལ་དང་རྒྱ་གར་སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚོར་འབྲེལ་ལམ་འཛིན་ཕྱོགས། གཉིས་པ། གཞིས་ཆགས་ཁག་ཏུ་གཞོན་སྐྱེས་སློབ་སྦྱོང་མཐར་མ་འཁྱོལ་བའི་རིགས་ལ། མི་སོ་སོར་རྣམ་དཔྱོད་དང་ནུས་པ་མ་འདྲ་བ་རེ་ཡོད་དུས། ཁོང་ཚོའི་ནུས་པ་ངོ་འཕྲོད་པ་ཞིག་དང་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ནང་ཞབས་ཞུ་བསྒྲུབ་ཐུབ་མཁན་ཞིག་ཡོང་ཆེད་ཟབ་སྦྱོང་སྤྲོད་བཞིན་ཡོད། དེ་བཞིན་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཁག་གི་དགེ་ལས་སློབ་ཕྲུག་དང་དགོན་སྡེ་ཁག་གི་དགེ་འདུན་པ། བོད་ནས་གསར་དུ་ཕེབས་མཁན། བོད་པ་དང་རྒྱ་གར་ཡུལ་མིའི་འབྲེལ་ལམ་ཐོག་བཅས་ལ་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་བྱེད་སྟངས་ཀྱི་ཟབ་སྦྱོང་སྤྲོད་བཞིན་ཡོད། ཅེས་བརྗོད་སོང་།མཇུག་ཏུ་སྐུ་མགྲོན་གཙོ་བོ་ཟམ་གདོང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་གིས་ནང་ཆོས་ལས་རྩོད་རྙོག་རིགས་ལ་ལྟ་སྟངས་ཅི་ཡོད་ཐོག་གསུངས་དོན། རྩོད་རྙོག་ཟེར་བ་དེ། འགྲོ་བ་མིའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ནང་རང་བཞིན་གྱིས་ཡོང་བསྡད་པ་ཞིག་རེད། རྩོད་རྙོག་མེད་པའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ཞིག་ལ་རེ་བ་རྒྱག་པ་དེ་ཡོང་རྒྱུ་མེད་པའི་གནས་སྟངས་ཞིག་རེད། སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་དཔལ་ཡོན་ཅི་ཙམ་ཡར་རྒྱས་ཕྱིན་ཡང་། བྱེད་སྟངས་ཡག་པོ་མེད་ན་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་དཔལ་ཡོན་ཡར་རྒྱས་མ་ཕྱིན་པ་ཞིག་ལ་ངོས་འཛིན་བྱེད་པ་དེ། སྔོན་ཆད་ནས་ཡོད་པའི་ཤར་ཕྱོགས་པའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་ལྟ་ཚུལ་ཞིག་རེད། དེང་སང་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཟེར་བ་དེ་ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པས་བསམ་བློ་གཏོང་དགོས་པ་ཞིག་དང་སློབ་ཚན་ནང་ཚུད་ཐུབ་པ་ཆགས་ཡོད། རིག་གནས་འདིའི་ཐོག་ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པས་ཤར་ཕྱོགས་པར་ཕན་ཐོགས་བྱས་པ་ཉུང་ཉུང་ཡིན་ལ། ཤར་ཕྱོགས་པས་ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པར་བློ་སྐྱེད་བྱིན་པ་ཧ་ཅང་མང་པོ་ཡིན། མི་ལོ་ ༢༥༠༠ སྔོན་ལ་སྟོན་པ་འཇིག་རྟེན་དུ་བྱོན་པ་རེད། ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པ་ཚོས་ང་ཚོ་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་གཅིག་ནང་བསླེབས་ཡོད་ཟེར་ནས་ཧ་ལས་ལས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད་ཀྱང་། ནང་པ་ཚོས་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་དྲུག་ནང་བསླེབས་ཡོད་པ་མ་ཟད། ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་པ་ལས་མི་ལོ་ ༦༠༠ ལྷག་གི་སྔོན་ལ་འགྲོ་བཞིན་ཡོད། དུས་རབས་ཉེར་དྲུག་ནང་སྡོད་མཁན་ཚོས་དུས་རབས་ཉེར་གཅིག་ནང་ལྷག་བསྡད་པ་ཚོར་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོས་རོགས་རམ་དང་། བསླབ་བྱ་ལམ་སྟོན་གནང་རྒྱུ་ཧ་ཅང་གལ་ཆེན་པོ་རེད། ཅེས་གསུངས།
ནང་ཆོས་ལས་རྩོད་རྙོག་གི་ངོ་བོ་དང་བྱེད་ལས་ལ་ངོས་འཛིན་དང་འདུམ་འགྲིག་བྱེད་སྟངས་ཐད། བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཀྱིས། རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཞི་བར་བྱེད་ཅེས་གསུངས་ཡོད། རྩོད་པ་མེད་པ་དེ་དེའི་སྐབས་སུ་མེད་པ་རེད། རྩོད་པ་ཞི་བར་བྱེད་པའི་ཐབས་མང་པོ་ཞིག་གསུངས་བ་རེད། རྩོད་པ་ཞི་བར་བྱེད་པའི་ཐབས་ཚང་མའི་ནང་སྡོམ་རྒྱག་རྒྱུ་དེ། རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཞི་བར་བྱེད་ཅེས་པ་དེ་རེད། རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཞི་སྟངས་དེ་གཅིག་ལ་རྒྱལ་ཁ་ཐོབ་ཅིང་། གཅིག་ལ་ཕམ་ཁ་རག་པ་དེ་ལ་ཟེར་གྱི་མེད། དེ་ནི་རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་མིན་གྱི་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཕྱིན་པ་རེད། རྩོད་པ་མེད་པ་བཟོ་རྒྱུ་དེ་རྩོད་པ་ཆོས་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཕྱིན་པ་རེད། རྩོད་པ་མེད་པ་ཇི་ལྟར་ཡོང་གི་རེད་ཟེར་ན། རྩོད་པ་ཡོད་མཁན་ཕྱོགས་གཉིས་ཀྱིས་དངོས་ཡོད་གནས་ཚུལ་ལ་དྲང་པོ་དྲང་བཞག་གི་རིག་པའི་ལམ་དང་རྒྱུ་མཚན་གྱི་ཐོག་ནས་བརྟག་དཔྱད་བྱས་ཏེ། ངོས་ལེན་ཐུབ་པའི་དངོས་ཡོད་གནས་ཚུལ་ག་རེ་འདུག གནས་ཚུལ་དེ་ཕྱོགས་གཉིས་ནས་ངོས་ལེན་བྱས་ཡོང་སྐབས། རྩོད་གཞི་དེ་མེད་པ་ཆགས་འགྲོ་བཞིན་ཡོད། རྩོད་གཞི་མེད་པ་ཆགས་སྟངས་དེར་ལམ་ཁ་མང་པོ་ཡོད་པ་མ་རེད། རྩོད་གཞི་དེ་རྒྱུ་མཚན་གྱི་ལམ་ནས་ཞིབ་འཇུག་བྱས་སྐབས། རྩོད་ཡ་གཅིག་གི་བསམ་ཚུལ་དེ་ཡང་དག་པ་མ་ཡིན་པ་དང་། རྩོད་ཡ་གཞན་དེའི་བསམ་ཚུལ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཡིན་ན། ཡང་དག་པ་ཡིན་མཁན་གྱི་བསམ་ཚུལ་དེ། རྒྱུ་མཚན་ཐོག་ཡང་དག་པ་མ་ཡིན་པའི་བསམ་ཚུལ་ཡོད་མཁན་དེར་འགྲེལ་བཤད་བརྒྱབ་ན། བསམ་ཚུལ་དེར་འགྱུར་བ་ཐེབས་འགྲོ་བ་རེད། ཅེས་གསུངས་བྱུང་། ཡང་ཁོང་གིས་མུ་མཐུད་དུ། ལམ་ཁ་གཞན་ཞིག་ནི་གཉིས་ཀ་ནོར་སྲིད་ཀྱི་རེད། རྩོད་བསྡད་པ་གང་ཞིག་ལ་ཕྱོགས་གཉིས་ཀྱི་ལྟ་སྟངས་བདེན་པ་མིན་པ་ཡོང་སྲིད་པ་རེད། དེའི་སྐབས་སུ་འདུམ་འགྲིག་བྱེད་མཁན་གང་ཟག་དེས་རྩོད་ཡ་གཉིས་ལས་བློ་གྲོས་ཀྱི་སྟོིབས་ཆེ་བ་ཞིག་དང་རྒྱུ་མཚན་མང་པོར་བསམ་བློ་གཏོང་ཐུབ་མཁན་ཞིག་དགོས། དེ་བྱུང་བ་ཡིན་ན། ཁྱེད་གཉིས་ཀྱི་བསམ་ཚུལ་ཡང་དག་པ་མ་རེད། ཡང་དག་པའི་བསམ་ཚུལ་འདི་རེད་ཅེས་གཞན་པ་ཞིག་ར་སྤྲོད་ཐུབ་ཚེ། དེའི་ལམ་ནས་ཕྱོགས་གཉིས་ཀའི་ངོས་ནས་ངེད་གཉིས་ནོར་འདུག ཡང་དག་པའི་བསམ་ཚུལ་འདི་རེད་ཅེས་གོ་བརྡ་འཕྲོད་སྐབས་རྩོད་གཞི་དེ་མེད་པ་ཆགས་འགྲོ་བ་རེད། ཅེས་དང་།
མཐའ་མར་ཁོང་གིས། ལམ་ཁ་གསུམ་པ་དེ། གཉིས་ཆ་བདེན་པ་ཡིན་སྲིད་པ་ཞིག་རེད། གཉིས་ཀར་བདེན་པ་ཡོད་སྲིད་ཀྱང་ཡང་དག་པའི་ལམ་གཉིས་པོ་མཉམ་དུ་འགྲོ་མ་ཐུབ་པའི་སྐབས་སུ། རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་པའི་ལས་སུ་བྱ་བ་ནི། གཉིས་ཆ་བདེན་པ་དང་ཡང་དག་པ་རེད། ཡིན་ནའང་། དེ་གཉིས་ཀ་མཉམ་དུ་བསྒྲུབ་ཐུབ་པ་ཞིག་ཡོད་པ་མ་རེད། དེའི་སྟབས་ཀྱིས། གནས་སྐབས་དང་དུས། ཁོར་ཡུག་གི་གནས་བབ་མང་པོ་ཞིག་ལ་བལྟས་ཏེ། ཕྱོགས་གཉིས་ཀར་ཡང་དག་པ་ཡིན་ཡང་། ལག་ལེན་དུ་བསྟར་བའི་སྐབས་སུ་རིམ་པ་ཞིག་གི་ཐོག་འགྲོ་རྒྱུའི་ལམ་བསྟན་ན། དེའི་ཐོག་ནས་རྩོད་རྙོག་འདུམ་འགྲིག་ཐུབ་པ་ཞིག་རེད། ཅེས་གསུངས་བྱུང

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The Dalai Lama Will Retire

By Bhuchung D. Sonam

Yeshi Tsomo is 74-years-old. When asked about His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s retirement from Tibetan politics her face melts into a pool of tears. This is the fundamental problem. Emotions of the Tibetan people, both in and outside Tibet, become so elevated on this issue that the possibility of any logical analysis and factual decision dies. We must, as Bob Dylan sang, “take the rag away from [y]our face/Now ain’t the time for [y]our tears.”

Retirement Conundrum

Misunderstandings regarding the Dalai Lama’s wish to retire are widespread among the Tibetans and also in the media, some of which reported that the Dalai Lama is “retiring from being the Dalai Lama”. His Holiness states his powers should be devolved and that the involvement of the institution of the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Government must now cease. But, as one among six million Tibetans, the Dalai Lama will continue to serve the cause of Tibet. This is a historic decision and the culmination of the democratization process that His Holiness started since coming into exile in April 1959.

This decision stems from his belief that “the essence of a democratic system is, in short, the assumption of political responsibility by elected leaders for the popular good.” In 2001, the Tibetans in exile directly elected their prime minister for the first time and on 20 March this year, the exile community will vote both for the prime minister and members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Over the past ten years the Kashag (cabinet) headed by the prime minister has been taking the day-to-day administrative responsibilities and the Dalai Lama’s role has dramatically reduced. However, in order for the Tibetan democratization process to be complete, His Holiness states that “the time has come for me to devolve my formal authority to such an elected leadership.”

This is a pragmatic political decision involving the long-term interests of the Tibetan struggle and the survival of Tibet as a nation without having to depend on one person. There is no space for emotional outbursts and counterfactual arguments. Healthy debates, especially among the younger generation, have already started in social networks. This must continue, informed by full understanding of His Holiness’ decision and with full knowledge of its impacts.

The Impacts

In 1642, the Fifth Dalai Lama founded the Ganden Phodrang Government of Tibet. Since then the successive Dalai Lamas have provided leadership for nearly four centuries. Few governments in the world today can trace their institutional and legal origins so far back in history. Hence the institution of the Dalai Lama has great historical legitimacy. Additionally, because of his tireless work for Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama is universally recognized by Tibetans in and outside Tibet as their undisputed leader. Today the issue of Tibet is synonymous with the Dalai Lama.

Immediately after coming into exile, the Dalai Lama established the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since then, the exile government under the Dalai Lama set up as many as 12 foreign missions all under the auspices of His Holiness’ name. These missions and other establishments are essential to bring the issue of Tibet to their respective countries and to to assert the just cause of Tibet in international forums.

How will the offices of Tibet continue to operate under the Dalai Lama’s name if the institution of the Dalai Lama is delinked from the Tibetan government? In fact, how will the entire exile establishment function and survive without the Dalai Lama?

The question can be also raised regarding the roles of the Dalai Lama’s special envoys through which talks with China are held. Since world leaders, including Barack Obama, urge the Chinese leadership to talk with the Dalai Lama and his envoys, how an elected Tibetan leadership can impress upon the international audience — and more importantly leaders of the free world — to pressure China to talk with them? How can a Tibetan government not led by the Dalai Lama command legitimacy and the loyalty of Tibetans in and outside of Tibet.

These are absolutely difficult and crucially important questions without easy solutions. But delaying these eventualities will make things worse. Having experienced occupation, exile, traveling the world and meeting with numerous leaders, His Holiness understands the complex global political situation and its impact on Tibet better than any other Tibetan. Thus, His Holiness states that the Tibetan must implement a system of governance while he “… will still be able to help resolve problems if called upon to do so”.

This is a testament to his enduring and tireless work for Tibet. This is reassurance enough for the Tibetan people to bury their emotions, wipe their tears and work to establish a democratic system based on informed and mature decisions.


The Challenges

As I write this, the 11th session of the 14th Tibetan Parliament in Exile is discussing the Dalai Lama’s decision to devolve his powers to the elected leadership. In the annals of Tibetan history, the decisions that come out of this session will be crucial.

Yesterday, when the Speaker read His Holiness’ statement many members of parliament were in tears. Later, when the media interviewed some of them, they found it hard to control their emotions. This is understandable. Tibetans inside Tibet must feel even worse. The issue is not only about the Dalai Lama’s devolution of powers but also changing the title of the Ganden Phodrang Government headed by the Dalai Lamas for nearly four centuries.

But soaking handkerchiefs and banging chests does not help. Decisions must not be taken in heightened emotional states, which often turn out to be counterfactual, incorrect and damaging in the long run. The test before the parliament is to find a viable legal solution, in which His Holiness is freed from all the ceremonial and administrative responsibilities but, perhaps, still remains the head of state. This is important because the Dalai Lama has historical legitimacy and complete trust of the Tibetan populace. Besides, any elected leadership in exile may find it hard to maintain the offices of Tibet and other vital democratic institutions without the legitimacy of the Dalai Lama’s name and global reach.

However, this is not the solution that His Holiness desires, which is to simply be one among the six million Tibetans and serve Tibet accordingly. More importantly, His Holiness wants to separate the institution of Dalai Lama from that of the Tibetan government. If members of the parliament are to fulfil this, they must be bold enough to use their political vision and acumen to make amendments in the Charter for Tibetans-in-exile so that a functioning system of governance can be instituted in exile without the Dalai Lama. “Now, a decision on this important matter should be delayed no longer,” wrote His Holiness in his statement.

The Positive Outcomes

The genius of the legislative body will lie in instituting a democratic system so that a complete transformational operation on the structure of the exile government does not have to be performed immediately, but at the same time fulfils the Dalai Lama’s wishes. If such a system is in place, then there will be a clear demarcation between the political issue of the six million Tibetans and that of the person of the Dalai Lama. This is crucial since the Chinese authorities make the issue of Tibet synonymous with that of the Dalai Lama’s personal status. Besides, the Dalai Lama working for the Tibetan cause as an individual — “as one among the six million Tibetans” — will be more legitimate, more democratic and more long-term.

A democratic system sans the Dalai Lama will also make it easier for the Middle Way Policy to be reviewed, re-analyzed and amended if necessary. Currently, any challenge to this policy and discussions on other strategies such as Rangzen are affected by emotions. On one online forum a Rangzen advocate was branded as ‘against’ His Holiness. Additionally, if a time comes when Rangzen becomes the official policy, then the Chinese authorities won’t be able to call the Dalai Lama a ‘separatist’ engaged in ‘activities splitting China’.

Whatever solutions the exile parliament may come to, they must bear in mind that His Holiness’ decision is for the long-term benefit of the Tibetans — that a democratic system led by a popularly elected leadership becomes more stable, longer lasting and is more in tune with changing times than depending on one person. Fear of temporary shake-ups must not prevent them from paving ways for the future.

The Tibetan people, in and outside Tibet, need to realize that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has tirelessly served Tibet since the age of sixteen. He turns 76 this year. The least that Tibetans can do is to be less selfish and carry out our duties to give him some time and personal freedom. His Holiness does not say that he is going into a cave nor is shirking any responsibilities. His Holiness simply wants to be one among the Tibetans and “as long as Tibetans place their trust and faith in me,” he says, “I will continue to serve the cause of Tibet.”

So stop soaking your handkerchiefs and start carrying out your duties

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Pemakoe and KanamGyalpo

By Pekoe Tsewang Dorjee

Pemakoe foreright requested Kanam gaylpo to send his strong army assistance to resist against lopa entering pemakoe where Tsangla were living.Later Kanam Gyalpo rule the pemakoe but was not effective and strong ruler.Tsangla had never accepted as ruler and he could not influence well that was reason kanam Gyalpo was not well known in Pemakoe. In 1934 kanam gyalpo lost his power to Gaden Phoang and Sera je Lawa khamtsen had been sent dzongpon to Pemakoe till 1959. In 1960 eve of new year about 25% of Pemakoepa left Pemakoe followed His Holiness The Dalai Lama to India.

Late H.H Dudjom Rinpoche

By Pekoe Tenzin Nyima created the doc: "Late H.H Dudjom Rinpoche"


The late H.H Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, was born on 10 June 1904, into a noble family in the S.E. Tibetan Province of Pemako. He was recognized as the incarnation of Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904), a famous discoverer of many concealed teaching (Terma,), particularly those related to the practice of the yidam Vajrakila.



Dudjom Rinpoche studied with many of the most outstanding lamas of time, beginning his studies with kenpo Aten in Pemako. At the age of eight, he began to study with Oygyen Chogyur Gyaltso, a personal disciple of the great Patrul Rinpoche.



In his teens he attended the great monasteries of central Tibet such as Mindroling, Dorje Drake and Traje Tingpoling, as well as those of East Tibet, like Kathong and Dzongchen.



It was to Mindronling that he retuned to perfect his understanding of the Nyingma tradition. Unique in having received the transmission of all the existing teachings of the Nyingma Tradition, Dudjom Rinpoche was famous in particular as great termon, whose termas are now widely taught and practiced, and as a leading exponent of Dzogchen.



A master of masters, he was acknowledged by the leading Tibetans lamas as possessing the greatest power in communicating the nature of mind, and it was to him that they sent their students when prepared for this mind-direct transmission. He was also famous as a very prolific author and a meticulous scholar. His writings are celebrated for the encyclopedic knowledge they display of all the traditional branches of Buddhist learning, including poetics, history, medicine, astrology and philosophy.



Amongst the most widely-read of his works are the Fundamentals of the Teaching of Buddha, and History of the Nyingmo School, which he composed soon after his arrival in India as an Exile.



At the invitation of H.H. The Dalai Lama, Dudjom Rinpoche also wrote a political history of Tibet. Another major part of his works was the revision, correction and editing of many ancient and modern texts, including the whole of the canon teachings of Nyingma school.



Upon leaving Tibet, he established a number of vital communities of practitioners in India and Nepal such as: Zangdok Palri in Kalimpong, Dudul Rabten Ling in Orissa, and the monasteries at Tsopema and Boudhnath. Latterly, he founded several major centres in the West, including Urgyen Samye Choling, in France, and the Yeshi Nyingpo centres in America.



He passed away in France on 17th January 1987.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Kashag Deeply Saddened by the Demise of Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu

[Wednesday, 5 May 2011, 6:30 p.m.]

DHARAMSHALA: The Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration on Wednesday condoled the sad demise of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash in Lobothang near Tawang District.

In a condolence message, Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong Rinpoche expressed "deep sadness and worry about the tragic demise of a young, honest and best chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu.”

“Moreover, he has brought immense development and improvement in the lives of the people of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tibetans living in there in peace and harmony,” Kalon Tripa said.

“Since his death is a great loss to both the Tibetans and the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I along with my cabinet colleagues offer our prayers and heartfelt condolences to the people of the state and his family members,” Kalon Tripa said.

A special prayer service will be organised by the Department of Religion and Culture at the Tsuglagkhang, the main temple in Dharamsala on 5 May, Kalon Tripa said.

དེང་དུས་བོད་ཀྱི་ལྗོངས་དང་ཞིང་ཆེན་ལྔའི་ཁོངས་ཀྱི་བོད་ཡུལ།

དེང་དུས་ཀྱི་གནས་སྟངས་ལྟར་ན། བོད་རིགས་འཚོ་སྡོད་བྱེད་པའི་ས་ཁུལ་དག་ལས། ལ་དྭགས་རྒྱ་གར་གྱི་མངའ་ཁོངས་སུ་ཚུད་པ་ཕུད། གཙོ་བོར་བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་དང་། སི་ཁྲོན་ཞིང་ཆེན། མཚོ་སྔོན་ཞིང་ཆེན། ཡུན་ནན་ཞིང་ཆེན། ཀན་སུའུ་ཞིང་ཆེན་བཅས་ལྗོངས་དང་ཞིང་ཆེན་ལྔའི་ཁོངས་སུ་བོད་རིགས་འཚོ་སྡོད་བྱས་པའི་ཡུལ་གྲུ་འདི་དག་སྟེ། དེ་ཡང་བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་ཁོངས་སུ་ས་ཁུལ་དང་གྲོང་ཁྱེར་ཁག་དྲུག་ཡོད་པ་སྟེ།

གཅིག བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས།
1.གྲོང་ཁྱེར་ལྷ་སའི་མངའ་ཁོངས་སུ་རྫོང་དང་གྲོང་བརྡལ་བརྒྱད་ཡོད་པ་ནི།
༡.ལྷ་ས་གྲོང་བརྡལ།﹙拉萨市﹚
༢.འདམ་གཞུང་རྫོང་།﹙当雄县﹚
༣.སྙེ་མོ་རྫོང་།﹙尼木县﹚
༤.སྟོང་ལུང་བདེ་ཆེན་རྫོང་།﹙堆龙德庆县﹚
༥.ཆུ་ཤུར་རྫོང་།﹙曲水县﹚
༦.སྟག་རྩེ་རྫོང་།﹙达孜县﹚
༧.མལ་གྲོལ་གུང་དཀར་རྫོང་།﹙墨竹工卡县﹚
༨.ལྷུན་འགྲུབ་རྫོང་།﹙林周县﹚བཅས་སོ།།

2.གཞུང་ས་རྩེད་ཐང་བྱས་པའི་ལྷོ་ཁ་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་བཅུ་གཉིས་ནི།
༡.སྣེ་གདོང་རྫོང་།﹙乃东县﹚
༢.གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་།﹙贡嘎县﹚
༣.གྲ་ནང་རྫོང་།﹙扎囊县﹚
༤.ཟངས་རི་རྫོང་།﹙桑日县﹚
༥.ཆུ་གསུམ་རྫོང་།﹙曲松县﹚
༦.རྒྱ་ཚ་རྫོང་།﹙加查县﹚
༧.ལྷུན་རྩེ་རྫོང་།﹙隆子县﹚
༨.མཚོ་སྣ་རྫོང་།﹙错那县﹚
༩.འཕྱོངས་རྒྱས་རྫོང་།﹙琼结县﹚
༡༠.མཚོ་སྨད་རྫོང་།﹙措美县﹚
༡༡.སྣ་དཀར་རྫོང་།﹙浪卡子县﹚
༡༢.ལྷོ་བྲག་རྫོང་།﹙洛扎县﹚

3.གཞུང་ས་གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེར་བྱས་པའི་གཞིས་རྩེ་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་ཁག་བཅོ་བརྒྱད་ནི།
༡.གཞིས་རྩེ་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།﹙日喀则县﹚
༢.འབྲོང་པ་རྫོང་།﹙仲巴县﹚
༣.ས་དགའ་རྫོང་།﹙萨嘎县﹚
༤.སྐྱིད་གྲོང་རྫོང་།﹙吉隆县﹚
༥.ངམ་རིང་རྫོང་།﹙昂仁县﹚
༦.ལྷ་རྩེ་རྫོང་།﹙拉孜县﹚
༧.ས་སྐྱ་རྫོང་།﹙萨迦县﹚
༨.གཏིང་སྐྱེས་རྫོང་།﹙定结县﹚
༩.གམ་པ་རྫོང་།﹙岗巴县﹚
༡༠.དིང་རི་རྫོང་།﹙定日县﹚
༡༡.པ་སྣམ་རྫོང་།﹙白朗县﹚
༡༢.རྒྱལ་རྩེ་རྫོང་།﹙江孜县﹚
༡༣.རིན་སྤུངས་རྫོང་།﹙仁布县﹚
༡༤.བཞད་མཐོང་སྨོན་རྫོང་།﹙谢通门县﹚
༡༥.རྣམ་གླིང་རྫོང་།﹙南木林县﹚
༡༦.ཁང་དམར་རྫོང་།﹙康马县﹚
༡༧.གྲོ་མོ་རྫོང་།﹙亚东县﹚
༡༨.གཉའ་ལམ་རྫོང་།﹙聂拉木县﹚བཅས་སོ།

4.གཞུང་ས་མངའ་རིས་སྒར་བྱས་པའི་མངའ་རིས་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་ཁག་བདུན་ནི།
༡.མངའ་རིས་སྒར་རྫོང་།﹙噶尔县﹚
༢.རུ་ཐོག་རྫོང་།﹙日土县﹚
༣.དགེ་རྒྱལ་རྫོང་།﹙革吉县﹚
༤.སྒེར་རྩེ་རྫོང་།﹙改则县﹚
༥.མཚོ་ཆེན་རྫོང་།﹙措勤县﹚
༦.སྤུ་ཧྲེང་རྫོང་།﹙普兰县﹚
༧.རྩ་མདའ་རྫོང་﹙扎达县﹚བཅས་སོ།

5.གཞུང་ས་ནག་ཆུ་བྱས་པའི་ནག་ཆུ་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་ཁག་བཅུ་ནི།
༡.ནག་ཆུ་རྫོང་།﹙那曲县﹚
༢.སྦྲ་ཆེན་རྫོང་།﹙巴青县﹚
༣.སོག་རྫོང་།﹙索县﹚
༤.འབྲི་རུ་རྫོང་།﹙比如县﹚
༥.ཨ་མདོ་རྫོང་།﹙安多县﹚
༦.ལྷ་རི་རྫོང་།﹙嘉黎县﹚
༧.དཔལ་མགོན་རྫོང་།﹙班戈县﹚
༨.ཤན་རྩ་རྫོང་།﹙申扎县﹚
༩.སྙན་རོང་རྫོང་།﹙聂荣县﹚
༡༠.ཉི་མ་རྫོང་﹙尼玛县﹚བཅས་སོ།

6.གཞུང་ས་ཉིང་ཁྲི་བྱས་པའི་ཉིང་ཁྲི་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་ཁང་བདུན་ནི།
༡.ཉིང་ཁྲི་གྲོང་བརྡལ།﹙林芝县﹚
༢.སྤྲ་མོག་རྫོང་།﹙波密县﹚
༣.རྫ་ཡུལ་རྫོང་།﹙察隅县﹚
༤.མེ་ཏོག་རྫོང་།﹙墨脱县﹚
༥.སྨིན་གླིང་རྫོང་།﹙米林县﹚
༦.ཀོང་པོ་རྒྱ་མདའ་རྫོང་།﹙工布江达县﹚
༧.སྣང་རྫོང་﹙郎县﹚བཅས་སོ།

7.གཞུང་ས་ཆབ་མདོར་བྱས་པའི་ཆབ་མདོ་ས་ཁུལ་གྱི་རྫོང་ཁག་བཅུ་གཅིག་ནི།
༡.ཆབ་མདོ་རྫོང་།﹙昌都县﹚
༢.འཇོ་མདའ་རྫོང་།﹙江达县﹚
༣.གོ་འཇོ་རྫོང་།﹙贡觉县﹚
༤.སྨར་ཁམས་རྫོང་།﹙芒康县﹚
༥.མཛོ་སྒང་རྫོང་།﹙左贡县﹚
༦.བྲག་གཡབ་རྫོང་།﹙察雅县﹚
༧.དཔའ་ཤོད་རྫོང་།﹙八宿县﹚
༨.རི་བོ་ཆེ་རྫོང་།﹙类乌齐县﹚
༩.སྟེང་ཆེན་རྫོང་།﹙丁青县﹚
༡༠.ལྷོ་རོང་རྫོང་།﹙洛龙县﹚
༡༡.དཔལ་འབར་རྫོང་﹙边坝县﹚བཅས་སོ།།

Arunachal CM's Dead, Sad News Confirmed as Chopper Found

Dharamshala: - The chief minister of India's Arunachal state Dorjee Khandu who also well-known and respected leader was presumed dead on Wednesday when search teams located the wreckage of his helicopter that went missing four days ago, but the other four bodies were mutilated and charred beyond recognition, officials said.
According to Indian news agencies, Indian soldiers trekked to the mountainous site in northeast India to identify bodies after the wreckage was spotted during a massive ground search. Indian officials today indicated the sad news that Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others may not have survived the crash of the helicopter in which they were travelling on Saturday.
"The crash site has been located and some bodies have been sighted," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in New Delhi. "It is not good news." Dorjee Khandu, a member of the ruling Congress party, was appointed in 2007 as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.
The helicopter, which was carrying Khandu, two pilots and another passenger, lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Saturday morning soon after take-off. It was travelling from the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh near the Chinese border to the state capital Itanagar. Searches by Indian Air Force helicopters had been hampered by continuing poor weather and special satellite images had also failed to find the wreckage.
Thousands of soldiers, police and paramilitary troopers conducted searches through the difficult terrain under the helicopter's planned route, while neighbouring Bhutan has also sent out patrols. The AS350 B-3 single-engine helicopter disappeared after another crashed in Tawang on April 19, killing 17 people and injuring six.
Both aircraft were operated by Pawan Hans, a service which provides one of the major air links across the isolated northeastern region of India.
Dorjee Khandu was in the Indian Army Intelligence Corps and worked there for more than seven years. He received a gold medal for the meritorious intelligence services rendered during Bangladesh War. Later, he was engaged in social activities for village people of Tawang District and looked after their welfare up till 1980. In 1980, he was selected uncontested as the First ASM and worked in same capacity till 1983. In March 1990, he was elected uncontested to the First Legislative Assembly of the State of Arunachal Pradesh from Thingbu-Mukto constituency. In March 1995, he was re-elected to Second Legislative Assembly of the State of Arunachal Pradesh from the same constituency. He became the Minister of State for Cooperation from 21 March 1995.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

EDD concludes environmental awareness talks in Tibetan schools in north east India

[Wednesday, 3 May 2011, 4:56 p.m.]

RAVANGLA: An educational talk series on Tibet's environmental issues jointly organised by Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Department of Information and International Relations and the Department of Education in the Tibetan schools in north east India was successfully concluded.

Two environmental researchers of EDD in their talks imparted information on Tibet's current environmental issues to schoolchildren of two senior secondary schools, Central School for Tibetans in Kalimpong and Sambhota Tibetan School in Gangtok, on 29 and 30 April respectively.

The two researchers also urged students to request their families and relatives not to indulge in illegal trade of endangered animal parts.

"Both students and teachers have shown grave concerns over the deteriorating environmental situation in Tibet and how best could these be stopped," the two researchers, Ms Chokyi and Mr Jigme Norbu, told TibetNet in an e-mail message.

"This kind of talks as told by some teachers are very important source of knowledge on Tibet's current environmental situation for the students and they requested us to conduct such programmes more often," the researchers said.

Some of the schools have been practicing three Rs - Recycle, Reuse and Reduce.

CST Kalimpong has been recycling their textbooks and only about 10 percent of textbooks in the school are being replaced. The students use wooden planks to practice Tibetan handwritings as in olden times, which not only reduce the use of paper but also keep alive the Tibetan culture.

Arunachal Chief Minister's helicopter still missing, search to resume tomorrow

Itanagar, May 2 (Agencies)- The helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu is still missing. Data from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) satellite mapping, and images taken from IAF's Sukhoi 30s have found metallic traces in three places.

Sources have told that the terrain is difficult for ground forces to trek, with heavy rains and light snow slowing down operations. Paramilitary personnel and volunteers from nearby villages will resume the trek tomorrow.

Operations resumed with first light on Monday morning and security forces focused their attention on three pin-pointed locations along the Indo-Bhutan border. As the day wore on, ISRO satellite mapping and Sukhoi aerial surveys further zeroed on an area 85 km from Bomdila. Four Indian Air Force helicopters were also pressed into service early on Monday to conduct aerial surveys.

The five-seater, single-engine Pawan Hans helicopter went missing 20 minutes after take-off from Tawang on Saturday morning. Besides Mr Khandu, others on board were pilots Captain J S Babbar, Captain T S Mamik, Mr Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lhamu, sister of Tawang MLA, Tsewang Dhondup.

The last radio contact with the ground was about 20 minutes after take-off as the helicopter flew over the Sela Pass along the Chinese border. The Sela Pass is at an altitude of 13,700 feet. The helicopter was believed to have come down near the border with Bhutan and searches were mounted in that country too.

Choephelling's brief News

By Pekoe Karma Tseten


Miao Choephelling:

1. An exhibition on its 50th years of service , which is to be held on 5th and 6th May 2011,at community hall has been postponed for time being due to the disappearance tragedy of honorable CM of Arunachal. said Mentsekhang Amchila.

2. The power dept. has released a sanction to provide new electricity transformer. Shortly they are going to have a new transformer in the settlement and soon will solve the major electricity problem which has long been suffered by settlement people.This noble work is acomplished because of active initiated by settlement officers, Dolma tsering la, Rapjor la and Phuntsok Wangdu la.

3. Extension of new veranda at old people's home (gyansokhang) has completed on time. Now, aged people will have enjoyed good time on newly built veranda during summer.

4. Obituary: Ama Dhoe Tsomo m/o Mr. Lopey la, camp no.4 is pass away, yesterday at 11 A.M. in old aged people home. lets pay our deep condolences to her family.

5. Theenong sho dhuesang gewala, so ngo thamchen lai ga madewa thorfang phaiga, thorfang gonpa koraga dewala. thorfangla ngamsu shama khewa ghe rangten phai ga luspu tsabu chotnyi chokwala. thenong hungte khushewamo log (light) bu leg pu shekpala.

Oversea Chinese Praise Exile Tibetans' Democratic Elections

Dharamshala: - Media sources from inside China have decried Tibet's recent elections as inconsequential and illegitimate. But outside China there are at least two Chinese organizations singing praise about Tibet's new political leader, Dr. Lobsand Sangay.
The Chinese-Tibetan Friendship Associations in New Zealand and Australia issued a statement on April 30 offering their "Hearty congratulations to Dr. Lobsang Sangay." The statement also said that Chinese proponents of democracy are happy about the stepping stone this election demonstrates - that Tibetans are taking proactive measures to reform their system of governance from the archaic form practiced over the past several centuries toward a modern democratic one.
They suggested that the only hope for Tibetans to receive respectful treatment in their homeland is by the loosening of China's authoritarian rule.
The group, consisting of Han Chinese - totalling over six hundred thousand in the country - and Tibetans living in Australia, was formed at the request of the Dalai Lama following 2008's riots. Since then, Tibetans and Chinese around the world have reached out to each other to form similar organizations in New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland and other countries. There are around fifty million Han Chinese living outside China, and the Dalai Lama has spoken about the importance of including this population in the Tibet-China peace process.
Over the past couple decades Han Chinese, motivated by governmental migration policies and other incentives, have been flocking to Tibet. Some estimates suggest that the Han population living in Lhasa is double that of Tibetans. This has created much anymosity between the two groups.
But the sprouting of Chinese-Tibetan Friendship groups show that they can be eager to and capable of cooperating under different circumstances.
The Chinese group also acknowledged the intentions behind the recent crackdown at Kirti Monastery, citing that it is part of a strategy to suppress minorities.
The organization promised that it will work harder toward the goal of a democratic China and a harmonious Tibet.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tibet exile govt 'illegal' after vote

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Beijing: China on Thursday attacked the Tibetan government-in-exile as "illegal" following the election of a new prime minister to take over the organisation's political duties from the ageing Dalai Lama.

"The so-called Tibetan government-in-exile is an illegal political organisation established by the Dalai Lama to engage in independence and separatist activities," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"No country in the world recognises it," he said, when asked to comment on the election of Lobsang Sangay.

Tibetan exiles elected the 43-year-old Harvard academic as their new prime minister after the Dalai Lama, 75, said he would give up his political duties but continue to be a spiritual leader.

Sangay, an international law expert, easily beat two other candidates for the post, securing 55 percent of the vote, the government-in-exile said on Wednesday from its base in Dharamshala.

China last month accused the Dalai Lama of playing "tricks" on the world after the Buddhist monk announced plans to step down as political head of the exiled Tibetan government.



The Dalai Lama was just 15 in 1950 when Chinese troops moved into Tibet. He fled his homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. (Agencies)
Last Updated ( 29 April 2011 )

The Campaign for the Immediate Restoration of Buddhism in Tibet

Tsewaang Dorjee [2 May 2011,9 AM]

Bylakuppe:In the mid-twentieth century, the Chinese communist regime, which propounded “religion as poison”, destroyed more than 6000 monasteries in Tibet and caused death to over 10000 innocent Tibetan monks and nuns. In this present century, the Chinese communist regime still continues to detain and arrest monks and nuns and subject them to intolerable torture and beatings. In the wake of such events, we make an appeal to all Dharma friends and members of Dharma centers, and monastic institutions and universities, who share a common teacher and his sublime teachings.

Under China’s repressive policies, Tibetan monasteries including Ngaba Kirti Monastery have practically turned like prisons and the resident monks of these monasteries were subjected to unbearable inhuman treatments under captivity for days and nights. At the end of a severe clampdown on Ngaba Kirti monastery for over one month and six days, more than 300 Tibetan Buddhist monks were arrested simultaneously, as had been foreseen by local Tibetans in Ngaba region on learning of the Chinese authorities’ plans to arrest monks aged between 18 and 40. Reports of such arrests taking place in the monasteries all over Tibet were received from reliable sources almost daily.

The monks and nuns in Tibet not only suffered brutal torture in the Chinese custodies, but also faced great danger over the lost of their lives. China’s systematic policy towards complete destruction of monasteries and the monastic ways ¬¬of life continue even today.

Hence, We, South India based The Central Tibetan Rights and Freedom Restoration Committee, are launching this campaign for THE IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF BUDDHISM IN TIBET in many places of India and Nepal today from 9am to 10am. Thousands of monks and nuns from different Monasteries located in India and Nepal are taking part in this campaign to show their deep condolence for the Patriot monk Phuntsok, who immolated himself in protest to China's inhuman treatment, and solidarity for the monks of Amdo Ngaba Kirti Monastery, Tibet, who are being suppressed by Chinese armed police since 16th of March 2011.

At the same time, we urge United Nation, International community and Buddhist Nations all over the world to pressure China to stop its brutal treatment to the monks of Kirti Monastery immediately.

Appeals/Recommendations:

1. For immediate ending of repression, torture and beatings to the monks of Ngaba Kirti Monastery and the lay members of the Nagaba Kirti locality.
2. For immediate release of His Eminence the Panchen Rinpoche and other innocent Tibetans, who were held prisoners.
3. For immediate ending of inhuman torture in the name of “Patriotic Re-education” campaigns in monasteries throughout Tibet.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Live Webcasts from California, USA

[Saturday, 30 April 2011, 11:05 a.m.]
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There will be a live webcasts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talks and teachings during his visit to California from 1 - 4 May 2011.


1 May from Long Beach, California, USA: His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk "Secular Ethics and Meditation" starting at 2:30pm PDT. The live webcast can be viewed here.

2 May from UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA: In the morning starting at 10am PDT His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk entitled "What is true Wisdom". In the afternoon from 1:30pm PDT His Holiness will participate in a symposium entitled "Buddhism and Neuroscience: a Discussion on Attention, Mental Flexibility and Compassion. The live webcasts can be viewed here.

4 May from California State University, Los Angeles, California, USA: Presentation of Amnesty International's "Shine a Light Award" to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness's keynote address on "Human Rights" starting at 10am PDT. Information on the webcast will be available soon.

4 May from University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA: His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk on "Compassion and Global Leaders" starting at 1:50pm PDT. Information on the webcast will be available soon.

Please check this page for updates as new information becomes available.

[Source: dalailama.com] his immolation.

Pekoe Chats

• Tim Bodt:
Tsewang la, it appears as if pemakotpa in tibet have hardly any idea of refugee population in india and abroad. they know people left in 1960s (they say abducted by indian and american) but think they returned to bhutan. border is sealed between geling and korbu and tibetan part of pemakot and chinese army are very strict. moreover chinese and tibetan propaganda is strong and developments have been taking place in pemakot so people are generally not too bad off. they have food zale jamme langpa thur and schools and road came from dochongla and overall situation is better than 50 years ago. yes maybe religion, language and culture have become diluted because of chinese influence. but than hasnt younger generation of pemakotpa in india and the west become so much influenced by hindi, indian bollywood, american mc donalds culture, hollywood movies and all? i showed the pictures before and as u remember most younger pemakotpa have no idea about traditional dress, they think pemakotpa ama also wears the tibetan chupa. they listen english and hindi and tibetan song but have no idea about tshangla song like khar, tsangmo, khore and loze. so, perhaps there should be some appreciation of attempts by pemakotpa in tibet to develop their language and tradition and culture, even when it is moulded after chinese and tibetan example, instead of looking down on the pemakotpas who got left behind. it seems that is what people in tibet fear most: that refugee people have got so much high opinion of themselves, and consider people in tibet as real monpa...backward, primitive, unproductive.

•Tsewang Dorjee:
Tim Bodtla Thank you,we pemakoepa need like you people who always keeping us in your core of heart and giving us needful information which is very difficult to get from inside Pemakoe Tibet. Choe kha sum tibetan people coming from Tibet sinec 1982 to india but so far no new pemakoepa from Tibet is arrived in India.we really don't understand why it is so, even world people are talking about Motuo and Yarlung Tsangpo not Metok wangjo,and Tsang Chu in pemakoe.

•Tenzin Topjor:
Two lines of our language compels us to listen to whole song which is in chinese. So, this may have some points to be think about. Do we really pleased by listening to chinese songs?

The immediate restoration of Buddhism in Tibet

Tsewang Dorjee[2May 2011]

Bylakuppe:The immediate restoration of Buddhism campaign is organized by The Central Tibetan Rights and Freedom Restoration Committee bylakuppe is being joined by other monasteries from India,Nepal and Bhutan.

Today, Morning 9 AM at play ground near old age home , gather more than six thousand monks and Nuns from Sera je and Mey monastery,Namdoling , Sakya ,Tashi Lhunpo,and Kagyu Monastery are to express their solidarity and homage to late patriotic Phuntsok la,a monk from Kirti Monastery,Ngaba,Amdo, Tibet. Who immolated himself in protest against the unbearable physically and mentally tortured by Chinese armed police to the kirti monks was the main reason behind his immolation.