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Develop peace within the mind, says His Holiness the Dalai Lama Vol. 03, Issue 120, Print Issue 44, 15 November 2014 China sentences a Tibetan for lifting dead body of a self immolator

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama praises Tibetans in Tibet for not losing their spirit

By Steve Shaw: 10 November 2014

New York: - The spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama praised Tibetans inside Tibet for not losing their spirit, even they have been going through difficult times under the hard-line policies pursued by Chinese government.

As his busy visit to the United States comes to an end, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was greeted by an audience of 5000 Tibetans and The President of the New York & New Jersey Tibetan Association at the Javits Convention Center in New York on November 5.

Dolma Tso, sentenced for three years on alleged charge of murder. Photo: Gu Chu Sum

By Tenzin Desal: 05 November 2014

Dharamshala:- China had sentenced three Tibetans on November 3 for alleged charges of murder in Ngaba County, north-eastern Tibet.

In the press release issued by Gu Chu Sum, an organisation in Dharamsala which provides support to former political prisoners and their families in exile, it said that two Tibetans Gerik Tsang Dolma Tso and Ghoge Tsang Konme were sentenced for three years and Marli Tsang Gephel for two years imprisonment.

The press conference was also attended by the brother of Dolma Tso, Kungam, who now lives in Dharamshala.

“Let me take this opportunity to remind you about my family’s third generation,” the press release said, detailing Dolma Tso and her family’s involvement in resisting China’s policies.

“My grandfather Gepe Lila was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Chinese government. He died while in prison.

My grandmother was accused of ‘wearing criminal black hat.’

She died out of torture.

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Buddhist monks to discuss science and spirituality for three days

Against a backdrop of the Potala Palace, everyone in attendance stood for the Tibetan National Anthem and listened to the Nobel Peace prize laureate discuss issues of education, Buddhism and national identity.

The topic that had been a theme throughout his visit to the United States.

His Holiness began his address by pointing at the size of the community saying, “My dear Tibetan brothers and sisters, today, when I have this opportunity to meet all of you, I wondered for a moment if I was back in Tibet, or in one of the large settlements in South India. You’re all working hard to retain your Tibetan identity and spirit and I thank you.

Here on this new soil, it seems you have made a lot of children! Ensure that they grow up as Tibetans.”

The Tibetan Buddhist leader stressed the importance of education and told his supporters “21st century Buddhists need to study”. He went on to say that a child learning to merely chant the verse for taking refuge is not enough, “Prostrating, chanting mantras and circumambulation are good, but they are not the main practice. You need to know how to transform the mind,” he said.

His Holiness also made reference to his initiatives in Vancouver and British Columbia regarding introduction of secular ethics in schools.

When discussing the situation in Tibet His Holiness praised the 6 million Tibetans in Tibet for not losing their spirit or character. “They have been going through difficult times, not least because of the hard-line policies pursued by Chinese officials in Tibet,” he said.

He told supporters: “The Tibetan issue appears to be a struggle between the gun, the use of force, and the truth. It may appear that in the short term the gun is more effective, and yet in the end the truth will prevail.”

He concluded his talk by offering transmission of the mantras of the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, Tara, Hayagriva, Vajrakilaya and the Medicine Buddha.

Later in the afternoon he met with a group of Chinese students studying

A view of Javits Center during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s meeting with the Tibetan community in New York, NY, USA on November 5, 2014. Photo/Sonam Zoksang

in New York and nearby areas. In answering questions from the audience he gave a survey of relations between China and Tibet over the last 50 years or more, of how at times hopes of a solution have been raised only to be dashed again.

“One of the problems between us is ignorance. For too long, too many have thought of Tibetans as backward and barbaric. But now they have the opportunity, more Chinese are finding things to admire in Tibet,” said His Holiness.

The Tibetan Spiritual Leader began his trip in Vancouver, BC, Canada on October 21,2014 and then moved on to the United States where he has visited Birmingham, Alabama, Boston, Massachusetts and New York City.

The visit to the United States has witnessed sporadic protests from

Shugden followers who have accused His Holiness of religious discrimination. They protested with signs and chants outside recent events in Boston and New York.

His Holiness spoke at some length about the matter and thanked his supporters. “They say, ‘Stop Lying, stop lying’, but you stood behind me; I thank you. The thing is it’s harmful, but whether people listen to this or not is up to them. My responsibility anyway is to warn people and to make the situation clear. I have never said anyone has to listen to me,” he said.

China to punish officials who follow Tibet’s spiritual leader

Two monks from Kirti Monastery sentenced to up to three years

A monk engaged in scientific experiment. Photo: Science for monks

By Tenzin Desal: 03 November 2014

Dharamsala:- A group of Buddhist monks, students and scientists have gathered at Tibetans Children’s Village, Dharamsala, to discuss ‘Cosmology and Consciousness’.

As a part of Science for Monks, initiated by Library of Tibetan Works and Archives(LTWA), monks, students and Buddhist scholars from different monastries in India will participate in discussions with respected Indian and international scientists.

The conference is held at the TCV auditorium from November 3- 5 which inlcudes participation from Buddhist scholars and scientists from India and abroad.

In a press release circulated by the organisers, Dr Bryce E Johnson, Project Director for Science for Monks said: “Our intensive 3 to 4-week workshops, 19 of them so far, have engaged the monastics in scientific inquires into the nature of matter and mental phenomena.

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China’s Party chief in Tibet Chen Quanguo visits a convenience police-post in captial Lhasa, Tibet in 2012. Photo: State-run media China Tibet News

By Yeshe Choesang: 06 November 2014

Dharamshala: - The ruling Communist Party of China Thursday said it would severely punish officials in Tibet who follow the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Authorities in the so called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) announced this after receiving feedback from inspectors of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the CPC’s discipline watchdog, state-run Global Times reported Thursday.

“Some officials have failed to take a firm political stand and some grass-root officials in the region were found to P-5.....

Nine leading NGOs urged Obama to voice rights violation

Tibetan students protest over education policy

By Tenzin Desal: 06 November 2014

Dharamsala:- Students in Dzoege county in Amdo, staged a protest on November 1, calling for equality in education.

The protest was held following a meeting earlier on October 29, during which the officials discussed issues on education policy in the Ngaba area.

The proceeding of the meeting made available on the official website and translated by advocacy group in exile said: “the development trends of nationality education, which required the principal responsible comrades from the Department of Education of each county, particularly those who work with bilingual education.”

China’s ‘bilingual education’ policy demands Chinese as the main language of instruction.

In footage of a Youtube clip, uploaded by an exile media shows students shouting slogans and calling for equality in education.

Earlier on October 19, 2010, Tibetan students from 6 different schools carried out protests demanding ‘Equality of People, Freedom of Language’. They were protesting against the replacement of Chinese language over Tibetan language as a medium of instruction.

Two monks from Kirti monastery who were sentenced, Lobsang Tenpa (left) and Lobsang Gyatso (right). Photo: Kirti Monastery

By Yeshe Choesang:10 November 2014

Dharamshala:- Two monks from the Kirti monastery had been sentenced to up to three years for “separatist activities against the motherland” after they were arrested in April, earlier this year in Ngaba County, north-eastern Tibet.

“Lobsang Tenpa, a 19 year old monk of Ngaba Kirti monastery, draped with a hand-drawn Tibetan national flag around his head and carried a large portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He walked along the main street of Ngaba leading to the County administration shouting slogans calling for repeal of China’s repressive policies in Tibet,” Lobsang Yeshi and Kanyak Tsering said to the Tibet Post International, the liaison officer from Kirti monastery in Dharamshala.

He was arrested soon after the protest and was taken into custody by the Chinese authorities and sentenced to two years by the Barkham Intermediate People’s Court on November 7, for “separatist activities against the motherland”. “He suffered immense torture while he was in the custody,” they said.

Although the members of his family were allowed to attend the court proceeding but was denied legal aid to plead his case.

Another monk from Kirti monastery, Lobsang Gyatso, 20, was also sentenced on Novemver 7 for three years by the Barkham

County Intermediate People’s Court.

The representative from their monastery in Dharamshala said: “He carried a self-drawn Tibetan flag and walked the street of Ngaba calling for ‘freedom for Tibetans’ and the ‘return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

He was arrensted on April 25, earlier this year from his Monastery in Ngaba, north-eastern Tibet.

Since March 2011, more than 125 people are known to have set themselves on fire inside Tibet in protest against the repressive Chinese occupation of Tibet; over 85 in 2012, with 28 in the month of November 2012 alone. At least 113 of these protesters are known to have died.

Those who have self-immolated called for freedom for Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The monastery has been under strict Chinese surveillance in the last couple of years after monks repeatedly set themselves on fire protesting against the hard-line policies pursued by Chinese government.

Tibetan monks and nuns have been subjected to harsh ‘patriotic re-education’ programmes. Tibetan students have been sentenced to harsh prison terms for advocating for the right to use their language, and the friends and families of Tibetans who have self-immolated have been detained and interrogated.

Exiled Tibetans campaining for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Photo: Media file

By Tezin Desal: 31 October 2014

Dharamshala:- Nine leading non-governmental organizations, including International Campaign for Tibet had urged, President Obama, to publicly call for the release of imprisoned political prisoners during his upcoming visit to China.

In a letter issued on October 30, it said: “The extraordinary rise of civil society and the growing role of independent lawyers, writers, and other activists working tirelessly to promote universally recognized human rights has been one of the most positive developments in China in the past decade. P-5.....

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Editorial:

Expanding “Crime” and “Severe Punishments” in Tibet is a China’s style 15 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Chen Quanguo, the so called Chinese party chief in Tibet, recently described a ‘new measure’ that would make a big difference to Tibet and its people. In reality, the measure will only expand crime and severe punishment in Tibet.

He claimed: “the anti-separatism campaign should be strengthened and will severely punish those officials who are more concerned with their personal welfare, or those who still want to follow the Dalai Lama group or support separatism.” His logic was clear: preserve what the totalitarians in Beijing call ‘stability’ and ‘harmony’ to maintain state power.

In response, Tibetan minster, Dicki Chhoyang, said: “Repression incites resistance, and such actions will further hamper any chance of long term stability (sought

by China within the region). Clearly this latest warning to Tibetan officials who revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama demonstrates that all is not well in Tibet after all.”

It is clearly evident that the international community was misinformed by the Chinese authorities’ false claims about the ‘Lhasa Consensus,’ which accuses His Holiness the Dalai Lama of presenting a ‘distorted and incorrect’ picture of Tibet, and claims Tibetans are happy and enjoy religious freedom, and that Western media is biased in its reports about Tibet.

Many expressed their disappointment after China repeatedly claimed that 100 foreign attendees had signed and agreed to the document at the 2014 Forum on Development in Tibet, which took place in Lhasa on August 12-13.

Sir Bob Parker later disassociated himself from the Lhasa Consensus. Asked whether he was aware of its content, he responded: “Not at all. I’m aware that the statement was made but I certainly haven’t signed up to it. I think a number of people who were there were a little surprised to hear about that statement.

Certainly the conference that I’ve been attending has been focused on sustainable development, and there were no real political themes running through it at all.” Irish parliamentarian, Pat Breen, is reported to have refused to sign the document.

If after six decades of occupation, China’s long claim that Tibetans enjoy freedom and equality are true, then there should be freedom for the Tibetan people in the form of the protection and preservation of their culture, religion and national identity. However the so-called ‘socialist paradise’ is inhumane and littered with ‘empty promises.’

The Chinese authorities in Tibet spelled the true nature of their behavior, including their mistrust and suspicion of those Tibetan leaders serving the regime and the Party. However, many Tibetans believe that the authorities immediately politicise any issue, connecting them to ‘stability’ or ‘Separatism’ when there is an endemic issue of corruption or fear that tugging on one thread of their authority with a nasty habit of disregarding the law.

In an effort to crack down even harder on Tibetan writers, artists, intellectuals, and cultural advocates who criticised the Chinese government’s failed policies, from 2008, Tibetans are sentenced to death or life imprisonment for sharing news about Tibetan protests, including selfimmolations with Tibetans abroad.

The government and Party initiated unprecedented measures to further strengthen control over the Tibetan religion and monastic institutions and transform them into entities prioritising loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and patriotism toward China, whilst seeking to bring to an end His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s influence on Tibetan people in Tibet.

In 1949 China’s new leader, Mao Zedong, widely regarded as the most prolific mass murderer in human history, decided to invade Tibet, with the help of Russian leader, Joseph Stalin.

At that time Tibet, intentionally isolated from the rest of the world, had just a small peaceful army. China maintains its claim that Tibet was historically a part of its territory, yet pre-invasion Tibet had its own government, political system, distinct culture, language, religious traditions, and currency. The Tibetan government issued its own passports to travelers entering its borders and Tibetans travelling abroad.

The Tibetan delegation was forced to sign a ‘17-Point Agreement’ containing threats of personal harm and a full-scale takeover of Tibet by the Chinese military.

When the delegation hesitated to comply with the demands of the Agreement, they were warned: “It is

up to you to choose whether Tibet will be liberated peacefully or by force. It is only a matter of sending a telegram to the People’s Liberation Army group to recommence their march into Tibet.” The promises within the Agreement were soon broken as the Chinese strengthened their control over the country with an increasingly large military presence.

In the 64 years since the occupation of Tibet, the Chinese have attempted to ‘sinocise’ the Tibetans in an effort to more easily exert control over the Tibetan Plateau, which contains an abundance of natural resources and vast acreage to accommodate China’s growing population.

Such policies, however, have proved disastrously counterproductive, contributing to the destruction of Tibetan identity, widespread self-immolations, and growing instability across the Plateau.

Since 1950, the Chinese government has imposed severe punishments on Tibetans convicted of crimes intended to dismember the State. Tibet’s national flag and images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are prohibited. Tibetans can be punished simply for having nationalistic songs and images on their phones and laptops.

According to an April, 2013, US State Department report, China has implemented severe repression of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic heritage by, among other means, strictly curtailing the civil rights of Tibetan people. Other ‘serious human rights abuses’ outlined in the report included extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.

Media, international human rights NGOs and UN human rights institutions are banned from Tibet.

International think tank, Freedom House, has given Tibet a ‘worst-of-the-worst’ freedom rating of 7.0, while the chair of the US Senate’s foreign relations committee has described it as: “one of the most repressed and closed societies in the world.” More than 132 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule since 2009.

Ordered by the Chinese central government in 2012, authorities in Qinghai Province have cancelled aid to victims’ relatives and suspended all development projects in villages and towns where self-immolations have occurred. In November 2012, nine Tibetans set themselves on fire in the province. All who paid tribute, even with small messages of condolence, to the young people who committed suicide, will be punished. There will also be severe penalties for party officials considered ‘too soft’ with activists.

On November 9, about 5,000 children and teachers from schools in Rongwo city organised a peaceful demonstration denouncing the apathy of the authorities and media towards the increase in selfimmolations. The day before in Dowa, students lowered the Chinese flag from their institutions and government offices, in protest.

On November 14, authorities in Malho Prefecture and local CCP officials issued a five-point directive to punish those linked to cases self-immolations.

Measures include the cancellation of all forms of support for the relatives of self-immolators for three years, and of development projects and public investments in villages in which self-immolations have occurred. The Directive also orders authorities to investigate officials who have shown solidarity with self-immolators, by attending a funeral, making a visit or sending a message of condolence. CCP members have an obligation to report the possible involvement of peers or superiors, whilst local police are instructed to launch an immediate investigation into all those involved in demonstrations, public ceremonies or joint prayer services in memory of those who committed suicide. Agents are authorised to conduct interrogations and stop any suspects. All local governments are required to publish the new regulations and enforce them. Those who do not abide by the rules will be arrested and prosecuted.

To increase the Directive’s effectiveness, Beijing announced the news on all local media, accusing His Holiness the Dalai Lama of encouraging young people to set themselves on fire, in order to destabilise Tibetan-majority areas. In reality, the Tibetan leader has consistently criticised this form of protest, advising young people not to waste their lives with these extreme gestures.

Since 1950, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese. Tibetan Administration records show that between 1949 and 1979, 173,221 Tibetans died after being tortured in prison, 156,758 were executed, 432,705 were killed fighting Chinese

The Tibet Post International OPINION A tale of a prisoner and the burden of fighting for freedom

By Steve Shaw: 07 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Tens of thousands of people stood gazing at a group of prisoners, amongst them was Dhondup Wangyal. The crowd staring up at the stage were all from his hometown.

His hands,which had been broken by Chinese soldiers after he was paraded through the town a few days earlier, were bound behind his back by an iron chain and on stage he was forced onto his knees.

Describing the moment Wangyal said, “One of the Chinese ministers stepped on my head and said that, there has never been a person who has been vilifying our great leader Mao, how could this kind of small person be against our great nation, we must kill him.”

A Chinese official then began to chant, “counter revolutionaries will be tried!” soldiers and the crowds of spectators followed.

It was 1964 in Tibet.

Dhondup Wangyal was born in the Kham Karze region of Tibet into the family Dhoring-Khu-Tsong in 1948. There were a total of nine family members, the father Yonten Gyaltso, mother Yama Dolma and uncle Trimley Namgyal. Dhondup Wangyal was one of five boys and one girl.

Tibet was invaded by China in 1951 and conflict between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese army started in 1956 in the Kham and Amdo regions. Rebellion led to the 1959 Tibetan Uprising and the Tibetan political and spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet to seek refuge in India.

Yonten Gyaltso and Trinley Namgyal were amongst the many Tibetans fighting for independence.

Yonten took part in an uprising in his village and protested against the Chinese Communist Party.

Each morning he would offer incense to the Gods, calling for “Freedom for Tibet and long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama”. He was later arrested by the Chinese and imprisoned.

In Lhasa, the Tibetan capital,Trinley Namgyal protested alongside hundreds of monks against the Chinese authoritarian dictatorship and was eventually arrested by the Chinese military and taken to Sichuan, a Chinese province in the southwest. He was placed in the largest jail in the region, Dhang-Zheng-Dhong.

Two years later the Dhoring-Khu-Tsong family received bad news; Yonten Gyaltso had been killed.

The Chinese military made their family suffer;they robbed them of their valuables and destroyed their ancestors’ houses. “During this time Chinese rules were very confusing, we didn’t know how to speak or how to act.

As a family it was a very difficult situation, the Chinese soldiers were violent and stole from us. My family was imprisoned without trial. The reality I saw in this world was full of division,” Wangyal said,”I hated the Chinese government and during this time the Dalai Lama had already left for India. Life was not good for the Tibetan people.”

By age 16, Wangyal had become a supporter of the People’s Republic of China’s President, Liu Shaoqi, whose views were at odds to Chairman Mao’s authoritarian rule, “Many people were dying from the Chinese famine and Liu Shaoqi spoke out against Mao’s policies, saying that the Chinese people want freedom and the rules made

by Mao need to change.”

Angry at Chinese authorities and oppression, Wangyal and a close friend, Lobding,defaced a photograph of Mao. They dug out both eyes and bound both his hands with iron chains, they then scrawled across the photograph ‘freedom to Tibet, rights for religions, and long live Chinese minister Liu Shaoqi’.

They placed the photograph at the centre of Rongsoldiers, 342,970 starved to death, and 92,731 were publicly tortured to death, whilst a further 9,002 Tibetans committed suicide.

Since then many thousands more have died as a direct result of persecution, imprisonment, torture and beatings. China has ratified a number of UN conventions, including those relating to torture and racial discrimination, and yet has repeatedly violated these in Tibet.

More than 200 Tibetans were killed or disappeared during peaceful protests in all parts of Tibet in 2008.

None of the Chinese dictators have kept their promises.

What has happened to Tibet over the last six decades is no less than a great crime against humanity, and is much worse than what happened in Nanking. The Communist regime in China is a crime itself.

The recent claims made by the CCP chief in Tibet once again prove the false nature of the so-called Lhasa Consensus and reflect China’s totalitarian nature and ignorance of Human Rights, peace, freedom and democracy. The question now is: “Do you still think Tibetans are happy in Tibet and enjoying a socialist paradise?”

Pa-Tsang palace in their village and not long after Chinese soldiers and local riot police rounded up the villagers. They were all checked and questioned and many were arrested.

“My friend Lobding and I were thinking that this situation was started by us, why should other people suffer under the Chinese military?”said Wangyal, “We decided to tell the police that we did it. The people didn’t do anything wrong.”

Confessing to the authorities he said, “Without the regime of Chinese Communist Party, there wouldn’t be colonial rule in Tibet and we wouldn’t be suffering crackdowns and painful family separations. Thus we, the young generation of the snow land seek freedom for Tibet, we will fight against red China until our last breath. The police said ‘you look like a small person but you have quite a spirit’ then they beat us.”

In 1964, Wangyal was sent to prison in Sichuan where prisoners faced horrific conditions and prison guards routinely beat them, sometimes so severely they feared they would be killed.

Describing his arrival he said, “When I arrived there I almost died because they beat me so much, I never thought I would go back to being a normal person.”

Prisoners were given only a mouthful of tsampa (roasted barley flour) and water and were forced to work long hours in the fields.

For political prisoners like Wangyal conditions were a lot worse than those suffered by regular prisoners. They were made to work longer hours, given less food and subjected to harsher treatment from the prison guards.

Wangyal said, “I would be ordered to go to the field and work, we were not allowed to talk or to look at anyone and we always had to be bent over in the field, we were never allowed to stand upright.”

Highly respected Tibetan monks were also separated from the general population and were forced to work under even tighter control said Wangyal, “Lamas, (Tibetan Buddhist teachers), Geshe (Tibetan Buddhist academic), Tulku (Tibetan Lama believed to be a reincarnation) and monks were forced to work. Red flags and soldiers surrounded the field and they were not allowed to go beyond the red flags.”

During this time Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese statesman and future leader of China, and Liu Shaoqi, China’s head of state, were winning national prestige for their contributions to China’s economic reconstruction following Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ but their views conflicted with the political ideologies of Mao, including showing support for the freedom in Tibet. In 1966 - when Wangyal was 18 years old -Mao launched the Cultural Revolution out of fear of loosing power.

The movement gave Mao the power and influence to purge the Communist Party of his perceived enemies at the highest levels of government.

Schools and universities were closed and young Chinese were encouraged to randomly destroy old buildings, temples, and art. As part of the elimination of what Mao called ‘the four olds’, Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas,6,000 Tibetan monasteries were destroyed with only 12 left standing.

Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi became targets for Red Guards (a mass paramilitary social movement mobilised by Mao). Xiaoping spent four years in forced labor in the rural Jiangxi province and his eldest son, Deng Pufang, was imprisoned and tortured leading his eventual suicide in 1968.

In 1969 during the Ninth Party Congress, the Communist Party read the verdict that Liu Shaoqi was, “a criminal traitor, enemy agent and scab in the service of the imperialists, modern revisionists and the Kuomintang reactionaries”. He was publicly beaten and tortured for more than a year and eventually died.

Ten years later in December 1979 Dhondup Wangyal was released from jail, “the local police said that today you are free from us,” said Wangyal, “but it doesn’t mean you are free in this world, we will watch your activities, don’t make any mistakes again.

“I was very afraid of them and because of my mistake I had suffered fifteen years in the jail. Had I not paid the price?”

Buddhist monks ......

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“These exchanges encourage a humble approach that brings into focus big questions about the nature of reality, and grows the cross-fertilization of ideas between Buddhismand modern science.”

This initiative began in 1999 through the instruction of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the former director of LTWA, Achok Rinpoche.

It aims to develop leadership among Tibetan monastic intitutions and to encourage scientific learning as a part of curriculum in Buddhist academic studies.

Dhondup Wangyal, a former Tibetan political prisoner from Karze, Kham region of eatern Tibet. Photo: TPI/Dawa Phurbu

Despite returning to his family, Wangyal lived in fear of the Chinese authorities, “I went into hiding and regularly moved between the 18 districts in the Kardze Tibet autonomous prefecture. Whilst I was in hiding I met with some Chinese acquaintances who I knew from prison, we decided to escape to major Chinese cities so that it is difficult for the authorities to find us,” said Wangyal.

He remained in hiding for twenty years, “In 2000 my brother called me and told me to come back to my village I agreed because most of the Chinese leaders looking for me had either died or moved on,” he said.

Despite the Cultural Revolution ending in 1976Wangyal discovered little had changed in China’s policies toward Tibet, “In 2002 in order to discourage us from growing traditional crops, the Chinese Communist Party ordered the people of my village to stop farming and instead to grow paddy fields within three years. If we couldn’t grow rice we would have to pay a fine.

We were also encouraged to grow thorns in the field, which would destroy the traditional crops.”

Wangyal attempted to speak out but was told his views were illegal, “I told them for many years Tibet has depended on crops and animals. We should not follow the Chinese policies.”The livelihoods of many Tibetans were being destroyed, leading to poverty in the community.

He once again found himself the subject of intense surveillance and was regularly questioned by the Chinese police. Fear of further imprisonment led to him having making a dangerous decision many Tibetans still face today.

“On January 1, 2006, four family members and I escaped from Tibet to India. After more than a month my family safely arrived at the Tibet reception central in Nepal,” he said.

Although Wangyal is now living in exile, free from oppression in Dharamshala the Tibetan struggle continues and many from Wangyal’s generation are now facing having to pass it to new generations.

Reflecting on passing this burden, Wangyal said, “I have two boys and I want them to grow up educated, I am an old man and will not be around for long. My father died under the Chinese rule and he said to me “You must strive to end the communist rule in Tibet”.

So now I tell the same thing to my boys.”

As told to Steve Shaw and Dawa Phurbu, the Tibet Post Internationl

China sentences ......

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“My father, Gerig, was beaten severely for a month.

He was accused of denouncing China’s patriotic re-education campaign in a leaflet he pasted on the walls on March 12, 1998. He was arrested and tortured for the second time on March 17, 2008.

Then he was sentenced and beaten for a year for releasing information about the self-immolation of Kirti monastery’s monk Lobsang Phunstok on 19 March 2011.

“My mother, Donkho, too was beaten and detained for several days. My sister Metok was arrested and detained. She was beaten so severely that her brain got damaged.”

Dolma Tso is the sixth member of the family to have resisted and suffered in Chinese hands.

She was arrested following the self immolation of Kunchok Tseten on December 3, 2013. After the incident she “tried to offer help by lifting his charred body into the vehicle.”

Later she was arrested with two monks from Kirti monastery—Tenpa and Lobsang Gyatso, along with five other Tibetans whose identity still remains unknown.

The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

All is not well in Tibet after all, says DIIR Kalon of CTA

By Yeshe Choesang,: 06 November 2014

Dharamshala: - In response to a claim made by the top Chinese Communist Party official in Tibet, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said that “repression incites resistance and such actions will further hamper any chance of long term stability” that China is seeking in the region.

“Clearly this latest warning to Tibetan officials who revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama demonstrates that all is not well in Tibet after all,” stated Kalon Dicki Chhoyang, minister of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the CTA. In response to Quanguo’s claim, she said “CTA condemns any repressive measures taken inside Tibet. Repression incites resistance and such actions will further hamper any chance of long term stability that the Chinese government is seeking in the Tibetan region.”

On November 3, in response to the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) team’s report, Quanguo, who is the current CPC Party chief of the so called Tibet Autonomous Rregion, said that the anti-separatism campaign should be strengthened and will “severely punish those officials” who are more concerned with their personal welfare, or those who want to follow the Dalai Lama or “support separatism.”

“During the on-going anti-graft inspection in the Tibetan region, the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China and the local government of the so-called “Tibet Autonomous Region” jointly organized the “2014 Forum on the Development of Tibet” in August,” the CTA said on Thursday.

“A document called “Lhasa Consensus” was

publicized during the forum. Its purpose was to support the Chinese government’s claim that Tibetans inside Tibet are content with their life,” the CTA further said.

“CTA urges the Chinese government to resolve the Tibetan issue through dialogue,” the CTA said, adding: “ His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration have long proposed the Middle Way Approach as a mutually beneficial solution.”

“This alternative secures basic freedom for Tibetans and respects China’s territorial integrity.

Tibetans seek genuine autonomy under a single administration within the constitution of People’s Republic of China and do not seek separation,” it added.

It said that “This Middle Way Approach is clearly enunciated in the official public document titled ‘Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People’ submitted to the Chinese government by the Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2008.”

In July 2014, the Communist Party of China’s

highest anti-graft authority, the CCDI announced that it will investigate Tibetan areas under Chinese control ‘with a focus on high-ranking cadres and those expecting promotions’. The anti-graft drive is a nationwide campaign spearheaded by Wang Qishan, the head of CCDI and a close associate of Xi Jinping.

The inspection in Tibetan areas led by Ye Dong

Song spanned over two months and concluded on September 24. Ye, at a meeting held on November 3, is reported to have presented four point suggestions, one of which states that ‘some officials have failed to take a firm political stand ‘ with an emphasis on ‘neutralizing the separatists’.”

Bringing Tibet home makes its home premiere at DIFF

By Stephen Christohe: 03 November 2014

Dharamsala:- A former Dharamsala resident and filmmaker, Tenzin Choklay, now based in New York had its home premiere of the documentary, Bringing Tibet Home, to a packed auditorium on the evening of November 1.

Tenzin’s childhood friend, Tenzing Rigdol contemporary artist is the film’s subject. Bringing Tibet Home centres on the efforts of Tenzing to smuggle 20,000 kilos of Tibetan soil across the border into Nepal and ultimately to an art exhibition at TCV – ‘Our Land, Our People’ - which explored the nature of nostalgia and homecoming. For many Tibetans born and raised in Dharamshala, it was the first time they had touched Tibetan soil.

Bringing Tibet Home opens with Tenzing Rigdol in his studio in Queens, New York. Although he looks the part of a New Yorker, Tenzing describes the sense of incompleteness he feels as a refugee. He can laugh, but not fully - he is in the United States, but of nowhere. His work, a fusion of classical thangka elements and political critique, reflects these themes. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are made from collages of protesting monks, Chinese yuan and streaking laps of fire, symbolising recent Tibetan self-immolations.

Tenzing interprets his work as a reflection of his inner feelings and the world as it is, not an

overt critique of power. “People say my work is political, but I’d say it’s just honest,” he says.

When his father died of cancer in exile, having never fulfilled his dream of returning to Tibet, Tenzing hatched an ambitious plan to bring Tibetan soil from Shigatse to Dharamshala. The film documents the unexpected problems his plan encountered – from bribing capricious officials at international borders, to work delays and the ambient fear of being thwarted by officials and spies. Holed up waiting in Kathmandu, Tenzing anxiously smokes cigarettes and checks his phone for updates. When all appears lost, he visits a local monastery and enlists the help of monks who recite mantras for dispelling obstacles.

In the end, after 50 check posts and 2,000 kilometers, the soil was transported via Banbasa to Dharamshala. In a private audience with the Dalai Lama, Tenzing presented a platter of soil wrapped in a white khata. At the screening, the audience erupted in applause when His Holiness traced the word ‘Tibet’ with his finger in the soil and expressed hope about one day returning to his home country.

After the exhibition, the soil was taken away by thousands of Tibetans, and can now be found in prayer rooms throughout Dharamshala – a reminder that, for many, Dharamshala is a home away from home.

Tales of domestic and exile sadness at DIFF

By Stephen Christoher,: 03 November 2014

Dharamshala:- The second day of the Dharamshala International film festival featured two documentaries with very different themes – one on the issue of conformity to tradition versus the pursuit of individual happiness, the other on the pain of exile.

Nirnay was a meditation on the thwarted ambitions of a group of young women from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which opened to a packed auditorium at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA). Among the audience were a mix of locals and expats, along with Tibetan Children’s Village students and Indian students invited by Jagori - a local NGO that provides field trips for underprivileged young people. Also in attendance were tourists - domestic and international - who had travelled from as far afield as Mumbai and Switzerland.

Masta Ram, a Gaddi employee of Jagori and himself an aspiring filmmaker - said he was moved by the dedication of Nirnay’s director, Pushpa Rawat, who is reaching

wide audiences at film festivals with her first feature, at the age of only 27. He emphasised the importance of students watching such films, which showcase the economic and social pressures put on young adults when they pursue love marriages against their family’s wishes. Although the movie primarily highlighted the pressure put on Indian women, during a Q&A Pushpa clarified that marriage regulations restrict both sons and daughters.

After the screening, audience members ate and drank in the sunshine, bought jerseys at the Tibetan National Sports Association kiosk, and made donations to Rogpa Charitable Trust, Dolls 4 Tibet and other local NGOs. Back in the auditorium, To Singapore, With Love explored the cases of Singaporean political refugees who had been accused of being socialists and fled into exile around the world, including a doctor who escaped to London and devoted her life to working with Palestinian refugees, a member of the Malayan Communist Party who fought in the jungles of Malaysia and Thailand, and Wah

Tibet News

15 November 2014

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Sikyong of Tibet: International support for Middle-Way policy growing

By Yeshe Choesang,: 04 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Speaking about the policies and works carried out by the 14th Kashag since 2011, Tibetan political leader,Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay on Sunday said that the ‘Middle-Way’ policy for resolving the issue of Tibet has been getting increasing support from the international community.

According to a Tibetan administration media report, Dr Sangay spoke about the policies and works carried out by the 14th Kashag since the devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s political authority to the elected leadership in 2011.

‘The Middle-Way policy of the Central Tibetan Administration for resolving the Tibet issue has been getting increasing support from the international community,’ Sikyong said when he was addressing Tibetans in Kunphenling settlement in Ravangla, Sikkim, on Sunday.

Dr Lobsang Sangay also underscored the need to channel our efforts to education to realize the full potential and aspirations of the Tibetan people.

Sikyong said education is indispensable factor for sustaining and strengthening the Tibetan community and urged the parents to make education of their children a top priority. He urged students to study hard and to avail various scholarships offered by the education department of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Sikyong during his visit to the Tibetan settlement in Sikkim on 4 November 2014. Photo: CTA/DIIR

He underlined the need to channel our efforts to education to realize the full potential and aspirations of the six million Tibetans. He also urged Tibetans to maintain unity.

He said Tibetans should remain grateful to people and government of India for their magnanimity and

support for the last more than 50 years in exile.

Earlier in the day, Sikyong addressed students and faculty members at the National Institute of Technology Sikkim at their invitation. He said the purpose of the education is not only to earn livelihood, but also to serve the community.

of grave human rights abuses in Tibet must never be obscured by its PR.” The news raises questions over whether YouTube, Twitter and other social networks should be doing more. Mr Currie said he was “very pleased”that Google had removed the accounts but believes”that it can and should do more”, he also told us that the Review China YouTube channel is still online.

“The channel itself should be pulled and we’re going back to Google to pursue that. More to the point, it shouldn’t be the job of a small NGO to ferret out these kinds of abuses.” YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Although Twitter was quick to act on suspect accounts in July, Review China also still has a Twitter account with 15,000 followers many of whom appear to be bogus. Free Tibet said it has notified Twitter of the accounts.

Earlier in the year Chinese-language Twitter accounts were used to target the Chinese author Murong Xuecun, a critic of the Communist Party, in which a series of Chinese essays titled “The Past and Present Life of Murong Xuecun” berated his

personal life. These articles were re-tweeted over 1,000 times by around 100 accounts with matching characteristics.

Other suspect accounts have aimed at interfering with pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong, including making fake terrorism threats.

“China is constantly experimenting with new ways to spread its chosen image of a country.

Making progress under enlightened leadership and worthy of respect in the world. That may be the subtle influence of Confucius Institutes or carefully selected access to Tibet for Western public figures, such as at the recent Lhasa forum, or on social media.

“We’re doing all we can both to interfere with that project and, more importantly, to expose it.

People need to know that an attempt is being made to manipulate them. China has huge resources and there is very likely to be social media network we haven’t uncovered. The achievement, we believe, is pulling back the curtain on China’s propaganda machine,” said Mr Currie referring to Free Tibet’s investigative work.

Chinese YouTube propaganda exposed by Free Tibet

By Steve Shaw: 05 November 2014

London: - A number of YouTube accounts promoting Chinese propaganda have been removed following an expose by Free Tibet.

YouTube has deleted all but one of more than fifty suspect accounts the campaign group reported to them in September. The deletion of the accounts follows Twitter’s removal of similar accounts following campaign by Free Tibet in July.

Many of the deleted YouTube accounts posted videos portraying Tibet as a happy Chinese province. Most activity, however, was dedicated to supporting a YouTube channel, Review China, which produces content intended to reassure foreign observers of China’s general domestic progress, good intentions and neighborliness.

Free Tibet campaign manager Alistair Currie told the Tibet Post International (TPI),”The bulk of the accounts focused on supporting the generic pro-China content on Review China.

These videos use Western pundits and purport primarily to be independent analysis but they’re carefully edited so that there is no controversial content, they focus on the “progressive” changes in China and are basically congratulatory to the Chinese leadership.”

The accounts used images, primarily of Caucasians, stolen from other online sources and Anglo-Saxon names produced by combining two first names, the same format used for the Twitter accounts.

There is no evidence to directly link the Chinese government to the YouTube accounts but the scale, content, and nature of the videos posted are very similar, suggesting the same source. The same can be said for the nearly 100 Twitter accounts that were broadcasting positive news stories about life in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Highlighting the importance of combating this type of propaganda Mr Currie said, “China’s emphasis on the manipulation of Western public opinion is a sign of how important that public opinion is.

The reality that China is an occupying power, brutally repressing Tibetan resistance and guilty Piao, a graduate of Oxford University who became a human rights lawyer.

Tibetans in the audience surely related to a moving scene when Wah Piao – now in his late 60s - pulls down two empty suitcases from his cluttered storage shed, saying that when he fled Singapore, he had only those two pieces of luggage and that, when he returns, he intends to get rid of all his accumulated rubbish and take only what fits into the cases.

To Singapore, With Love evoked the e x p e r i e n c e o f a l i e n a t i o n f r o m o n e ’s homeland – a feeling widely shared by not only Tibetans but also other inhabitants of the Dharamshala area. Local Gaddis often recite a folk saying that they fled Lahore for the Dhauladhar mountains to maintain their religious traditions in the face of forced conversion, whilst Sindh Punjabis are described as refugees by other locals because they fled the newly created Pakistan during Partition.

CTA’s think-tank examines China’s policies in Tibet

By Tenzin Desal: 04 November 2014

Dharamshala: - The think-tank of Central Tibetan Administration(CTA), Tibet Policy Institute(TPI), organised a conference to examine the implications of Chinese policies in Tibet.

The conference which was held in Nyatri Hall at Gangchen Kyishong, was attended

by Dicki Chhoyang, Kalon of Department of Information and International Relations and the main speaker during the one-day conference, Dr Emily T. Yeh. In the inaugural speech, the Kalon said: “I left Tibet 10 years ago after spending 10 years in mainland china and I was most fortunate to travel to all three Traditional areas of Tibet.

“I sense that the level of literacy and education in Tibet is increasing, although not as high as we hope. And there are increasing number of educated Tibetans

who will hopefully be in a better place to address the impact of environment in their local communities.

“In exile it is important that we discuss these policies, it is difficult to say how much we could influence them but in terms of environmental policies I really think we can make a difference.

“We could raise international awareness and also awareness in the neighbouring countries that can influence the implementation of environmental policies which is not harmful to the pleateau.”

The main speaker for the conference, Dr Emily Yeh, is the Professor of Geography at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

She is the author of the book, Taming Tibet, which is drawn from her ethnographic fieldwork between 2000 and 2009 in Tibet.

Earlier reports of Tibetan refugee status in Nepal misleading: ICT

By Yeshe Choesang:

05 November 2014

Dharamshala:- International Campaign for Tibet(ICT), a US based advocacy group which works to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, has confirmed that there is no change in the status of Tibetans in Nepal.

In a news report published on November 29 in Asian News, chief of the National Commission for the Coordination of refugees, Shes Narayan Poudel, was quoted saying that they “have decided to no longer provide identity cards to Tibetan refugees,” and the new wave of immigratants couldn’t be accomodated as they “have no more space.”

ICT confirmed that there is no change in the status of Tibetans in Nepal and described the report ‘misleading’. “The agreement with the United Nations High Commission for

Refugees on the transit of Tibetan new arrivals through Nepal still holds,” said ICT, in a report published on their website.

“Although the number of Tibetans escaping into exile has plummeted this year, in the context of a steady decline each year since China’s crackdown in Tibet deepened in 2008. Under pressure from China, Nepal stopped issuing or renewing refugee identification cards in 1994 to the long-staying Tibetan community in Nepal.”

Since the mass protest by Tibetans in Tibet in 2008, China had led a massive campaign to supress Tibetans and the number of Tibetans crossing the border into Nepal had since dwindled.

The report in Asia News came after the visit to Nepal by the Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, Lobsang Gyaltsen where he announced an additional 20 million yuan annual aid to

4

15 November 2014

TPI NEWS

We have to develop peace within the mind, says His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his talk on “Educating the Heart and Mind” at the TD Garden in Boston, MA, USA on November 1, 2014. Photo: OHHDL

By Jane Cook: 02 November 2014

Boston, MA, USA: - The spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that the real source of peace and happiness is in the heart and mind and we have to develop it within the heart and mind.’

The Tibetan Association of Boston organized the final day of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s programs in the city with a public talk at the TD Garden on November 1, 2104 in Boston, MA, USA. He was given a traditional Tibetan welcome and was ushered into a meeting with US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Boston Mayor Martin J Walsh and Medford Mayor Michael J McGlynn.

Young Tibetans performed a song in praise of His Holiness, wishing that he live long. Senator Warren introduced him, praising His Holiness as an inspiration to people of all faiths around the world and quoted him as saying: “When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. Love and compassion are essential to our survival, not luxuries.” His Holiness responded: “Respected Senator, respected elder brothers and sisters and also brothers and sisters in the general public. Firstly, let me thank the young performers who have just danced and sung. They reminded me that when I too was young in Lhasa, although monks are not permitted to do so, I used to sing and dance like that myself. There would be opera performances for six days at the Norbulingka, which I would enjoy with my mother and avoid my classes.

“Boston is somewhere I have become familiar with and the last couple of days here have been meaningful.

I’ve learned several useful things about the mind and emotions, as well as the environment.”

He said that wherever he goes he makes it clear that there is no difference between the speaker and the audience. Like all 7 billion human beings, they are the same. All want to lead a happy life, and all have a right to do so. In this, all human beings are one. And since we are all the same on a human level, there are no grounds for fighting and killing. He said that differences of faith, race, nationality and color do exist, but are secondary.

To over-emphasize them leads to problems between us. They lead us to think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’, which easily leads to conflict.

“We all have a right to live a happy life, but what does it mean? Is it about money and power? No money by itself could bring happiness. I have wealthy friends who are unhappy. The real source of peace and happiness is in the heart and mind and we have to develop it within the mind.”

When His Holiness put on the Bruins Hockey cap he’d been given to shade his eyes, the hall once again erupted with cheers.

“The right way to deal with mental unhappiness must be within the mind too. On an emotional level, anger, fear and worry bring unhappiness. Scientists say they eat into our immune system. On the other hand, we are also equipped with a sense of affection and compassionate concern for the well-being of others.

“When we give in to anger and quarrel, the following day we feel uncomfortable. But on other days, when we have enjoyed ourselves in the company of others, the next day we feel light at heart.”

His Holiness explained that as human beings we are biologically equipped to feel and show affection. When we are in our mother’s womb, we benefit from her care and affection. In the weeks after we are born, her touch is crucial to the proper enlargement of our brains. This is how our lives begin.

“The value of compassion and forgiveness is not confined to matters of religion. These are human values that we shouldn’t neglect. We can cultivate them in a secular way. In the Indian sense, secularism means to respect all religious traditions as well as those who have none. After independence, India, a multi-religious society with a secular constitution, has become, compared to its neighbours, stable and harmonious.

It is also the world’s most populated democratic state.

“We need to find secular ways to cultivate warmheartedness. We need secular ways to educate ourselves about inner values. The source of a happy life is within us. Trouble makers in many parts of the world are often quite well educated, so it is not just education that we need. We need to pay attention to inner values.”

“We need a secular approach. We can change society, change humanity by changing ourselves as individuals.

By cultivating inner values, we can change our own lives and those of our families. This is how we can create a more peaceful world.

“I don’t think of myself as anything special. I don’t dwell on my being His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which would distance and isolate me from others. I think of myself as the same as others, which makes it easier for me to communicate with them. If you think about what I have said and you find it useful try to put it into effect. But if you find you have no interest, then just forget it. Thank you.”

“Visit Tibet,” he advised. “Go there and see how it is and report back what you find to your friends. In the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries there were Tibetan, Chinese and Mongolian emperors, but after the 9th century Tibet disintegrated. The federation we find in Europe and the United States is something I admire. The Chinese constitution allows for Tibetan areas to exercise certain rights. Our Middle Way Approach seeks to do just that.”

He then addressed Tibetans in their own language. When he was done, Pema Tsewang called on Richard Gere to come up on the stage to say a few words of thanks.

Greeting everyone with a warm smile, Gere said: “I am so happy to be here, so fortunate to spend a couple of hours with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He’s a personal friend to us all. I was remembering that after watching the great Scorsese movie about his life, ‘Kundun’, he said that when he left Tibet, he crossed the border and the Khampas who had escorted him mounted their horses again and rode back into Tibet. He reflected that he would never see them again and he hasn’t. Looking into India he said there were only people he didn’t know. Now, he says, “Wherever I go I have friends,” and we are all the

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Sorces: Always Astrology ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Extend an invitation to clients you enjoy spending time with. Take matters in hand when it comes to dealing with clients or colleagues. This will not be the best day to sign deals or to take care of other people’s financial matters. New hair, new outfit, new you.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Sunday.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21) You will be tempted to shop till you drop. You must not make unnecessary changes this month. Find out exactly what’s expected of you and you’ll be surprised to find out how capable you are. Changes in your residence will be favorable in the long haul.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You should consider getting into self improvement endeavors. Try to iron out any friction over money with your mate or conflicts could prevail. Don’t cause a scene, but when you get home let your partner know how you feel and why. You may be emotional if you allow your lover to take advantage of your good nature.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Be innovative. Make plans to mix business with pleasure. Dinner with clients or business associates should be successful. Don’t be afraid to say what’s on your mind. Your high energy must be directed into productive goals, or frustrations will occur.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

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Horoscopes for the month of November, 2014

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Don’t draw too much attention to yourself at work.

Plan a trip to the country or take a drive to the beach. You will be moody and react poorly to issues concerning your mate. Your sensitive nature will allow others to read you well.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.

The public schedule of His Holiness the Dalai Lama: November 2014 • Public Talk in Boston, MA, USA on November 1: His Holiness will give a public talk on Educating the Heart and Mind organized by the Tibetan Association of Boston in the morning at TD Gardens.

• Teaching in New York City, USA on November 2: His Holiness will give a day-long Buddhist teaching on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta (jangchup semdrel) and confer the Avalokiteshvera Empowerment (chenrezig wang) organized by the Da-nang Foundation at the Manhattan Center.

• Teaching in New York City, USA on November 3 and 4: His Holiness will give a Buddhist teaching on Tsongkhapa’s Essence of True Eloquence (drang nges lekshey nyingpo) organized

by Tibet House US at the Beacon Theater.

• Teaching in Dharamsala, HP, India from November 11 to 13: His Holiness will give teachings on Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland of the Middle Way (uma rinchen trengwa) at the request of a group of Koreans at the Main Tibetan Temple. Source: The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) You have two choices; Get out on your own, or bend to your mate’s whims. Your health may suffer if you don’t control your present situation. Consider a conservative investment that will stay solid when everything else goes sour. Your ability to be a self starter will help get things done and motivate others.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) elp elders get their personal papers in order.

Get involved in competitive sports. Friends will appreciate your attention and playful nature. Offer consolation, but don’t give them any direction. You can help them more than they can help you.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Thursday.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Reevaluate your situation. You will be able to pick up on future trends if you keep your eyes peeled for unique ideas. Compromise will be necessary.

Digestive disorders will be a result of family squabbles.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) You can make excellent investments if you are in the right place at the right time. You will have good ideas for home improvement projects. Too much talk will lead to disputes. Family members will not be happy with the amount of time you are spending away from home.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Organize social events or family gatherings. Take time to help a friend who hasn’t been feeling well.

Expect some flak. Put your time and energy into travel, philosophy, and soul-searching.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Overindulgence will be a problem if you are out in a social setting. Romance will be yours if you get out and do things in large groups. Get promises in writing or you will be disappointed. Try to keep to yourself; work diligently on domestic chores and responsibilities.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Things are looking up. Don’t be too quick to blame others for your bad mood. You can meet a new romantic partner or secure the love connection you already have by going out and entertaining yourself.

You should be promoting your ideas.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaches at the request of a Korean group

His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaches at the request of a group of Koreans. Photo: TPI/Choenyi Sangpo

By Tezin Desal,: 12 November 2014

Dharamshala:- His Holiness the Dalai Lama started teaching on November 11, at the request of a group of Koreans at his temple in Dharamsala.

He will be teaching on a Buddhist text “Precious Garland of the Middle Way,” which is composed by a Buddhist teacher and a philosopher, Nagarjuna.

The text which contains 500 verses was originally written to advice a king where Nagarjuna offers counsel on how to conduct one’s life and frame social policies that reflect Buddhist ideals.

Before leafing through the text he extolled the Nalanda scholar and referred to Nagarjuna as the “second Buddha.”

According to media reports the teaching is attended by over 4000 people from 57 different countries.

Drawing from his ideas on secular ethics, Tibet’s spiritual leader said: “Over the past 200 to 300 years, mankind had made enormous progress materially. With the development of material wealth, it could bring us physical comforts and means to please our senses. However, this couldn’t guarantee peace of mind.

“Although we talk about peace, yet we witness cases of violence today. If we all could see each other as same human beings, then the divisions which occur on the second level, which is based on colour, creed and religion wouldn’t occur.

If we could perceive each other in this way then we could make contributions to world peace.”

Earlier in April this year, during a visit to Japan, His Holiness was requested to visit South Korea by a group of Koreans. However, he cited “Korean government’s political and economic interests and considerations” as a reason for not being able to visit the country.

US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues to visit India and Nepal

By TPI: 11 November 2014

Dharamshala:- The special coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Ms. Sarah Sewall, is scheduled to visit Tibetan communities in Nepal and India during her visit to two countries from November 9 – 16.

According to a press release from the US State Department, made available through Central Tibetan Administration’s official website, it said: “As the United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Under Secretary Sewall will also travel to Dharamsala, India to discuss Tibetan refugee issues.”

“She will announce a new award of $3.2 million for a Tibetan Health System Strengthening Project to universalize access to quality health services, and especially to end preventable child and maternal deaths and create tuberculosis free communities, for Tibetan refugee communities in India and Nepal.”

During her visit to Nepal, Under Secretary Sewall will meet with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and other senior government officials to

His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet arrives back in Dharamshala

By Tezin Desal: 07 November 2014

Dharamshala:- The spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, arrived back at his residence in Dharamsala on November 7, after touring Canada and United states.

During his last engagement in New York, USA, he met with the Tibetan community in USA at Javitas Convention on November 5.

Speaking at the gathering of around 5000 Tibetans, he said: “today, when I have this opportunity to meet all of you, I wondered for a moment if I was back in Tibet, or in one of the large settlements in South India.

“You’re all working hard to retain your Tibetan identity and spirit and I thank you.

“Prostrating, chanting mantras and circumambulation are good, but they are not the main practice. You need to know how to transform the mind.”

“The 6 million Tibetans in Tibet are our real masters.

They have been going through difficult times, not least because of the hard-line policies pursued by Chinese officials in Tibet. And yet Tibetans have not lost their spirit and character,” he added.

Later in the afternoon, he met with a group of Chinese students studying in New York and surrounding areas.

During the meeting he highlighted the long standing relations between the Chinese and Tibetan people.

“One of the problems between us is ignorance.

For too long, too many have thought of Tibetans as backward and barbaric. But now they have the opportunity, more Chinese are finding things to admire in Tibet. Spiritually, China and Tibet are very close. Today, there are said to be 300-400 million Chinese who call themselves Buddhists, many of whom have some interest in Tibetan Buddhism,” the Nobel Laureate said and he also took questions from the Chinese students.

According to the schedule published on his official website, His Holiness will give teachings on Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland of the Middle Way (uma rinchen trengwa) at the request of a group of Koreans at the Main Tibetan Temple from November 11 to 13

Dr Sarah Sewall during her earlier meeting with His Holiness.

Photo: tibet.net

discuss bilateral coordination on key issues, including Nepal’s progress toward adopting a constitution and completing its democratic transition.

She is also scheduled to visit and meet Tibetan communities based in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Secretary of State, John Kerry had designated Sarah Sewall, to serve as United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues on February 20, 2014.

As Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues, Under Secretary Sewall coordinates US government’s policy programs on Tibetan issues within the context of bilateral relationships with the People’s Republic of China, India, and Nepal, where there are significant populations of Tibetans.

Dr. Sarah Sewall, formerly a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She was sworn in as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights on February 20, 2014.

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“The deteriorating human rights environment and the extraordinary damage done to China’s civil society should be given greater prominence in the bilateral relationship generally and your upcoming trip in particular.

“We believe that by publicly raising the cases of particular activists during your visit to Beijing, you may afford them protection from ill-treatment or torture in detention, and increase the prospects of parole or humanitarian release. Even if these results are not achieved, your speaking about these activists now would bring them and their family members a degree of hope.”

The letter urged the President to publicly call for the release of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia; Uighur economist and advocate of interethnic dialogue Ilham Tohti; human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who is not free despite having been released from prison; and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is a revered Tibetan religious leader. Born in 1950 in Kham, Tibet. He was tried on November 29, 2002 for his alleged involvement in bombing and was sentenced to death with a two-year execution adjournment.

Tibetan activists and rights groups protested the sentence by questioning the fairness of the trial, and mistreatment meted out to him during detention.

His sentence was later commuted to life sentence on January 26, 2005. Latest report confirmed that his health is deteriorating after a decade in prison.

The nine organizations includeAmnesty International, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Human Rights First, Human Rights in China, and Human Rights Watch.

INTERNATIONAL

15 November 2014

5

His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet speaks on Buddhism and Science

By Cameron Hickert: 31 October 2014

Boston, USA: – The spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama on October 31, 2014 joined his old friends – Richard Davidson and President of the Mind & Life Institute Arthur Zajonc – as he arrived to take part in the 2nd International Symposium for Contemplative Studies (ISCS).

Representatives of 23 countries were present in a body of interested people twice the size of the first meeting of ISCS. The Tibetan leader addressed the scientific event by stating, “I am a Buddhist monk. The Nalanda tradition I belong to follows the Buddha’s instruction not to accept his teaching out of faith and devotion, but as a result of investigation and experiment.”

He mentioned that the study of science has now been formally introduced into the curriculum of the Tibetan monastic universities re-established in South India. This is a part of a trend that began with his encounters and meetings with scientists, had been mutually enriching, according to His Holiness.

Science has intrigued the spiritual leader ever since he was a child, and he would even dismantle his toys to see what made them work. Similarly, trying to keep a generator that powered an old movie projector working taught him a great deal about the principles of electricity. In 1954-55 he visited Chinese factories, hydro-electric plants and steel works.

When Dr Davidson suggested the boundaries between Buddhism and science are increasingly blurry, His Holiness described the content of the 300 volumes of Indian Buddhist literature translated into Tibetan. They include three categories: Buddhist science, philosophy and religion. Furthermore, he expressed interest in efforts to deal with philosophy and science over the last 20-30 years, which he feels have attempted to bridge the gap between appearance and reality. Modern science knows a great

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Wang Center for the Performing Arts in Boston, MA, USA on October 30, 2014. Photo/OHHDL

deal about matter, including the impermanence and the momentary change that constantly occurs at an atomic level. Ancient Indian psychology, including Buddhist psychology, has an extensive understanding of the workings of the mind and emotions.

Dr Amishi Jha on previous evening held an extensive discussion on climate change and asked His Holiness to comment. He felt he did not know what to say, but noted the role of trees in the Buddha’s life. He was born under a tree, he attained enlightenment under a tree and he passed away beneath a tree. Monastic groups would move from one retreat to another and among the incoming group’s responsibilities was caring for and watering the saplings planted by their predecessors.

There were also strictures about not polluting the water supply. All of these considerations have an environmental aspect.

“This is our only home; if we destroy it what are

we going to do? Where can we go?”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama closed the day by recounting a story from several years ago: He had asked the British Queen Mother whether the world was getting better or not, when she was 96 in 1996 and had seen most of the 20th century.

She did not hesitate in telling him the world was getting better, saying when she was young there was no talk of human rights or self-determination as there is today. Since the 20th century was an era of such violence, His Holiness is very keen that steps are taken to make the 21st century an era of dialogue instead.

He concluded, “You, members of the younger generation, are the only hope for the future. Please think seriously about what we’ve talked about.

Look at things from a wider perspective, taking a long view. We cannot change the past, but you can shape the future.”

the Tibetan people’s unwavering determination and hard work have achieved a lot,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama said., adding: “I believe that we will achieve even more if we continue our efforts in a pragmatic manner.”

The Tibetan spiritual leader further explained that “the devolution of his political authority in 2011 was not because he was discouraged or the Tibetan issue appears bleak.”

Emphasising that Tibetans should follow the rest of the world, His Holiness said ‘every individual must shoulder their responsibility equally.’

The Central Tibetan Administration launched the ‘Middle Way Approach Awareness Campaign’ in a renewed effort to galvanise global support on the Tibetan call for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue on 5 June. Details is available on www. middlewayapproach.org

His Holiness: Discuss Tibet issue with common Chinese

By Yeshe Choesang: 10 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Urging the Tibetans to be more open minded and discuss the issue of Tibet with common Chinese, the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his last day in the US said He believes Tibetans will achieve even more, if they continue their efforts in a pragmatic manner for the cause.

His Holiness made the remarks at the Javits Convention Center on Friday, 7 November, New York while addressing a gathering of over 5000 Tibetans from the Tibetan community of New York and New Jersey.

He explained that he himself have initiated many dialogues with Chinese nationals to create awareness on the issue of Tibet.

“Middle Way Approach does not seek one side gain and one side lose. This proposition has gained a lot of support and admiration from Chinese people and scholars,” said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

“In the last 55 years of our struggle for Tibetan cause,

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have serious corruption issues,” Ye Dongsong, head of the CCDI inspection team said.

Ye stressed that “the Tibet Autonomous Region enjoys no exception in the anti-graft campaign” and asked the regional government to focus on neutralizing separatists and maintaining social stability, crack down on corruption and strictly monitor projects in the region.

In response to the inspection team’s report, Chen Quanguo, CPC Party chief of the TAR, said that the antiseparatism campaign should be strengthened and will severely punish those officials who are more concerned with their personal welfare, or those who still want to follow the Dalai Lama group or support separatism.

“Some officials in Tibet still sympathize with the Dalai Lama. They continue to support the Dalai Lama out of their religious beliefs,” Xiong Kunxin, a professor with Minzu University of China told the state-run daily.

“Those officials also support the Dalai Lama’s separatism activities,” he added, without giving any further details.

Xiong noted that ‘those officials support the Dalai Lama’s renewed push for a high-degree of autonomy in Tibet to drive awaytheHanpeople,themajorityethniccommunityinChina.’

“Such officials should not be tolerated,” he said, adding: “Western countries’ support made the Tibet issue more international.”

According to the report, since July, 13 inspection teams were dispatched by the central discipline inspection agency to 10 regions including Tibet, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Jiangsu, to weed out corruption and close loopholes in party and government work.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his meeting with the Tibetan community at the Javits Center in New York, NY, USA on November 5, 2014. Photo/Sonam Zoksang

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Dr Franz Pahl Mr Thomas Kemeil Mr Shalinder Kumar Ven Thupten Yarphel

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Former speaker of South Tyrol, Italy A software engineer, Austria A professional graphic designer, India A Tibetan writer, India

Editor in Chief Yeshe Choesang Chinese Editor Keary Huang Tibetan Editor Choneyi Sangpo Tenzin Desal English Editor Project Manager Matthew Singh Toor Dawa Phurbu Reporter Photographer Artemas Liu Layout & Design Choneyi Sangpo Circulation Jigme Gyatso Office Assistant Gelek Gyatso

Contributors to this editon Keary Huang Taiwan Jane Cook UK Sophie Jay India Cameron Hector US Steve Shaw UK Tenzin Desal India Yeshe Choesang India Choenyi Sangpo India Dawa Phurbu India Jigme Gyatso India Gelek Gyatso India Himalayan Literacy Trust Room #, Top Floor, New Varuni House Temple Road, McLeod Ganj: 176219 Dharamshala, Distt. Kangra H.P., India

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TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International Back Page Focus “This is definitely something different from most festivals.” filmmaker Year 2020 Crucial for Tibet, says

15 November 2014

Final day at DIFF saw the screening of Vara: A blessing by Khentse Norbu. Photo: DIFF

By Sophie Jay: 10 November 2014

Dharamshala: - The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) buzzed with human interaction and activity as the sun set on the third Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), on Sunday, November 2.

As the sun inched down behind the graceful silhouettes of towering deodar pine trees, casting an orange glow over the Dhauladhar mountain range and the myriad prayer flags which fluttered in the bracing Himalayan breeze, Tibetans, Indians, and a scattering of visitors from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia chatted animatedly, comparing notes on the three and a half day event.

Throughout the day, directors, film lovers, stall holders and volunteers had sat side by side eating traditional Himachali dishes prepared and served free of charge on leaves in a communal manner I have only previously witnessed at the famous

Guru-Ka-Langar dining hall at Amritsar ’s Golden Temple.

All the while momo sellers, cake bakers, chai wallers and charities jostled for attention at stalls lining two sides of the court yard.

“Watching movies is an art in itself,” said grassroots director of Students for a Free Tibet, Tenzin Tselha, 27, who ran a stall at the event, taking the opportunity to speak to anyone she could about the challenges facing Tibet, and sell merchandise which she said funds 80 per cent of the NGO’s activities.

“Our community doesn’t have a state, something that we’re fighting for, and I think film is a great way in which to experience that. Art can connect so many people together and Tibetans in different countries are also watching these films.

“I also think discussions (leading from the films) make us analyse our and other people’s situations and get ideas, which is good. I think that we need that as a community.”

President Obama raises Tibet issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping

President Barack Obama is welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: Getty Image

By Steve Shaw: 12 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Speaking in Beijing shortly after announcing the US and China had reached a deal to curb greenhouse gases President Obama said on Wednesday, “we recognise Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China.”

‘We are not in favor of independence. But we did encourage Chinese authorities to take steps to preserve the unique cultural, religious and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people,’ President Obama said at a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

President Obama also said he and President Xi ‘had a very healthy exchange around these issues,’ and he told the Chinese head that ‘it is so important for us to speak out for the freedoms that we believe are universal, rights that we believe are the birthright of all men and women, wherever they live, whether it is in New York or Paris or Hong Kong.’

‘We think history shows that nations that uphold these rights – including for ethnic and religious minorities – are ultimately more prosperous, more successful, and more able to achieve the dreams of their people,’ he added.

President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping praised their landmark joint plan to curb carbon emissions, which includes targets for reduction of emissions in the United States and an ambitious first-time commitment by China to stop its emissions growing by 2030. Also highlighted were agreements on cyber security, trade and regional security.

Speaking on cooperation between the two nations Obama said, “When the US and China are able to work together effectively, the whole world benefits.”

On the subject of human rights, Xi, who spoke through a translator, said China has made progress on human rights but said there was always room for improvement. Obama highlighted America’s strong support for human rights of all people but said the US does not favour Tibetan independence from China.

This is not the first time Obama has said the US does not support Tibetan independence. On February 21, 2014, President Obama met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC, despite objections from China. According to a statement from the White House, Obama reiterated that the US position is that Tibet is part of the People’s Republic of China and the United States does not support Tibet independence.

Obama stressed that he encourages direct dialogue to resolve long-standing differences and that a dialogue that gets results for China and Tibetans would be positive.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama told Obama in February that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and hopes that dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government will resume. Both agreed on the importance of a positive and constructive relationship between the United States and China.

When asked on Wednesday about sanctions to foreign journalists, the Chinese President defended China’s position and said that journalists should obey China’s laws and regulations. In recent years reporters from New York Times, Reuters and Al Jazeera are few among many other media houses who have encountered problems in obtaining permission to report in China.

She added: “The festival is a great platform and we’ve been able to talk to so many people about Tibet. We’ve even introduced some people to the Tibetan issue, so having a stall here has been so useful.”

The festival showcased films, animations, shorts and sound installations from India and across the world, and featured a panel discussion focusing on New Directions in Indian Cinema, master classes and workshops.

Films considered by co-directors, husband and wife Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin, to be of particular interest to Tibetan viewers included Bringing Tibet Home, by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay, The Dossier, a documentary on the life of writer and activist, Tsering Woeser, by Chinese film maker, Zhu Rikun, A Gesar Bard’s Tale, by Tibetan film maker, Lharigtso, and her Finnish/ Irish husband, Donagh Coleman, and Vara: A Blessing, by Tibetan/Bhutanese film maker, Khyentse Norbu.

Between mouthfuls lunch which he ate whilst fielding questions from Tibetan and international journalists following the screening of his film, Rinpoche Khyentse Norbu, who also made The Cup and Travellers and Magicians, said it felt ‘very special’ to show Vara in his home town, adding that the film’s subject matter, involving ‘vivid dream worlds of Hindu Gods and classical Indian music and dance,’ was: “probably unexpected coming from me, and this I think is probably a good thing.”

K h y e n t s e N o r b u ’s f i l m w a s j u s t o n e o f s e v e r a l w h i c h c o m p l e t e l y f i l l e d T I PA’s 500 seat auditorium, and would be viewers were turned away from certain screenings on Saturday and Sunday.

So what makes DIFF such an overwhelmingly popular event?

Medical student, Shruti Sood, from Kangra, was one of 80 volunteers who came from across India and abroad to work at the event.

“Himachal is a place in which not much cinema is happening, so this festival is a huge bench mark and I really wanted to connect in some way,” she said.

“It is a great cultural event and a beautiful place to grow. Mainstream cinema is more about acting, whereas independent cinema is more about directing, so it’s much more open minded.

I really want the people of Himachal to come forward and support this festival.”

Digital marketing consultant, Karam Grover, 22, who travelled from Delhi for the second year in a row, also to volunteer, added: “I used to make films in college and I love volunteering here.

“I like that they have so much faith in me, and that I get to interact with film makers from around the country. I hope to come back again next year.”

Andres Colasanti, 38, from Argentina, said he liked: “the interaction of audiences, art fusion and philosophy,” whilst Rebecca Novic, from the United Kingdom, described the festival as being: “really good for the town.

“There are lots of reasons why people come here and I think it’s really exciting to have another angle and perspective on Dharamshala. More contemporary. I think it’s a really positive thing,” she added.

Finnish film maker, Mika Mattila, has taken his documentary Chimeras, chronicling the struggles of two ‘visual artists in crisis’ in contemporary China, to 40 film festivals around the world.

Seated beneath the fluttering prayer flags as the November dusk chill set in, the 40-year- old director, who also worked as a cameraman on A Gesar Bard’s Tale, said: “The scale of this festival is very human compared to a lot of big city events. It has a much more personal touch.

“This is definitely something different from most festivals.”

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Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay

By Cameron Hickert: 11 November 2014

Dharamshala: - Speaking to Tibetans in Gangtok – the Indian state Sikkim’s capital – Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay said that the year 2020 is crucial for the Tibetan movement.

Specifically, the Tibetan political leader stated Tibetans at the same time will face major challenges as a result of a great generational shift.

“The year 2020 would mark 70 years since the invasion of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China. At the same time, the generation of Tibetans who have experienced freedom in Tibet before the Chinese invasion would have greatly dwindled,” the Sikyong said.

He then spoke about the situation of a people in exile: “The next generation of Tibetan leadership inside and outside Tibet has to cope with a crucial and challenging reality.

Tibetans living in occupied Tibet will have no personal memories of traditional Tibet, while Tibetans outside Tibet will know only a life lived in exile.”

“So to sustain the movement, it is imperative for the elder generation of Tibetans to pass on their knowledge of Tibet’s history and culture to the younger generation,” he added.

The Sikyong also spoke on several other topics.

These included the 14th Kashag’s progress regarding international support for the Tibetan cause, the Middle Way policy that seeks genuine autonomy for Tibet, and the Central Tibetan Administration’s scholarship plans.

He urged Tibetans to maintain unity and condemned the baseless allegations of Dolgyal followers against His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

While at the Gangtok Namgyal Institute of Tibet, Dr Sangay on 4 November met Ms Rinchin Ongmo, Chief Secretary of Sikkim, and Tenzin Gelek Rinpoche, Secretary of the Ecclesiastical Affairs Department at Gangtok. During their meeting, the Sikyong expressed the Tibetan people’s deep gratitude to the people and government of India, and particularly to the Sikkim government for their hospitality.

Addressing a press audience in the afternoon, Sangay responded to questions posed by

Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay during his visit to Gangtok in Sikkim.

Photo: CTA/DIIR

local reporters. The reporters asked the Sikyong about various issues facing the Tibetan community, including the recently formalised Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy 2014, the economic status of the Tibetan community in exile, and the Tibetan administration’s expectations towards the new Indian government.

Following the press conference, the Sikyong met representatives of various Tibetan monasteries in the area and members of ‘Wings of Tibet’ – a network of young Tibetans and Tibet supporters in Gangtok. He urged the young Tibetans to continue their good work, particularly their efforts to preserve the rich

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