Tibet Post International Newspaper May 15

International conference on reviewing Simla convention 1914 Vol. 03, Issue 109, Print Issue 33, 15 May 2014

Tibetan Parliament to hold its 8th session

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Dolgyal followers making baseless allegations: Sikyong

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B o d - K y i - Cha-Trin

A Voice For Tibet Bi-monthly

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Like peace, Human rights require action: His Holiness

By Becky Bargh: 13 May 2014

New building of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in Dharamshala, Northern India, 27 March, 2014. Photo: TPI/Yeshe Choesang

By Becky Bargh: 4 May 2014

Dharamshala, 3 May: The eighth session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile will convene for 11 days from 12 – 24 September 2014 as per article 40 of the Charter of Central Tibetan Administration, announced the parliamentary secretariat. Tibetan members of Parliament have been requested to register their attendance on 11 September at the Parliamentary secretariat, it said.

The new building of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile was inaugurated

by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 11 March 2014.

Sikyong presides over TIPA governing meeting

Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay with staff and artists at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, on 5 May 2014/Photo/TIPA

By Jake Thomas: 21 April 2014

Dharamshala: - Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong of the CTA chaired the 31st Governing Body Meeting of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) on 5 May. During the meeting, Sikyong and the board members, including the director of TIPA, exchanged views on important matters such as fund raising and infrastructure development. Founded in 1959 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama after coming into exile, TIPA is a premier institution for the preservation and promotion of Tibetan performing arts and culture.

Following the meeting, Sikyong went on an inspection tour of the institute and held separate meetings with the staff, artists and students. Urgent matters discussed at the meeting include renovation of roof of the auditorium and ground in view of the next year’s 20th Anniversary of Opera Festival (Tibetan: Shoton) and computers for the office. Sikyong assured TIPA of best possible help to fulfill their needs.

Speaking on the importance of TIPA’s role in the preservation of Tibetan culture, he praised its exemplary record of preserving and promoting Tibetan culture and encouraged them to continue to make further stride.

Tibetan Mine Protesters Detained in Palyul

Tethong Tenzin Wangpo (right) taking the oath from Mr. Penpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, 6 May 2014. (DIIR Photo/Tenzin Phende)

By Becky Bargh: 6 May 2014

Dharamshala, 6 May: - Tethong Tenzin Wangpo has sworn-in as a member of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from Europe at a brief swearing-in ceremony.

Wangpo was assigned as a member of parliament as per article 57 (2) of the Tibetan Charter, following Ms. Chungdak Koren’s resignation on health grounds. The oath of office was administered by Speaker Penpa Tsering of the Parliament, held at the Parliament House.

Tethong Tenzin Wangpo is a Tibetan activist based in Switzerland.

He has a master’s degree in History and Law, as well as, Economic and Social History from the University of Zurich. He has worked for various organisations across Switzerland including acting as senior consultant for Campaign forum Ltds; as well as being a party secretary and spokesperson for the Green Party of Canton, Zürich.

Oslo, Norway, 9 May 2014: - ‘Like peace, Human Rights do not come from merely making good wishes,’ the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama said during a meeting with members of the Norwegian Parliament, adding ‘it will require real action.’

His Holiness met on the steps of The Storting, the Norwegian Parliament building by Ketil Kjenseth, Liv Signe Navarsete and other Members of Norwegian Parliamentary Group for Tibet.

“I’m a great admirer of democracy. I often say that the world belongs to the whole of humanity; we are the owners. Each country belongs to the people who live there. When a government is chosen by the people it is accountable to those people,” expressed His Holiness after the members of the Parliament introduced themselves.

Regarding the environment, he said that a Chinese ecologist had estimated the significance of Tibet to be equivalent to that of the North and South Poles, so he had described Tibet as the Third Pole. Asia’s major rivers have their source in Tibet and 1 billion people depend on their waters.

“As everybody knows, I’m a Buddhist monk,” His Holiness said, “committed to promoting human values, inter-religious harmony and the preservation of Tibet’s Buddhist culture and natural environment.”

His Holiness later added, “Like peace, progress on human rights will not come about just by making good wishes, it will require action.”

Kjenseth opened the meeting to questions from the floor and the first was regarding religious conflict. His Holiness replied that such conflict is normally political or economic rather than religious. He commented that while it is sufficient for an individual to think personally of one religion, in today’s world on a community level we have to respectfully acknowledge several religions and several truths.

Another questioner began by expressing the hope that His Holiness had felt the warmth with which he is received in Norway. He said: “You’re always smiling, what’s the reason?”

“Peace is actually related to inner peace. Anger destroys our inner peace, while love, compassion and forgiveness are its source. As for why I laugh and smile, that’s my secret! Laughter is one of our unique human abilities.”

To a question about how he sees the future of an autonomous Tibet, His Holiness said Tibetans want the Chinese authorities to grant the rights and privileges to Tibetan areas. These include human rights and environmental issues, for example, where mining is being undertaken contrary to the wishes of the local people. He said he tells Chinese friends, ‘Look at India with its many different scripts and languages and no threat of

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meeting with members of the Norwegian Parliamentary Group for Tibet at the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, Norway on May 9, 2014. Photo/Duy Anh Pham

separatism.’ Tibetans want religious freedom, the right to preserve their language and culture.

When a questioner suggested that human rights violations in Tibet are among the worst anywhere, His Holiness replied that, Tibetans are proud of their culture and the installation of CCTV cameras in every corner of Lhasa and in temples has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.

“At present China spends more on internal security than on defence; no one else does this,” added His Holiness.

Aquestion was raised about the self-immolations. His Holiness said, “This is a very sensitive issue,” and that such “drastic action,” draws attention away from the underlying issues between China and Tibet.

“When they began I told a BBC correspondent that such events were really very sad and questioned how effective they would be for the Tibet issue. Later, in Japan I stated that these events are symptoms of a cause which urgently needs to be investigated and addressed.”

China, which considers the Tibetan spiritual leader a subversive separatist, has accused him and his loyalists in exile of fomenting the self-immolations, which have embarrassed the Chinese authorities.

After the top Norwegian officials refused to meet the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, thousands of Tibetans and supporters turned out to express their support for His Holiness and to wish him a long life, at each event in Oslo.is damaged in Tibet, who knows what will happen.”

On Saturday, His Holiness travelled to Rotterdam in which he expressed his deep concern for the situation in Tibet, “If Tibetan Buddhist culture is damaged in Tibet, who knows what will happen.”

China destroys Tibet’s brick plants

Tibetan man stabs self to death in mining protest in eastern Tibet

By Yeshe Choesang: 8 May 2014

Dharamshala: - Reports coming out of Tibet say, a 39 -year-old Tibetan man stabbed himself to death in Dzogang, Chamdo county, eastern Tibet when the Chinese authorities refused to cancel mining project in the region.

According to the sources, ‘the Chinese government was planning to mine minerals from a site close to hollyriver in Tsawa Dzogang county (Zogang Xian, Qamdo Prefecture- Tibet Autonomous Region) Chamdho, Kham region of eastern Tibet.

‘The local Tibetans decided to stop the plan because of Chinese move. Until now a group of three Tibetans were watching on the area every day,’ sources said, adding about 20 Tibetan youths who were involved in guiding the site were arrested and held in custody at Tongbar-yultso township for few days, officials tried to convince them on allowing the project to go head, but later released.’

On Wednesday morning (Wednesday, May 7), Phakpa Gyaltsen, a Tibetan man staged protest against the Chinese authorities, shouted slogans ‘Long Life His Holiness the Dalai lama,’ ‘Tibetan independence’ and ‘there is a lack of freedom in Tibet.’ The man then stabbed himself and jumped from the roof of a government building to death, after some tried to stop him protesting.

‘The latest attempt to start mining in the area began almost two months ago. The Chinese authorities claimed that they are working to build a dam in the area.In reality, however, the Chinese were planning to mine in the area,’ Jampa, a Buddhist monk living in South India told The Tibet Post, citing contacts in the region.

‘A bridge was built over the Gyalmo Nyul Chu (Silver Queen River) by the Chinese in their preparation for the project. The site is actually located in Ger-ar village of Tongbar-yultso town of Dzogang county, said Lobsang living in exile in India citing another source.

Chinese authorities also tried to convince the Tibetans by offering 10,000 yuan for each family as compensation but the locals argued about the environmental destruction by mining, giving the precedence to the deadly Yulshu earth

New houses built one year after a deadly quake hit Kyegudoin eastern Tibet, Nov. 13, 2011. Photo: AFP

By RFA: 26 April 2014

Washington DC: - Authorities in a county in China’s Qinghai province have demolished several brick factories operated by Tibetans in response to pleas by Chinese rival plants concerned over increasing competition, sources said.

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Tibetan home Kalon meets local officials in Sikkim P- 2......

Undated photo of Phakpa Gyaltsen. Photo: TPI

quake which was also caused by mining.

The authorities did not respect the call of the locals after several attempts. Gyaltsen told the gathering that he will do something so that the locals may not have to risk themselves, sources further said. He went to the town and climbed on a building and shouted for the lack of freedom for the Tibetans. When some tried to stop him, Gyaltsen stabbed himself twice and jumped off the building and died instantly.

Gyaltsen was the elder son of Choeshoe family, survived by his wife and three small children with one child to be born. After the incident, authorities have imposed increasing restrictions on Tibetans and their cell phone and internet service are turned off in Tibetan areas, revealing government efforts to block Tibetans’ communication.

Home Kalon Dolma Gyari with the local Tibetan settlement officer, at the oldage home in Kalimpong. Photo: CTA/DIIR

By Becky bargh: 8 May 2014

Dharamshala, 3 may: - Kalon Dolma Gyari of the Department of Home of Tibetan Administration was currently on an official visit to Tibetan settlements in Ravangla and Kalimpong.

On her arrival at Ravangla Tibetan settlement, Sikkim, Kalon Dolma Gyari met the local officials of the state including the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to discuss issues concerning settlement land, ration cards and other basic amenities.

She also held a public meeting for the community, assuring them that work towards their grievances is ongoing.

Following her visit to Ravangla, Kalon Dolma Gyari visited Kalimpong a Tibetan settlement in West Bengal. Here, she visited a home for the elderly and spoke with those residing there. The home was built with financial aid from Friends of Tibet based in Ottawa, Canada.

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Editorial:

Remembering Tibet as an independent nation

The Tibetan flag made its official international appearance in 1947, at the First Inter-Asian Conference, which Mahatma Gandhi addressed. Photo: Media File 15 May 2014

Dharamshala: - This July marks 100 years of signing the Simla Accord (also known as the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet, [in] Simla) in 1914 between Great Britain, China, and Tibet where the status of Tibet was negotiated by representatives of these three nations. When we discuss a part of this history, we must remember the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Thubten Gyatso, who achieved great accomplishments in maintaining the political and spiritual supremacy of independent Tibet. With the invasion of the British and Manchu troops into Tibet in 1904 and 1910 respectively, he was compelled to flee to China and the British protectorate in India.

Subsequently, he was invited to Calcutta by the then British Viceory, Lord Minto, after spending two years in Darjeeling, and this helped to improve the relationship between Tibet and Britain considerably.

In 1911, a revolution broke out in China. The pay and supplies of the Chinese troops in Tibet were cut off, as a result of which they revolted against their officers. In 1912 the Tibetans drove the remnants of the Chinese, along with the Ambans (ambassadors), out of the Tibet.

The 13th Dalai Lama returned to Tibet in 1913, after the departure of the last Chinese. It was then that he entered Lhasa and issued a declaration stating that Tibet was an independent state.

In 2012, the Central Tibetan administration also commemorated the centenary of the 13th Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet and declaration of Tibet’s independence in 1912. During the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama from 1912 to 1951, Tibet entered into a number of international, including the Simla Accord, and the six million strong population of Tibet lived in peace and prosperity.

The government of Tibet signed a convention with the British government in 1904 when the 13th Dalai Lama was forced to flee to Mongolia, as British troops advanced to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. In his absence the convention was signed by the Regent, using the Dalai Lama’s seal, and also sealed by the Cabinet, the National Assembly. Tibet in fact, had made a formal international agreement as a sovereign power. It confirmed the boundary and trading rights, and among other things, it undertook that no foreign power should be allowed to intervene in Tibet’s affairs without the consent of the British government. This document effectively converted Tibet into a British protectorate. China had no mention in this convention, and it must be assumed that China was included in the other unspecified foreign powers. After signing this Convention, the British forces left Tibet and never threatened Tibet again.

At the time of signing the Simla Accord, the Tibetan people had driven all the Chinese officials out of their territory. However, this agreement came at a time when the Qing dynasty had just fallen and Tibet had just declared their status as an independent, sovereign state.

In recent decades, many Chinese officials, led by the Chinese Communist officials have pointed towards history in order to justify their claims of sovereignty over Tibet. However, when compared against historical facts, their arguments tend to fall flat.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its supporters generally look to the Qing’s dynasty (1644 to 1911) as a period where they believe the Qing Emperor had sovereignty over Tibet to justify their current sovereignty.

However the Qing dynasty never had sovereignty over Tibet during this period. What they exercised instead was closer to a suzerainty, with Tibet having its own degree of independence managing its own affairs.

The Qing dynasty was also ruled by Manchu emperors.

The Manchus are recognized as an ethnic minority in China, just as the Tibetans are. Thus it is absurd for the CCP to claim sovereignty over Tibet when they themselves were subjugated by the Manchu rulers, just as Tibet was. In fact, if the CCP wants to use this skewed logic then Tibetans are in the same position to claim sovereignty over China in the same way that the Chinese claim sovereignty over Tibet.

It is recorded that during the Qing dynasty’s rule, the Tibetans were better treated than the Han Chinese population. Tibetan religious leaders were revered by the Qing emperors since many Manchus practiced Tibetan Buddhism. In contrast the Chinese were made to submit to the Manchu rulers and assimilate and adhere to the Manchu culture.

For example, once the Manchus took power within China, they forced every Chinese male to shave their head except for the hair on the very back of the head which was tied into a pony tail. This was a Manchu nomadic hairstyle known as the “queue” that was supposed to represent the tail of a horse. If a Chinese male decided not to shave his head and wear this hairstyle, he would be beheaded. A popular saying during this hairstyle enforcement was “Lose the hair, keep the head. Keep the hair, lose the head.”

Today a part of Manchuria is occupied by China.

If the Qing dynasty represented China, then how does the CCP define those people, including Zheng Chenggong who fought against the Manchu-Mongols?

If the Qings represented China, then the claims are definitely baseless because they fought against a Chinese Dynasty, and despite that the Chinese today still define Zheng Chenggong as a national hero, even though he was half Japanese.

There is yet another reason why many feel that the CCP’s argument using history for its justification for sovereignty over Tibet is absurd. The inhumane CCP leaders, also known as ‘Monsters in the Tunic Suit’ do not represent the Chinese people since they allow no true representation. Therefore, it is completely baseless for them to claim the achievements of the Chinese people in the past and to look to claim the sovereignty of the rulers they once despised, when they themselves have killed so many of these people, and also shunned and destroyed Chinese history during the Cultural Revolution headed by Mao Zedong, the then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, which lasted for nearly a decade, since its inception in 1966.

Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1949, a staggering number of 1.2 million people have either been killed or disappeared. During this period, and particularly during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, more than 6000 monasteries and temples have been demolished and destroyed. A large number of relics and cultural antiques and relics have since missing ever since. Since 2009, more than 130 Tibetans, primarily comprising of the Tibetan youth, have resorted to self immolation as a form on non violent protest against the dreadful atrocities committed by the Communist government of China. These instances have been reported from not only provinces in Chinese occupied Tibet, but from India and Nepal as well.

Tibetan history shall always recognize the martyrs who sacrificed their lives and everything that they had, for the cause of an independent Tibet, free from the Chinese reign of terror. It is time that more Tibetan youngsters vow to take to the cause of a free Tibet, in order to realize the dreams of their previous generations.

OPINION

The Tibet Post International

Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal and Xi Zhongxun

By Claude Arpi: 15 May 2014

Here again an old piece on Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal republished.

Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal, alias Phüntso Wangye, alias Phünwang was the first Tibetan Communist in the 1930’s. He was arrested and accused to be a ‘local nationalist’ in 1958 and rehabilitated at the end of the 1970’s.

In 1980, he decided to participate to the redrafting of the Chinese Constitution. During his 18 years in confinement, he had become extremely knowledgeable about the issue of ‘nationalities’ of the People Republic of China. Unfortunately, his report did not please everybody.

In 1982, he was called by Li Weihan who had been the first principal of the Party School of the Central Committee in the 1930’s and headed the Chinese delegation during the Seventeen-Point Agreement (1951) with Tibet.

Li was a senior Party Leader involved in nationalities affairs.

This excerpt of A Tibetan Revolutionary — The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phüntso Wangye is fascinating. It shows: 1- The inner-Party manipulations, even at a time when Communist China was opening up.

2- The functioning of the Party at the highest level of the hierarchy and the way to find solutions to tricky ideological issues.

3- The important role of Xi Zhongxun, father of VicePresident Xi Jinping in ‘Tibetan’ and ‘nationalities’ affairs.

I have given a short description of the persona between.

[Excerpts of A Tibetan Revolutionary — The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phüntso Wangye] Before long, Li Weihan came in, helped by two people. He was eighty-six and not in good health (he was living in a hospital and would die two years later, in August 1984). He had been attacked and demoted during the Cultural Revolution, and this was the first time he had been at the United Front Work Department since his rehabilitation. I was moved when I saw him and immediately rose, shook his hand, and told him how sorry I was to have been the cause of his having to come today.

Then we all sat down, and the meeting started.

“Phünwang,” Li Weihan began, “thirty-one years ago you made a great contribution by helping to bring about the Seventeen-Point Agreement and the return of Tibet to the great motherland. But recently, people are saying that your understanding of Marxist theory is seriously flawed. I have examined what you said and have written a report about it. Have you seen that report?”

“Yes,” I said, “I received the document and I have looked at it.” Then I took out the statement I had prepared and read it.

I could tell from their expressions that Yang Jingren [head of the State Nationalities Affairs Commission in the early 1980’s] and the others were displeased when I said that I would not respond to Li’s criticisms at this time. I directed my next remarks to Li. “Director Li,” I said, “you have just said that thirtyone years ago I made a great contribution. Do you know what happened to me after that?”

“No. Please tell me.”

“Not long after my great contribution,” I said, “I was accused of being a ‘local nationalist’ and imprisoned for eighteen years.”

“Were you really imprisoned for eighteen years?” he asked. “You must have suffered terribly.” He seemed stunned and said he hadn’t known. At that time, he himself had been under attack, so probably he hadn’t heard about any of it.

Yang Jingren and the others didn’t like this turn of events at all, and Yang interrupted.

“Phünwang,” he said sharply, “you promised to prepare a detailed written response. When, may we ask, will that be?”

“You have written a ten-thousand-character document,” I said coolly.

“It will take me some time to study it and respond.”

“It will take some time, will it?” Yang hissed angrily.

“You don’t seem to realize that you have not been accused of minor mistakes. Li Weihan is a famous Marxist theoretician. He is the one who has criticized your ideas, and so your mistakes are extremely serious. Moreover, it is Deng Xiaoping who is really confronting you today. He was too busy to come himself, so he asked Xi Zhongxun [vice chairman of the National People’s Congress and father of Xi Jinping] to handle the matter for him, and Xi is the one who chose Li Weihan to examine your writings.”

I did not lose my composure. I simply said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, that it would be difficult to specify a time when I would be finished with my detailed response. “Director Li has

Kasur Gyalo Thondup (H.H the Dalai Lama’s brother), the 10th Panchen Lama and Phuntsok Wangyal. Photo: Media

thought carefully about his criticisms, and his points deserve equally careful examination.”

At that, they all spoke at once, all trying to criticize and attack me, until finally Li intervened.

“Listen, everyone, please!” he said with some emotion. “I believe Phünwang should be given time to write his opinions in full. He may criticize my report or even rebut it, and he should be given all the time he needs to do it.”

He paused and then smiled, saying, “I am pleased today. When I came, I thought I would have to argue with Phünwang, but we got along very well. Now let’s all go to eat.”

He took my hand as we left the room, and I sat beside him at the meal.

My strategy had worked. They had wanted to attack me at the meeting and afterward report either that I accepted my mistakes or that I tried to argue back.

I would have lost either way. If I had accepted my errors, they would have said that I was persuaded of my mistakes by Li Weihan.

If I hadn’t, they would have said that Li Weihan advised me kindly and tried his best to educate me, but I stubbornly refused to listen. However, because Li himself made the suggestion that I be given more time and clearly seemed to have affection for me, there was nothing they could do, and so the meeting was concluded.

A week after the meeting, I sent a letter to Hu Yaobang [Secretary General of the CCP]. By then, I had begun my detailed response, and I estimated now that it would take some weeks to finish. So I sent Hu something brief to explain that Li’s report had many points that were not factually accurate, and to request that the Central Committee investigate it carefully. I wanted to buy myself some more time, and I didn’t want the only voices he heard to be those of my enemies.

It took several more weeks to finish my response, which ended up containing twenty-five thousand characters. I sent it to Li Weihan and also to Deng Xiaoping, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, Xi Zhongxun, and others because I was afraid that Yang Jingren wouldn’t allow my comments to be passed along.

I therefore thought that I had assured myself a fair hearing at the highest levels. I soon found out differently.

On July 27 1982, Li Weihan sent a letter to Deng Xiaoping, along with a brief summary of our meeting, his ten-thousand-character document, and my onepage response-but not my full-length rebuttal. I learned that Deng Xiaoping himself saw all these documents and sent them to Hu Yaobang with a note saying, “Comrade Li Weihan has made a good presentation. Please distribute these documents to each member of the Central Committee and to the officials of the Secretariat of the Central Committee.”

Hu did so, in accordance with Comrade Deng’s order.

I was, of course, upset because the documents now being distributed at the highest levels did not contain my full-length response to Li’s criticisms.

I subsequently wrote letters requesting that my complete response be read together with Li’s comments, and I went to visit Li in the hospital, because I had suspicions I hoped to confirm.

I found him sitting on a sofa. I shook his hand, sat down next to him, and said, “Director Li, you knew me well. I served under you in 1951 and in 1953. I have the greatest respect for you. If I had made mistakes in my thoughts and you had critiqued me honestly, I would have listened to you. I believe, however, that the ten-thousand-character critique was made by the people who put me in prison in the past. Now they want to attack me again. They are using your name to attack me, and I believe that you never saw all of the things I wrote.

Therefore, I felt I had no choice but to respond strongly to your critique. But I want you to know that my comments are not aimed at you but at them.” He didn’t say yes or no, he just nodded his head.

Then things got worse. The packet of materials-again without my response-was sent to Yin Fatang, the head of the party in Tibet [between 1980 and 1985].

Yin immediately distributed it to the members of the TAR Party Leaders Committee and called a big meeting to discuss it. Many Tibetan and Han officials criticized me strongly at this meeting. Only Yangling Dorje did not follow the party line [born in 1931 in Kham, Yangling Dorjee became a member of the Communist Party at the age of eighteen. In the 1980s, he rose to levels of Party to which few Tibetans have access; he however continued to make forthright remarks about the system]. I was told later that he stood up and said, “If Director Li is correct, then Phünwang has made a serious mistake. However, in the one-page letter Phünwang submitted, he said that many things in Li’s essay are not factually correct and that he will submit a detailed written argument that responds to these inaccuracies. I think we need to read Phünwang’s response to know the whole story.”

Yin Fatang did not appreciate Yangling Dorje’s interference, calling his attitude ambiguous and later accusing him of being my ‘representative’ in Tibet.

Yin went on to distribute the materials to officials at the county level, where more meetings were held to attack me. It was a smear campaign, and it was extremely troubling.

In Beijing, I wrote several letters to the Central Committee telling them that I had written a twentyfive-thousand-character response to Li Weihan’s ten-thousand-character essay and suggested that they ought to be evaluating the two arguments because this was not a trivial debate. Until now, I said bluntly, there had been no comparable debate in the party on nationality affairs. I stressed that the outcome was likely to have a huge impact on future work in minority nationality areas, and I therefore requested that the Central Committee set up a small investigation group to evaluate both Li’s and my arguments. I sent letters making the same request to Deng Xiaoping and Hu Yaobang.

While waiting for an answer and preparing to attend the Sixth National People’s Congress (which was to start in mid-1983), I got another shock. One day, quite by accident, I met Wang Guangmei, the widow of Liu Shaoqi [former PRC President]. She told me that my name was not on the list of Sichuan delegates. I didn’t pay this much attention, since what she said seemed impossible, but the following week, I met her again and she reiterated that she had checked and my name was not on the list. “You should pay attention to this,” she said. This time I did.

Since I was a deputy party secretary of the Nationalities Committee of the National People’s Congress, I had access to the list of representatives.

As she had warned, I found that my name was missing and realized that this was another attempt to push me aside. Angry and frustrated, I immediately called Xi Zhongxun and asked for a meeting.

Xi, who was one of the top leaders in the party and a member of the Politburo, didn’t know what I was talking about.

“No changes have been planned,” he said. “You are still a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and a deputy party secretary of the Nationalities Committee.”

“Then why has my name been dropped from the list of Sichuan representatives?” I asked.

Instead of responding, he turned to the lists, I think to show me that my fears were groundless. But the lists were so long-filling between ten and fifteen volumes that while I sat sipping a glass of tea, he stopped searching through them and called Yang Jingren directly.

“What happened to Phünwang’s status as a delegate to the National People’s Congress from Sichuan?” he asked bluntly. “Did you forget to put his name on the list?”

The story continues in our next issue......

Exile News 15 May 2014 3 Seminar on crisis in Tibet and Kunming incident held in Taipei Dolgyal followers making baseless The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

By Yeshe Choesang: 5 May 2014

Seminar on ‘self-immolation in Tibet’, ‘ethnic issues in China’ and the ‘Kunming incident’ held at the College of Social Science, NTU, Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, May 3, 2014. Photo: TPI/Artemas Liu

Taipei, 3 May 2014: - A seminar on the crisis in Tibet, including self-immolation, ‘ethnic issues in China’and the ‘Kunming incident’held at the College of Social Science, NTU, Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

This seminar was jointly organized by the Office of Tibet based in Taipei, the Chinese Tibetan Association of Taiwan, College of Social Science in Taipei, and Tibetan Association in Taiwan.

Around 30 Tibetans and Taiwanese, including scholars, MPs and activists have gathered to discuss “the current crisis of self-immolation protests in Tibet and the recent Kunming incident in China.”

Mr Dawa Tsering, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Taiwan, Geshe Jampa Gyatso, Ms Dadon Sharling, MP, Bawa Kalsang Gyaltsen, MP, Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam, research head at the Tibetan library and

Yeshe Tenzin, Chinese section at DIIR were attended the seminar which held in the capital.

“The sufferings of Tibetans inside Tibet became wellknown to the outside world. Over the past few years, one after another, the self-immolation protests, which continue to fight for their freedom,” Geshe Jampa Gyatso said, adding “Thus it is difficult to predict when will this tragic crisis come to an end.”

Speaking about the Tibet crisis, Ms Sheng Xiu Vice President, Federation for a Democratic China said, ‘China should take the opportunity of the policy of Middle-Way Approach, which is proposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet. If Tibetans start using violence against China, associating with the Uyghur people, it might not be a small problem for China.’

Questioning how did the Kunming incident happen

and who did it? Ms Sheng Xiu said ‘the only story of Kunming incident available is what China has reported and its merely one-sided. No one can prove or disprove whether or not Uyghur people are actually behind the attack,’ in which at least 33 people were killed and more than 140 wounded.

‘The reality is, the communist regime-China has severely tortured its own people. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is pure terrorist itself within the country,’she added.

Kalsang Gyatsen said, ‘any further delay engage with peaceful dialogue, will only harm both the sides and nothing else. The issue of Tibet will never disappear as its already an issue of international problem. No matter how strong China is, the Tibetan freedom struggle will continue as it is based on truth.’

Ms Dadon Sharling spoke about the overall situation of human rights in Tibet, specifically raised harsh crackdown

by Chinese authorities against Tibetan artists and writers, who seek to express themselves through poetry, blogging, books, painting and song.

From Taiwanese side, Prof Sun Chi Pan, the president of Chinese-Tibetan Association, Prof Sujia Hong from Fooyin University, Mr Yang Hsien-hung, head of Taiwan Association for China Human Rights, Prof Lee Yu Tan from Chengchi University, Mr Yang chang Jeng, director of the development center of Thinking Taiwan Foundation, Prof Tseng Jian yuan, Department of Public Administration, Chung Hua Huniversity,and Ms Sheng Xiu Vice President, Federation for a Democratic China and former MP also attended the seminar and spoke on the issue.

An exhibition on Tibetan self-immolation is also being held May 1 to May 20, 2014 at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Liberty Square in Taipei City, by displaying a series of black-and-white portraits depicting close-up faces of Tibetan self-immolators, painted by Beijing-based artist Liu Yi.

Fight the blackout in Tibet: World Press Freedom Day Campaign

By Jake Thomas: 2 May 2014

Dharamshala: - ‘Fight the Blackout’ campaign aims to highlight and end the extreme restrictions put on independent journalists and human rights monitors to visit and assess the ground situation in Tibet as Tibetans continue to self-immolate in protest and become victims of human rights abuses.

An initiative of Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), ‘Fight the Blackout’ campaign has been active online mobilizing support from the civil society including individuals and groups and reminding the larger humanity about the significance of the World Press Freedom Day, observed globally every year on 3 May, a day for governments to remember their duty to uphold the right to freedom of expression, a fundamental human right; a day to assess the state of press freedom throughout the world and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty; and a day to remember the restrictions imposed upon press freedom throughout the world, including in Tibet.

The campaign held in a Tibet Awareness Concert at 6.30 pm onwards on 3 May 2014 at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala. A Delhi-based blues inspired band, Big Bang Blues, headlined the concert, as this music genre echoes commitment and determination to speak out against hardship, oppression and injustice. Taking their spirit from the birth of blues, Big Bang Blues has a powerful, unique and inspiring style. Our campaign partner, TIPA, will present contemporary Tibetan

performances along with a host of other solo artists.

China has imposed an information blackout on Tibet, which places heavy restrictions upon the freedom of press and expression. China prevents the international community from knowing the real situation in Tibet by strictly controlling the movements of foreign and domestic journalists including Tibetan citizen journalists who are imprisoned and tortured for their efforts to share information about human rights abuses.

Tibetan voices are silenced, their agency violently denied as independent publications are banned or heavily censored. In 2013, Chinese diplomats harassed and threatened Cyril Payen, a correspondent for France 24, a French TV news station for filming an undercover report on Tibet in May last year.

Despite China’s statements that foreign journalists are free to travel anywhere in China, Tibetan areas remain a special case, particularly in the wake of the spring 2008 unrest. The Reporting Guide of the Foreign Correspondents Club in China (FCCC) lists Tibet as the most sensitive topic to cover, exposing one to increased risk of interference by officials or police and surveillance. In May 2013, a survey done by FCCC revealed the obvious: that reporting conditions for foreign journalists in China have worsened considerably with an overwhelming number of journalists reporting increased harassment, intimidation, physical attacks and detention at the hands of state-sponsored thugs.

China is among the top 3 of the world’s leading jailers of journalists. China was also the worst jailer

of journalists in the world for a record 10 years from 2000-2010. In 2013, a large majority of the 32 known journalists jailed in China were Tibetan, imprisoned for documenting tensions that escalated since 2008.

Since 2009, TCHRD has confirmed a total of 131 self-immolation protests in Tibet, yet information about these or other protests has become difficult to emerge in the international community, and the Tibetans who take risks to get the information out of Tibet continue to get tortured and jailed on trumped-up charges of ‘endangering national security’ or ‘leaking state secrets’.

The 2014 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders has ranked China at 175th out of 180 countries, making China one of the world’s top five violators of the right to freedom of information and expression particularly press freedom. As soon as Reporters Without Borders released its 2014 World Press Freedom Index, the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department issued a directive banning its publication and dissemination.

The information blackout must stop. Tibet must be opened to foreign journalists and independent monitors to assess the reality of the situation in Tibet.

In light of increased repression and self-immolation protests, this needs to be done immediately.

Press freedom is essential for the exercise of freedom of expression. A free press encourages good governance, sustainable development, and transparency in decision-making, ensures leaders are accountable and exposes corruption.

Tibetan ex-prisoner urges ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ for Spanish Judge

Dr Kherab, a member of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile inaugurating Ven Bagdro’s 13th book, titled Wanted Repressive Leaders, in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India, on 29 April 2013. Photo: TPI/Choneyi Sangpo

Dharamshala, 19 April 2014: - A prominent Tibetan ex-political prisoner has urged the Norwegian Nobel committee to give this year’s Peace Prize to Ismael Moreno, a Spanish High Court Judge who issued arrest warrants for five top Chinese ex-leaders for crimes against humanity in Tibet.

“Spanish High Court Judge Moreno’s outstanding accomplishment must be recognized by awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize and International Campaign for Tibet’s Light of Truth Award,” said Ven Bagdro, a former political prisoner and the

author of “A Hell on Earth.”

The Tibetan monk said that “the legacy of Judge Ismael Moreno’s judgement will be forever etched in the annals of Tibet history.” He said he would like to convey “their deepest gratitude to judge Moreno, on behalf of the Tibetans inside Tibet, who have been suffering Chin’s oppression for over half century.”

His comments came during a speech at a press conference in Dharamshala, to mark the launch of his new book. The new book titled ‘Wanted Repressive Leaders”, was launched by Dr Kherab, a member of the Tibetan parliament in exile.

Speaking at the book launch, Dr Kherab said ‘Dr Zhu weiqun, the vice director of the United Front Work Department has issued orders to Chinese authorities to crack down hard on Tibetans in Tibet during his recent visit to the region.’

Dr Kherab praised Ven Bagdro for his effort and hard work for Tibetan cause. “As the author has explained, after all of his hard work, this book has supplied a true evidence, to let the world know about many real situations in Tibet,” he added.

The book contains 8 chapters, including “Crimes against humanity in Tibet” and “10th Panchen Lama’s

By Yeshe Choesang: 2 May 2014

assassination by poisoning” and is available in both Tibetan and English.

“Spain’s Judge Ismael Moreno, who uphold truth and justice with a great courage, is one of the most exceptional judges in the world,” ven Bagdro said, adding: “As someone who values justice greater than trade interests of his country”.

“Judge Moreno has delivered a fair judgement on former Chinese leaders over alleged “genocide, torture, and crimes humanity” committed against the people of Tibet,” he added.

“The UN, International courts and world governments however continue to remain a mute spectator on the Tibet crisis compromised by the economic interest,” Ven Bagdro stressed.

The Spanish judge in February this year ordered Interpol to issue the arrest order seeking capture and imprisonment of former President Jiang Zemin for genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. He issued similar orders for , ex-Prime Minister Li Peng and others Chinese officials in the 1980s and 1990s.

The case was brought by Tibetan rights groups and a monk with Spanish nationality.

allegations: Sikyong of Tibet

By Yeshe Choesang: 9 May 2014

Sikyong, the political leader of Tibetan people addressing during the Tibetan National Uprising Day in Dharamshala, India, on 10 March 2013. Photo: TPI

Dharamshala: - Mainly non-Tibetans who associated with the propitiation of Dolgyal are making baseless allegations against His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong or the democraticallyelected political leader of the Tibetan people said in a statement dated May 8, Thursday.

‘The Central Tibetan Administration strongly condemns the protests against His Holiness the Dalai Lama organised mainly by non-Tibetans who are linked to the fundamentalist cult associated with the propitiation of Dolgyal (Shugden),’ it said, adding ‘their allegations of human rights abuses against those Tibetans who propitiate this spirit are baseless.’

“The fact that Dolgyal groups welcome the Norwegian government’s decision not to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama due to pressure from the Chinese government clearly confirms this group is doing the political bidding at the behest of the Chinese government. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a beacon of hope for millions of Tibetans and peace-loving individuals across the world. As the Shugden-related groups sustain their campaign to mislead the public with false allegations against both His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, we trust the public will see through these unfounded allegations,” said Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong or the head of the Tibetan Administration based in India.

‘In fact, far from denying them their religious freedom, Tibetan Dolgyal propitiators continue to travel within India and abroad on documents issued by the Indian government with the endorsement of the Central Tibetan Administration. In seeking legal status or political asylum in North America and Europe, Dolgyal followers could be using denial of religious freedom as an excuse, but the very documents on which they stay in India and travel abroad, is issued by the government of India and endorsed by the Central Tibetan Administration.

Therefore, the CTA has neither denied them their religious freedom nor obstructed their rights to live in India and travel abroad,’ the statement said.

‘For example, Chime Tsering, the then Secretary General of Dorje Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society, travelled on an Identity Certificate

(IC), to the US, issued by the government of India with the endorsement of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Delhi. His Indian Registration certificate (RC) was issued by the government of India with the recommendation from the local Tibetan Settlement Officer of the CTA. Furthermore, Athar Tsering, a former secretary of the North American Gelug Buddhist Association (USA) also travelled to the US using travel documents issued by the government of India and endorsed by the CTA. So do many others Dolgyal followers,’ it added.

In his statement, Sikyong said ‘His Holiness the Dalai Lama has advised Tibetans and Buddhist followers that propitiating Dolgyal will lead to sectarianism and spirit/ cult worship, which is fundamentally against the teachings of the Buddha. As a spiritual leader, he considers it is his responsibility to guide his followers on the correct spiritual path. Ultimately, it is for each individual to decide whether or not to listen to his guidance. His Holiness has emphasised on numerous occasions that propitiation of Dolgyal (Shugden) is a personal choice.’

‘Despite this well-known fact, groups associated with Dolgyal propitiation persist with baseless allegations that Tibetans who are Dolgyal followers are discriminated against in their access to education, healthcare and other social services,’ Sikying said, adding ‘there is no shred of evidence of this as Dolgyal followers continue to go to monasteries and send their children to schools run by the CTA and other autonomous Tibetan schools,’he stressed.

‘In June 1998, after a thorough investigation, Amnesty International concluded there was no evidence to support these accusations against the Central Tibetan Administration. Similarly, in 2010, a verdict issued by the Delhi High Court, dismissed a case filed by the Dorjee Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society against the Central Tibetan Administration and His Holiness the Dalai Lama,’ the statement added.

Sikyong said his administration has ‘repeatedly expressed its willingness to investigate any instances of discrimination if provided with concrete evidence. Dolgyal-related groups have yet to provide such information.’

‘Dolgyal groups are violent as demonstrated by the murder of the Principal of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and his two disciples in Dharamshala in 1997.

Local police authorities confirmed clear indications that the murderers were directly linked to the Dolgyal (Shugden) groups which include the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), Dorjee Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society and the North American Gelug Buddhist Association. Subsequently, the Interpol issued arrest warrants against two Tibetans who committed the murder. The Indian and US governments have stated that the Dolgyal organisations and their agents pose serious threat to the security of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.’

Tibetans vote in Indian general elections

By Becky Bargh: 13 May 2014

Dharamshala: - For the first time in history Tibetan residents of the Northern town, Dharamsala have participated in the Indian general election on Wednesday (7 May), allowing them to have their voices heard on the next Member of Parliament. 217 Tibetans are said to have voted this year.

‘Nearly 150 Tibetans have voted in various constituencies,’ Indian media have reported citing Officials. “Tibetans were very excited to have voted for Indian leadership in general elections. There were 133 Tibetans at our booth who cast their votes by 3pm,” one source said from the polling station in Dharamsala.

Lobsang Wangyal, (44) who directs the Miss Tibet pageant and is a profound activist for Tibet, told the Tibet Post that, “it was a wonderful experience. I feel like I have a voice in India; before we had no official status in India.” He also added, “We have been adopted by the Indian government and now that is complete.”

Many have welcomed this opportunity to have a voice in their exiled country. Wangyal also commented on this issue that, “I know my roots, I know what I want.

I want a free Tibet; it’s my life’s goal, but having a citizenship makes life easier for many.”

Sources revealed to the Times of India that 1,200 people of Tibetan origin had registered to vote in Himachal Pradesh, but many failed to meet the conditions. Even though in February of this year, India’s chief election body directed that all states should include Tibetans and their children that are born in India in elections. Nonetheless, after a change in rules, more than 40,000 would be eligible to vote in this hill state, they added.

Tibetan Settlement Officer Sonam Dorjee, who lives in Dharamsala as well as nearly 18,000 exiled Tibetans

and the Tibetan Spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, announced that a lack of clarity amongst voters is the main reason for the poor enrolment numbers over the previous years. “Moreover, our aim is not to settle here (in India) permanently. Ultimately, we have to go back to our homeland,” he added.

Dorjee expressed that voter card application was not clear on the necessary documents that were needed amongst Tibetans in exile, which explains the lack of voting in previous elections.

‘As many as 217 Tibetans were approved to vote in Dharamshala. Of these, 170 are from McLeod Ganj, and 140 have voted,’ Tibet Sun reported citing a local election officer.

Over 400 Tibetans from Majnu ka Tilla have registered voters. More than 300 are reported to have voted on 10 April in the third phase. However, these Tibetans have been voting for a number of years.

But, officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have admitted that the yearning to return to their homeland is essentially the main reason that Tibetans were discouraged from enrolling as Indian voters. Lobsang Sangay has already expressed that those Tibetans in exile are able to apply for Indian citizenship and is a personal choice; administration would not compel anyone to do so.

“The decision to apply for Indian or any other country’s citizenship is a personal choice,” Sangay said in August last year.

The general elections were held for 35 days in April and May for the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Monday marked the end of polling in the world’s largest democracy. As many as 814 million people have participated in the 2014 general election. The country has set a new record for voter turnout at 66.38 per cent for the elections.

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The Tibet Post International TIBET USCIRF report: China violates religious freedom severely in Tibet China shuts down school, a Tibetan teacher jailed for 13 years Dzoege, Ngaba Autonomous Prefecture, issued 15 May 2014

Tibetans being bundled away by People’s Armed Police in Tibet/File photo

By Yeshe Choesang: 2 May 2014

Dharamshala: - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its 2014 annual report on April 30, criticizing the Chinese government for severe violation of religious freedom in Tibet. The commission has listed China as one of the ‘countries of particular concern.

‘For Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims, conditions are worse now than at any time in the past decade. Independent Catholics and Protestants face arrests, fines, and the shuttering of their places of worship. Practitioners of Falun Gong, as well as other Buddhist, folk religionist, and Protestant groups deemed “superstitious” or “evil cults,” face long jail terms, forced renunciations of their faith, and torture in detention. USCIRF report said.

Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has identified China as the country of particular concern over religious freedom.

The annual report stated that ‘religious freedom conditions in Tibetan areas remain acute. “Since May 2011, there have been 127 self-immolations, including 61 monks, nuns, and former nuns. In the past year, there were 18 self-immolations, including nine by Buddhist monks.’

‘These protests are directly related to Chinese efforts to control religious practice and culture of Tibetans, but Chinese authorities view these expressions of protest as criminal activities,’ the report said.

“Authorities detain senior monks for periods after self-immolations by monks associated with their monasteries, and in April 2013, officials in

new rules extending criminal penalties to family members, fellow villagers, and monasteries of selfimmolators,” it added.

“Since the 2008 and 2009 protests in Tibetan and Uighur areas respectively, the Chinese government has intensified efforts to discredit religious leaders.

There are currently hundreds of Tibetans and Uighurs in prison for their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy, including individuals arrested in the past year,” it said.

The over 200-page annual report documents religious freedom violations in 33 countries and makes country-specific policy recommendations since the Commission’s creation.

“With religious freedom abuses occurring daily around the world against people of all faiths and those without religious faith, the United States must by words and deeds stand in solidarity with the persecuted,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.

“Religious freedom is a fundamental human right recognized by international law that guarantees to all human beings the freedom to believe or not believe as their conscience leads, and live out their beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear.”

Religious freedom also is essential to national and global security. Thus, the defense of religious freedom is both a human rights imperative and a practical necessity and merits a seat at the table with economic, security and other key concerns of U.S. foreign policy.”

Dalai Lama Urges Outside Inquiry Into Spate of Self-Immolations Among Tibetans

His Holiness the Dalai Lama responding to journalists’ questions in Oslo, Norway on May 9, 2014. Photo/Jeremy Russell/ OHHDL

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader in exile, on Friday called for an outside inquiry into the self-immolations of more than 130 Tibetans in antiChina demonstrations over the past five years, and he suggested that in some cases, such acts of protest were understandable and not entirely wrong.

If compassion is the reason driving those who immolate themselves, the Dalai Lama said, they should be viewed differently from those motivated by anger. The religious issues surrounding the self-immolations, he said, “are very, very complicated.”

The remarks by the Dalai Lama, 78, a softspoken Buddhist theologian, were ambiguous compared with his previous criticisms of selfimmolations, carried out mainly by Tibetan Buddhist monks frustrated with what they view as China’s repressive policies toward Tibet’s culture and religion.

The Dalai Lama made the remarks on the final day of a three-day visit to Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize 25 years ago for his nonviolent philosophy in opposing China’s domination of his Himalayan homeland, which he fled in 1959.

China, which considers the Dalai Lama a subversive separatist, has accused him and his loyalists in exile of fomenting the self-immolations, which have embarrassed the Chinese authorities despite government attempts to thwart them. The International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group, has chronicled at least 131 self-immolations since February 2009, mostly in Tibetan-populated areas of western China adjoining Tibet.

Norwegian lawmakers in Oslo, who were among the Dalai Lama’s hosts, met with him in Parliament, where he appeared at a forum on Friday and answered questions that included whether he had urged a halt to the self-immolations.

“This is a very sensitive issue,” the Dalai Lama said, speaking in English. He said the selfimmolations were “very sad” and that such “drastic action” probably had little effect on the underlying issue of Chinese policy on Tibet.

The Dalai Lama also said outsiders, like his hosts in Parliament, should conduct their own factfinding visit to determine the causes. “I think sometimes Chinese leaders also need these things, too,” he said, because they are not given accurate information by their subordinates.

There was no immediate reaction from Chinese officials, who have described the self-immolations

as a form of terrorism.

Whether self-immolations are religiously wrong, the Dalai Lama said, “entirely depends on motivation.”

“If such a drastic action takes place with full anger, then negative,” he said. “But more compassionate, more calm mind, then sometimes maybe less negative.”

The Dalai Lama’s visit to Norway has drawn particular attention because senior Norwegian government leaders decided against meeting with him in deference to China.

The Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg, justified the decision on the grounds that Norway has been trying to improve relations with China, which has been angry at Norway ever since the Nobel Peace Prize committee gave the award to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Ms. Solberg elaborated on the decision on Friday, telling the national broadcaster NRK that it was a “necessary

By Rick Gladstone and Henrik Pryser Libell, The New York Times: 10 May 2014

sacrifice” to improve relations with China.

Surveys suggested that many Norwegians were critical of the official snub, viewing it as a cowardly capitulation that sacrificed human rights in favor of economics. Thousands of well-wishers turned out to greet the Dalai Lama when he arrived in Oslo on Wednesday.

China’s state-run news media have not reported on the Dalai Lama’s trip, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry acknowledged the Norwegian government’s decision to snub him. “China pays attention to the announcement by the Norwegian side,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said on April 28.

A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2014, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Dalai Lama Urges Outside Inquiry Into Spate of Self-Immolations Among Tibetans.

U-Tsang Cholkha to celebrate 80th Birthday of His Holiness with special prayers

By Becky Bargh: 8 May 2014

Chentsa County Branch of Polytechnic school in the Chengtsa county, Tibet. Photo: TPI

Dharamshala: - Sources coming out of Tibet say, a private Tibetan school named Chentsa County Branch of Polytechnic school in Malho in Amdho region of north-eastern Tibet was forced to close down and a teacher sentenced to 13 years imprisonment last year.

According to the sources, ‘a private Tibetan school called Chentsa County Branch of Polytechnic school in the Chengtsa county (Chinese: Jainzha County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province) had a Tibetan name but later it was forced to be removed and ordered to be change to Chentsa Polytechnic school. This school was opened on August 1, 2003 when it started admitting students for the school.’

‘A group of Chinese officials visited the school on April 25, 2013, and a shut down order was

Tibetan substitute staff call for equal salary and benefits

By Becky Bargh: 7 May 2014

A petition calling for equal salaries and benefits, over one hundred Tibetan staff and substitute teachers gathered in Rebgong County, north-eastern Tibet, on 30 April, 2014.

Photo: TPI

Dharamshala: - Emerging reports coming from Tibet say, over 160 substitute teachers those of who have a college degree recently have called for equal salaries and benefits. In 2004, substitute employees would receive a salary of between 500yuan and 1,000yuan per month and ten years later it still remains the same.

On 30 April, 2014, staff and substitute teachers gathered in Rebgong County, Malho, (Chinese: Tongren in Qinghai Province) north-eastern Tibet, to protest in order to increase their salaries and fight for their rights. In contrast to the full time staff they are known to be treated very poorly, more like servants than staff members, sources to the Tibet Post said.

Substitute teachers are being denied the same compensation that full-time teachers receive, even though they are also working full-time hours. Benefits for full-time staff include: promotions and medical care, as

I Kasur Gyalo Thondup (H.H the Dalai Lama’s brother), the 10th Panchen Lama and Phuntsok Wangyal. Photo: Media

By Claude Arpi: 15 May 2014

Dharamshala: - The Central Executive Committee of U-Tsang Cholka has announced in its pledge to mark His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday (Tibetan: Gyaton) with gift of great deed as per his teachings.

‘A new building of U-Tsang Cholkha including working office, hotel, restuarant, and a store were opened in the town, on 30 March 2014. It was a hope of the people of U-Tsang Cholka, particularly those of elder generations,’ Mr Dawa Tsering, a Tibetan MP and President of the group said during a press conference at the newly opened office building.

The U-Tsang Cholkha also strongly condemned the protests against His Holiness the Dalai Lama

by Shugden or Dogyal followers and saying ‘their Allegations are absolutely baseless.’

‘Eight resolutions, including the need to ensure greater security for His Holiness the Dalai Lama were passed by the 18th General Body of U-Tsang Cholka, which was

held from 31 March-2April, Dawa Tsering sai, adding that his organisation also strongly support the resolution of the Tibetan Parliament in exile concerning Dolgyal.

In the resolution, it said: ‘A small number of ignorant Dolgyal propitiators have no consideration for Tibet’s spiritual and political interests and the personal security of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They are being ‘deceived by the Chinese government through monetary and material incentive and are used as political tools.’

‘Gyaton (gya-ston) refers to the 80 Birthday Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the champion of World Peace and the incomparable leader of the Tibetan people,’ Dhomay Central Executive Committee said during at a press conferecen in last year.

The committee also said: ‘On this occasion the people of Dhomay are offering prayers for His Holiness’ long life and for the fulfillment of all his noble aspirations and wishes.’

issued to the school. Mr Phakpa, a teacher was detained and later was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. Other teachers were also detained and interrogated but later released,’ sources said, citing contacts in the region.

‘The students were recruited from poor Tibetan families and orphans who had no living parents. The students were recruited from various Tibetan areas in north-eastern Tibet, including Jianzha, Zoge, and Tsolo.

All the expenses were born by the school on its own,’ sources said, adding ‘they are taught the Tibetan language, the history of Tibet and since 2007 Tibetan traditional medicine. The teachers are also provided with residence and monthly based salary.’

The Chinese officials in the Tibetan county paid a compensation of 40,000 yuan for the stationery and furniture, and also paid 3,000 yuan to each teacher and ordered them to return home,’ said an exiled source in India; adding that ‘there were 10 teachers and 68 students at the time of the schools closure. Between 200 and 300 thousand yuan was invested when the school was first established.

Expressing his disappointed over the school closure, a student from the school said, ‘the needy students were receiving a very good education with better treatment and facilities, and the school was never involved in any politics activities, and the school is now gone.’

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well as other perks.

Within Rebgong County teachers that are full-time employees receive a monthly salary of between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan. Whereas ‘substitute’ teachers only receive up to one-sixth of full-time employees salary, according to some sources within the County.

One protester claimed, “We are all high school graduates and are certified to work as teachers, and we want benefits and an increase in our pay.”

“Many young and educated Tibetans are currently facing problems finding good jobs,” another source said, adding that “most” graduates working in county and other local government offices are hired only as temporary workers and receive low pay.

Sources say this protest en-lights the ongoing problem in Tibetan Counties as an increasing number of teachers have been employed as ‘substitute’ teachers rather than full-time employees so not to receive benefits.

Similarly, Chinese staff are hired above the Tibetans in order to be used as a weapon for the promotion of Chinese language in order to be spoken throughout areas of Tibet.

Nonetheless, The Chinese Academy of Social Science’s have published a ‘green book’ in which it states that they will increase all staffs salaries.

Moreover, in other Provinces, autonomous regions and prefectures salaries have been increased. In Shanghai some teachers receive up to 10,620yuan, which is the highest paid teaching salary in China. However, the same rules do not apply throughout other regions.

Translated by Becky Bargh and Yangchen Dolma.

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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 Mr Yeshe Choesang Chinese Editor Miss Keary Huang Tibetan Editor Mr Choneyi Sangpo Tibet Political Analyst Mr James Dunn Photographer Mr Artemas Liu Layout & Design Mr Yeshe Choesang Circulation Mr Tashi Contributors to this editon Keary Huang Taiwan Becky Bargh UK Jane Cook UK NJ Thakuria India Jajdip Ray India Layne Mayard France Cameron Hecker US Claude Arpi India Yeshe Choesang India Choenyi Sangpo India Yangchen Dolma India Himalayan Literacy Trust (Head Office) Room #1 Top Floor, New Varuni House Temple Road, McLeod Ganj: 176219 Dharamshala, Distt. Kangra H.P., India

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Mass rally supports His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tutu loses respect for Norway

By Yeshe Choesang: 29 April 2014

Dharamshala: - Hundreds of people rallied outside the parliament building in Oslo on Tuesday, April 29 to show their support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Norway in early May. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also criticised the move and said his ‘great respect for Norway was now lost.’

According to reports of the Norwegian media, including the Views and News from Norway, over 400 Hundreds rallied outside the parliament in Oslo on Tuesday, April 29 to voice their support for the spiritual leader of Tibet’s visit, and their anger at the Norwegian government for refusing to officially receive the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

“The more they’ve closed the door, the more we’ve engaged and said we won’t find ourselves in this,” Ann Kristin Espejord, a rally organizer told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “We cannot accept that they won’t meet the Dalai Lama [...] we cannot submit to force and threats.”

The 78-year-old Nobel Peace laureate is due in Oslo on 7 May to celebrate 25 years since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s a private visit, and the government confirmed on Friday there would be no official reception to avoid further damaging relations with China, as the two countries struggle in a diplomatic freeze.

Espejord said the government’s position was out of line with the wishes of the people. “We want the Dalai Lama to know that he is warmly welcome in Norway, and we are proud that he’s coming,” said Espejord. “We will stand up for our values. This event is to show what we want, that we will have enough backbone to stand.”

Liberal (Venstre) party leader Trine Skei Grande said the former Nobel Peace Prize winner would not be received “in the basement” as the Chinese media had suggested, but would be brought to parliament to meet “as many politicians as we can manage to scrape together. We will show that people are concerned about the cowardice displayed.”

“We should at least give him a proper welcome next week, and I hope as many as possible come back here on Tuesday to wish the Dalai Lama welcome,” added The leader of the Norwegian Peace Council (Norges Fredsråd) Hedda Langemyr. Attendees were also encouraged to hang white ribbons on a tree, to symbol dignity and peace as a gift to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The University of Oslo will host an appearance by the Tibetan spiritual leader during his visit. In newspaper Aftenposten on Wednesday, academic Nina Witoszek and China expert Harald Bøckman wrote that the Norwegian government had “fallen to its knees”

without a single promise from China about improving relations with Norway. They said, it was naïve to hope Norwegian salmon and marine equipment exports could be saved simply by being nice to the Chinese.

“The Chinese government is known for not forgetting the old sins of others, and for using them to bully and intimidate their opponents when it comes to “Chinese interests”,” wrote Witoszek and Bøckman. “The Chinese like to use smaller countries as a laboratory to test its power. When they meet opposition, it seems they like [...] to test how far they can go. Saying no to the Dalai Lama strengthens China’s contempt for the present weakness!”

The pair proposed King Harald receive His Holiness the Dalai Lama instead. “The most appropriate, in our opinion, would be if the Dalai Lama got to meet King Harald. Both are known for their senses of humour and would surely have a nice time together.”

Despite the fact it’s a private visit, the Dalai Lama will be housed at the Grand Hotel in central Oslo and receive the same levels of security as if he was on an official visit, reported NRK. “The Dalai Lama and his entourage will at all times have security personnel around him, and we will arrange for a safe accomplishment of events,” said Johan Fredriksen from Oslo police.

The measures are based on a threat assessment by the Norwegian Police Security Service (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste), and may be enhanced leading up to the visit.

“The Dalai Lama tends to stop and greet people when he goes from place to place,” said Wenche Stene, from the committee organizing the visit. She was hopeful that the heightened security would not hinder the public’s access to him. “We expect that he will also do that in Oslo.”

“Norway is in a uniquely difficult situation when it comes to the relationship with China,” Foreign Minister Børge Brende told NRK, adding: “I do not know of any other Western country that has not had political contact with China for four years.”

‘That hasn’t won Brende much sympathy or respect for what many consider kowtowing to the Chinese government,’ NRK reported. The former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was also disappointed in the Norwegian government for refusing to meet the Dalai Lama. “I have always had great respect for Norway,” he told NRK, adding that “it was now gone.”

The representative of his Holiness the Dalai Lama in Europe, Mr Thubten Samdup, told Norway’s NRK, “I think the Norwegian government should consider that by not meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama, they are sending a chilling signal to Tibetans, which is exactly what the Chinese want.”

H.H THE DALAI LAMA

15 May 2014

5

Suffering comes from unwholesome actions: His Holiness

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the final day of teachings in Riga, Latvia on May 6, 2014. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

By Jane Cook: 8 May 2014

Riga, Latvia: - ‘Suffering coming about because of unwholesome actions, doing harm to others,’ His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 6 May 2014 said during the Second Day of his teachings at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre in Riga, Latvia.

When greeting the audience waiting for him at the teaching venue, he asked for the ‘Heart Sutra’to be recited in Russian. He quoted the Buddha’s saying: “On my part I will show you the path, but you have to travel it,” adding the following verse: “Buddhas do not wash unwholesome deeds away with water, Nor do they remove the sufferings of beings with their hands, Neither do they transplant their own realization into others.

Teaching the truth of suchness they liberate (beings).”

In his fourth visit to Latvia His Holiness expressed his three primary commitments, to extend public awareness of human values, the promotion of inter-religious harmony and the defense and preservation of Tibetan language, culture and its environment.

When asked for his response to the Norwegian government’s announcement that no member would meet him, he said it was not unusual. However, the purpose of his visit was to promote his three commitments, and to interact with old friends and the public. He added that wherever he goes, he has no wish to cause any trouble.

Regarding the violence that is occurring in several parts of the world, he said that many instances were the result of past negligence. He cautioned that weapons may appear decisive, but will only bring fear, not a solution.

He stressed the importance of making the 21st century a century of dialogue and peaceful solutions to conflict.

When His Holiness was asked about the ongoing disagreement between Russia and Ukraine, he said, ‘it

was a political issue about which he did not feel fully informed.’ He pointed out that, whatever aim is adopted to defuse the crisis; the use of force will not help fulfill it. Differences of language and culture are no grounds for conflict. He cited the example of the French and Flemish speakers of Belgium and those of India who live amicably together in freedom and democracy under the rule of the law.

He spoke of suffering coming about because of unwholesome actions, doing harm to others. Therefore, we should avoid unwholesome action. The cause of suffering is ignorance that is diametrically opposed to reality. As ignorance is the opposite of knowledge, we need to understand what reality is. We need to understand the gap between appearance and reality.

Extolling the Nalanda approach to study and investigation, His Holiness commended the four reliance’s as guidelines: Rely on the teaching, not on the person; Rely on the meaning, not on the words; Rely on the definitive meaning, not on the provisional; Rely on wisdom, not on your ordinary mind.

His Holiness added, “I tell people that to be 21st century Buddhists we should follow the Buddha’s advice to use our intelligence to the full and transform our disturbing emotions. A great Tibetan Buddhist master in 13th century advised that even if you know you’re going to die tomorrow, it’s still worth studying today, because it can have an impact on the next life. In terms of study, Tibetan is the most precise language through which to study the Nalanda tradition. Scholars value Tibetan translations of Sanskrit texts because of the precision of their rendering.

And there are increasing numbers of English translations from the Tibetan.”

Answering questions once more, His Holiness expressed skepticism about astrology. His Holiness reported that his horoscope had predicted that in his 25th year, he

would either die or leave the country, which was borne out by events. To a suggestion that karma indicated predetermination, he said no because until it comes into fruition, karma can still be changed. He pointed out that although he is booked to fly to Oslo tomorrow, an emergency or other circumstances could cause him to change his plans. He said that because karma is our own creation we can also change it.

After lunch he met seven Latvian Parliamentarians and two candidates for the European Parliament.

Returning to the stage he described the ‘37 Practices of Bodhisattvas’ as a text about how to meditate on a daily basis. He said that Thogmey Zangpo, the 13/14th century author was widely acknowledged in his lifetime and his practice of the awakening mind of bodhichitta and was so effective that he always basked in peace.

Because the topic is Bodhichitta, the homage at the start of the text is to Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of all the Buddhas’ compassion. His Holiness read through the verses making comments here and there. He pointed out that the Buddha was not enlightened without cause, but through the creation of the necessary causes and conditions.

His Holiness led the audience through the practice of the nine round breathing, which he said helps calm our inner energy and so calms the mind and makes it more amenable for meditation. His Holiness then mentioned of taking refuge in the Three Jewels, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. His Holiness remarked, “The Buddhist refuge is in the Three Jewels.”

Amongst the final set of questions from the audience was one about what a mother can do for the lost child after experiencing a miscarriage. He said that while karma belongs to the individual, there are special relations between parents and children, teachers and students and so on. Therefore, in such a case as this, a mother could do something virtuous and dedicate the merit to the child’s benefit. He said that when his mother passed away he recited mantras on her behalf and dedicated the merit to her.

Another questioner asked what a Buddhist should do if his country is invaded by an aggressor. His Holiness told him that he would have to judge what would be the greatest benefit to the people. He mentioned the Jataka tale that recounts how the bodhisattva, in a life prior to becoming the Buddha. He decided to take the life of a man who was intent on killing the 499 other people on board; thus, preventing very negative karma.

A great appreciation was expressed for the last two days of discussion and His Holiness was invited to speak in the following year, which His Holiness humbly accepted.

Finally, Telo Rinpoche offered thanks to everyone who had made the event possible, supporters, organizers, volunteers and most of all His Holiness. To conclude, Russian singer Boris Grebenshchikov played a gentle song, with that His Holiness left the hall on a great wave of affection.

Thousands welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Oslo

By Jane Cook:

Hundreds rally outside the parliament in Oslo on Tuesday, 29 April, 2014 to voice their support for the Dalai Lama’s visit, to Norway. Photo: Aase-Hilde Brekke

10th Orientation for Class 12 Graduates Underway

By Becky Bargh: 3 May 2014

Dharamshala, 2 may: - The 10th college orientation for the class of 12 graduate students is currently underway in Dharamshala. The daylong programme includes career guidance talks

by Tibetan professionals from diverse fields; followed by an interactive session with Q&A’s regarding their career prospects.

Mr Ngodup Tsering, from the Secretary of Department of Education inaugurated the orientation programme which included various speakers, amongst them were, Mr Kalsang Wangdu, curriculum and teacher Development

Officer at TCV, Dr Tsering Yangkey, Monitoring and Evaluation Director, Tibet Fund, Mr Tenzin Namgyal, a Tibetan advocate, Mr Dawa, a reporter with the Voice of Tibet radio service and Mr Sherap Tharchin, deputy project director at Tibet Fund.

Mrs Chemi Tseyang, Head of Admission and Scholarship Section of the Education Department, explained the various scholarship schemes offered by the Education Department to students. The orientation also included an experience sharing session where two current college students will share their experiences of life on campus with the freshers.

8 May 2014

Oslo, Norway, 7 May 2014 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Oslo where the questions he was to be asked many times was - what did he feel about the Norwegian Governments declining to meet him?

He replied that such responses have become normal, that he accepts things as they are.

“National interest is important, but I can assure you that the Dalai Lama is not a harmful person.

My interest is to meet the public to promote human values, our need to see all 7 billion human beings as members of one family. In the face of major problems, we have to consider what benefits the whole world, not just this country or that. In the long run, we must bring principles and human values to bear in whatever we do, whether it involves politics, business, religion or education. If I had a political agenda, I might feel disappointed, but I don’t.”

He met with the former Norwegian Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Nobel Committee who noted that it was 25 years since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts to bring freedom by non-violence to the Tibetan people.

Asked whether he considered the Peace Prize as a blessing or a curse His Holiness replied, “Of course, as a blessing. I remember Archbishop Desmond Tutu, my friend and spiritual brother telling me how difficult it was for him to meet some people before, which became much easier after he was awarded the prize. I was in California attending a conference of scientists when I heard the announcement and I was asked how I felt. I said, ‘Not much different, I am a simple Buddhist monk, no more, no less.’ But since the prize was in recognition of my commitment to non-violence and my work for peace, I felt it was a great honour.

“Later, when Aung San Suu Kyi and Liu Xiaobo were

awarded the Peace Prize and they were in difficult circumstances, I felt it would have been a source of encouragement and inspiration for them.”

Asked whether he was disappointed that members of the Norwegian government and the Speaker of parliament would not be meeting him, he replied: “No, why? My main interest is in the promotion of human values. From birth we have a sense of affection and some sense of concern for others.

We need to nurture it. Scientists have found that to ensure even physical health peace of mind is essential. People often think that love and compassion are only matters of religious concern, but in fact such values are necessary in all human relations. As a Buddhist monk, I am also interested in fostering inter-religious harmony.

“Wherever I go my aim is to meet the public. If leaders like President Obama meet with me that’s fine, but I don’t ever want to put anyone to any inconvenience. When I arrived here today, I was happy to see the large number of ordinary people who came. The world belongs to all of us, not just to our leaders.

When His Holiness was asked whether China’s increasing influence was able to limit his and the Tibetan government-in-exile’s work, he clarified that he does not refer to the Central Tibetan Administration, which looks after the Tibetan community, in that way. But he laughed and remarked that it seems the more the Chinese government criticize him, the more his popularity grows.

To a question about whether it seems easier or more difficult to resolve differences with the Chinese authorities since he was awarded the Peace Prize, he said that it is nearly 70 years since the formation of the People’s Republic of China. Over that period he perceives different eras. So, you see, the same party, with the same ideology has shown that it can

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Oslo, Norway on May 8, 2014. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

adapt to a changing reality. As China opens up, as its students study abroad and are exposed to freedom and a lack of censorship, things are bound to change.

Wen Jiabao said China needs political reform, even US style democracy.”

On the question of support for human rights in China and Tibet, His Holiness expressed the view that smaller countries, like Norway, may wield more influence because they are not perceived as a threat.

When asked about the 130 self-immolations that have taken place in Tibet, His Holiness said it is very sad and repeated that these drastic actions should be investigated by the Chinese authorities and not blame His Holiness and his supporters.

A journalist mentioned that as a Nobel Laureate, His Holiness is entitled to nominate others to be awarded the Peace Prize and asked if he had done so. His Holiness laughed and said he thought it was the Committee’s job to do that. Asked if he thought he would still be able to visit Tibet and the PRC in this life, he replied that if he lives another 15 or 20 years he hopes so, but if he only lives another one or two years there may not be a chance.

“Anyway, if I am able to go, I hope that journalists like all of you will be able to come too.”

6

TPI NEWS

15 May 2014

Horoscopes for the month of May, 2014 Sorces: Always Astrology

ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Think about starting your own small business, Friendships will be ruined if you let too many people get involved in any disputes. You should visit a friend or relative who hasn’t been well. Your emotional state could leave you vulnerable and confused. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21) You will be tempted to shop till you drop. You are best not to retaliate if members of your household are trying to pick a fight. Try to find another time to present work or ideas this month. Don’t let the cat out of the bag. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You could easily lose your temper at work. Don’t push your opinions or ideas on others. Your high energy will enable you to enlist the help of those in a position to back you. Disputes may start because of a lack of honesty.

Passion will be your only answer. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Use your inventiveness to find solutions. Unstable relationships are likely. Real estate should be lucrative for you. Unrealistic promises will only get you in trouble.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) ou can win if you’re open and up front with your boss.

You may feel that someone at work is holding you back. If they’re really interested, they’ll wait. Try to keep a low profile.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Look into some personal changes.Get busy on those home improvement projects that you’ve been procrastinating about. Partnerships will be successful.

Take care that arrangements to spend quality time together are made in advance.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Try not to get upset or angry without having all the facts.

Based on your excitement, serious-minded individuals will be more than interested in backing your ideas. Make love, not war, and all will be fine. Overindulgence will mean poor health. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Don’t let others bait you into arguments. Travel and creative hobbies will be your best outlet. Look at your options before making commitments that could jeopardize your financial position. Don’t start a dispute unless you’re prepared to accept irreversible results. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Catch up on your correspondence and reading. Don’t overextend your self in order to add luxury items to your entertainment center. You can’t lock your partner up and if you keep restricting their freedom you may be left out in the cold. Follow through on some of the good ideas that come up, and you could have a real winner of a deal. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) You’re not your usual self this month. If you can’t trust someone, question the connection. Don’t push your mate away. You may have a tendency to put on weight. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Your intellectual charm will win hearts and bring opportunities that you least expect. Passion is inevitable and commitments can be made during the heat of the night. Your need to use emotional blackmail will only cause more conflict. Your diplomacy will be of utmost importance this month. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

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Public schedule of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Month Of June, 2014 Teachings in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India from May 30 to June 2: His Holiness will give four days of Introductory Teachings on Buddhism at the request of Nalanda Shiksha. Contact Email: nalandashiksha@gmail.com Teaching in Livorno, Italy on June 14 & 15: His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give teachings on Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend (shetring) on June 14 and also confer an Avalokiteshvera Empowerment (chenresig wang – jigten wangchuk) on June 15 morning at Modigliani Forum organized by Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa. Contact Website: www.dalailama.it/en Public Talk in Livorno, Italy on June 15: His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give a public talk on Compassionate Ethics in the afternoon at Modigliani Forum organized by Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa. Contact Website: www.dalailama.it/en Kalachakra in Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India from July 3 to 14: His Holiness will be giving the Kalachakra at the request of the two main organizers, the Ladakh Buddhist Association and the Ladakh Gonpa Association. The Tibetan Kongpo Association and the Tibetan Jonang Association are co-sponsors. During the first three days of the Kalachakra, from July 3 to 5, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with the monks of Namgyal Monastery and senior lamas, will conduct rituals which prepare and consecrate the venue. These include chanting of prayers, creation of the sand mandala and other rituals. From July 6 to 8, His Holiness will give preliminary teachings on Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend (shetring). On July 9, the Kalachakra Ritual Dance will be performed by the monks of Namgyal Monastery. His Holiness will confer the Kalachakra Initiation from July 10 to 13. On July 14, a long life empowerment (tsewang) and a ceremony offering prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be performed. Contact Website: www.ladakhkalachakra2014.com Discussion in Hamburg, Germany on August 23: His Holiness will lead a discussion on Secular Ethics - Human Values In Our Lives. Contact Website: www.dalailama-hamburg.de Teaching in Hamburg, Germany from August 24 to 26: His Holiness will give teachings on Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (chodjug) on August 24 and 25. He will confer an Avalokiteshvera Initiation (chenresig wang jigten wangchuk) on the morning of August 26. Contact Website: www.dalailama-hamburg.de Sources: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Validity of Shimla agreement is discussed 100 years on

International conference on reviewing Simla convention 1914 held at the Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla, India, 12 May, 2014. Photo: Youtube/Screenshot

By Becky Bargh: 14 May 2014

Dharamshala: - The Shimla convention between India Tibet and China has been revisited in order to settle the ongoing dispute of the validity of the agreement, even after 100 years the document is still a cause of disagreement between India and China.

The Shimla convention was first held from 1913 to 1914 in an attempt to define and distinguish the boundaries of inner and outer Tibet, as well as India and China. However, China refused to sign the final document, which is why the legitimacy of the agreement is still in question; instead, it was Tibet and British India that signed the agreement. Similarly, the question remains as to whether this document has relevance and legality in the present international scenario.

The issues were discussed in a one day conference on Monday (12 May) by scholar’s that was organized by the Himachal Pradesh University in co-ordination with Tibet Policy Institute, a research centre of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It will look into the future and attempt to generate better relations between India and China with the ongoing issue of Tibet.

It is the first institute to organise a seminar to commemorate the 100 years of the

convention and The University’s ViceChancellor, ADN Bajpai expressed his hope that other institutes would take lead in organizing more seminars on the subject.

Tashi Phuntsok the secretary for International Relations of the CTA said, “We have come here not to celebrate the century of the agreement, but to recall the historic time as history is not static. We hope for a better future for our people.”

The Director of the Tibetan Policy Institute, Taubten Samphal, expressed without fear or hesitation that Tibet will be the key to improving relations between India and China and the burial of the Shimla agreement 1914 would not solve the issues between the two nations. “Tibet is today what India was 100 years back and situations do change for good,” he said.

Nonetheless, border disputes could end with the negotiation of the Turkmenistan— Afghanistan—Pakistan—Indian (TAPI) gas pipeline and alternate trade route through India which are two major economic compulsions of China.

P r o f e s s o r Ya d a v f r o m K u r u k s h e t r a University expressed the importance of the route in China’s economic interests, “The trade route through the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal and pipeline from Central Asia via Exchine to Manali, [...] could help resolve the century-old issue as China has vital economic interests in the region.”

He also added the three nations have conflicting interests as Britain want to secure their Northern borders, while China want suzerainty (control over another country) rights over Tibet and Tibet want their independence. However, Tibet did not receive their share of input and International diplomacy proved superior and later, India and Britain accepted Tibet as part of China.

China destroys Tibet’s.....

The Chinese companies had bribed the authorities to bulldoze the Tibetan factories at Kyegudo (in Chinese, Yushu) county in the Yulshul [in Chinese, Yushu] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture last week, the sources alleged.

“It is believed that the authorities in Yushu were bribed by the Chinese brick kiln owners, who paid 50,000 yuan [nearly U.S. $8,000] to prevent competition from the Tibetan brick kilns,” Nyima, a Tibetan in exile, told US based Radio station RFA. “The brick kilns owned and operated by Tibetans in Kyegudo county were destroyed while those owned by the Chinese immigrants were untouched,” Nima said, citing local contacts.

In the April 20 incident, “the authorities not only deployed bulldozers to demolish the brick kilns operated by the Tibetans but also burned their tents and took away their mobile phones and also beat those who tried to resist the demolition,” according to Nima, a Kyegudo native.

It was not immediately clear how many factories were destroyed or how many of the owners were injured by the beatings. Local authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Quake-hit area Kyegudo was hit by a devastating earthquake on April 14, 2010, that largely destroyed the town and killed almost 3,000 residents by official count.Many of the homes later torn down by authorities were built by families on their own land and with their own resources, sources have said.In March, the Chinese authorities destroyed several “illegal” houses and shops set up by Tibetans in a small Tibetan nomadic town called Karda, not far from Kyegudo town, the sources said.”

The local Tibetans had built small houses as part of a cooperative business center. They did not seek permission from the local authorities, who called the structures illegal and dispatched a demolition team [to destroy them],” Nima said. “As the Tibetan shops were destroyed, their merchandise was scattered everywhere.””Tibetans who tried to salvage their belongings were beaten by Chinese police and harassed.”

Tibetans in Kyegudo complain that the Chinese authorities do not issue permits to Tibetans to operate language centers, shops, and restaurants while applications to set up such businesses by Chinese immigrants are easily approved.

“These are explicit actions of discrimination committed by local authorities favoring Han Chinese immigrants over the local Tibetans,” Nima said.

Tibetans in China complain of political, religious, and economic discrimination as well as human rights abuses.

Atotal of 131 Tibetans have self-immolated in China since

15 May 2014 International 7 His Holiness the Dalai Lama greets Latvia on Independence Day

TPI NEWS

The Tibet Post International

continued from Front-Page......

2009 in protest against Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas and calling for the return from exile of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.

By Becky Bargh: 7 May 2014

Riga, Latvia, 3 May 2014:—The spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Riga, capital of Latvia, on Saturday, 3 May, where he was warmly welcomed at the airport by members of ‘Save Tibet - Latvia’ and ‘Save Tibet - Russia’ and their spiritual director Telo Tulku.

Members of the Press asked His Holiness if he had any comments to make, as that day is the Restoration of Independence Day. On 4th May1990 the independence of the Republic of Latvia, which had been originally proclaimed in 1918, was restored.

“I would like to express my greetings and congratulations to you. I think it’s encouraging to note how things changed between the early and later parts of the 20th century. In 1996, I met the British Queen Mother, who was then 96 years old and so had observed almost the whole 20th century in the course of her life. I asked her if she felt the world was the same, had it got worse or had it got better,” His Holiness responded to reporters and said.

“Without hesitation she said it was better. She said that when she was young there was no concept of self-determination or human rights and yet today these are accepted as universal. In many parts of the world there is greater freedom. Nevertheless, within the family of 7 billion human beings we still need to make an effort to improve respect for human rights whatever superficial differences there may be between us. In this connection I believe that sometimes smaller nations like the Baltic States can

be more effective and take the lead,” the 78-yearold Nobel Peace laureate added.

Turning to burly writer and philosopher Arnis Ritups, who he has met before, His Holiness asked how he was feeling. Ritups replied that he felt weak. And when His Holiness wanted to know why, he told him because he has so many stupid thoughts.

“I agree,” His Holiness responded, “too often we are entangled in short-sightedness. We need to adopt a more far-reaching view. We forget our basic human values. If we want to live in a better world, who do you think is going to bring it about?

Only we human beings. Such change won’t come about as a result of government or UN action, but

Riga, Latvia: - ‘The material development provides relatively short-lived physical comfort, but not mental peace,’ the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama said during first day of his two days of teachings in Latvia.

Many thousands of audiences gathered at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre in Riga, the capital of Latvia, on 5 May to hear the teachings of Heart Sutra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate emphasized why religion or spirituality is relevant in today’s world and answered it by explaining that spirituality is related to inner values and so to inner peace. “If material and

technological development brought complete peace and happiness, people in advanced, developed countries should be really happy, and yet many are not. Material development provides physical comfort, but not mental peace,” His Holiness said.

“We may feel pain and pleasure on a sensory, physical level, or on a mental level. Pleasure on a sensory level, like that derived from watching sport or listening to beautiful music is relatively short-lived, whereas satisfaction on a mental level, for example, love and faith, which do not depend on our senses, is more durable,” His Holiness responded and said.

The Buddhist spiritual leader. said that ‘while physical pain can be subdued by mental

of plants and wildlife. There are many Buddhist temples in the Pemakö belonging to the various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. This hidden land was also the birthplace of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. Many great Buddhist masters including Chatral Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche have spent time in the Pemakö.

In more recent times, the Pemakö has provided shelter for Tibetans escaping the Chinese invasion of Tibet. The most famous of these refugees is His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself, who stayed at Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang Monastery in 1959 on his journey from Tibet to India. The Tibetan Freedom fighters known as the Dhokam Chushi Gangdruk passed through the Pemakö in their resistance to the Chinese invasion. Years prior the border became a subject of great contention amongst Tibet, India and China after the McMahon Line was established in 1914. To this day the northern area of Arunachal Pradesh remains a heavily militarised region with ongoing political tensions between the two giants.

Environmental problems abound with hydroelectric dam construction plans, deforestation and poaching. The Pemakö’s natural habitat is being forced to change due to modernisation and the needs of society. Hydro-electric dams have a notorious negative effects on the surrounding human, animal and plant populations. In this case, these effects could stretch far through to India and downwards to Bangladesh placing the issue at a level of international relevance. In addition to the Tibetan Pemaköba population, the region is home to several different indigenous tribes. These include the Mönpa, Adi and Mishmi amongst several others, each with its own particular language, culture and traditional values. They as well are becoming increasingly affected by the transformation of the natural environment and increase in capitalistic ambitions. These issues thus also become a matter of human rights.

There are efforts at preserving the Tibetan Buddhist culture foundin the Pemakö. Tulku

Orgyen Phuntsok is restoring a retreat land in the Pemakö and constructed a new Buddhist temple on the foundations of an older one. The Sacred Land Film Project has created a film about the hidden lands in the Himalayas to increase awareness of their environmental and cultural endangerment. The Lhundrup Topgye Ling Ngakpa Dratsang School founded by the Venerable Lopon Orgyen Tenzin Rinpoche seeks to preserve Tibetan treasures as well as provide educational benefit to Pemakö people.

So what will be the longterm effects of these changes on not only the natural environment, but also the religious culture? Their conservation and preservation rely on awareness of the area’s ecological, historical, cultural and religious significance. In the wake of political adversity and potential for economic gain, the Pemakö appears low on the list of priorities. At a recent talk to foreigners residing in Mcleod Ganj, His Holiness the Dalai Lama accentuated the need to establish relevancy of Buddhist thought to contemporary environmental and political issues. His Holiness the Karmapa repeatedly emphasises the importance of the environment and how in accordance with Buddhist thought, the interdependence of all phenomena requires not just awareness of environmental conservation but concrete efforts towards this aim. My conversations with Tibetans have raised the question as to how important the Pemakö really is to Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhism. Is this place for real? Does it even matter?

In view of a multitude of impending issues surrounding the Tibetans and Tibet, their prioritisation is a continuous challenge.

Still, the Pemakö’s current situation provides a particular example of historical, religious, political, spiritual and environmental issues all wrapped into one. It is just as important to understand, support and conserve this sacred land’s multi-faceted heritage and place in Tibet’s cultural legacy. The impending destruction of her natural habitat may not be in balance with the calculated material advantages.

The Exhibition Centre Ķīpsala where over 4,000 people attended the first day of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s two day teaching in Riga, Latvia on May 5, 2014. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

His Holiness speaks on physical and mental comfort

Preservation of the hidden land known as the Pemakö – does it matter?

By Layne Mayard: 15 May 2014

Tibetan Buddhist philosophy includes the belief in sacred landscapes or hidden lands called beyul.

Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is said to have endowed 108 regions throughout the Himalayas with the power of his prayers and practices. These areas are said to provide refuge to those in need of food and shelter. They are also spiritual havens for Buddhist practitioners and can greatly enhance their quest for enlightenment.

The hidden lands are both practical and mystical, and paradoxically visible to the untrained eye yet invisible to those with lesser spiritual realisation.

The Pemakö is regarded by many Tibetans as one of the most sacred of these hidden lands. It is located at the far eastern end of the Himalayan range near Namche Barwe mountain. This beyul is approximately 30.000 square kilometres in size with a shape resembling that of a lotus. Today’s territorial divisions place the northern two-thirds of the Pemakö in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the lower remainder in India’s Arunachal Pradesh. The Yarlung Tsangpo river wraps around Namche Barwe and continues into India as the Siang and Brahmaputra river.

The surrounding river landscape consists of gorges formed by the mountains followed by jungle terrain as the lower ranges fan out from the highest peaks. This diversity of altitude has fostered one of the most ecologically rich areas in the world. According to scientific estimates, multitudes of plant and animal species remain undiscovered.

Historically, Guru Padmasambhava provided the spiritual basis for the Pemakö over 1300 years ago. He is said to have subdued aggressive demons, blessed the natural settings with his magical powers and hidden Buddhist teachings to be rediscovered by future generations. the Pemakö is thought to have been discovered by the great tertön (treasure revealer) Rigdzin Duddul Dorje in the 1500’s. Since this time many teachings have been revealed by various treasure revealers.

These terma describe the Pemakö’s geographical aspects, spiritual powers and its natural abundance

at the initiative of individuals. What we need is confidence and determination.”

His Holiness is in Riga to give two days of teachings on the ‘Heart Sutra’ and the ‘37 Practices of Bodhisattvas’, which will begin tomorrow at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre.

Tibet lost its independence in 1959, when the Chinese communist militarily occupied the Tibet plateau—leading the Tibetan leader escaping Tibet to take political refuge in India. This includes the killing of 1.2 million of 6 million Tibetans and destroying of more than 6000 monasteries, temples and other cultural and historic buildings.

By Yeshe Choesang: 7 May 2014

satisfaction, mental unease is not allayed by physical comfort. If we are worried, stressed or frightened, having a beautiful house or listening to delightful music brings little relief. A disturbed mind is not calmed by mere physical satisfaction.’

Questioning about his practice, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he had been meditating on love. He noted a sparkle in his eyes that indicated his tremendous satisfaction. “On the other hand I’ve met billionaires who have all they need and more who are very unhappy. Scientists have findings that show that a calm mind is good for our physical well-being. They also have evidence that mental training can change our attitudes, enabling us to be happier.

Our human intelligence can be a source of happiness, but if misused it can also be a source of stress and worry.”

The Buddhist leader said that ‘only human beings develop religious faith. Such faith may have begun with worship of the sun, but in time the idea of God the creator emerged and with it the idea that since he created everything, there is a spark of God in everyone. All religions convey a message of love and compassion and because hatred is an obstacle to that, they teach tolerance and patience. And because greed is also an obstacle they teach simplicity and contentment. Non-theistic traditions like the Samkhyas, Jains and Buddhists instead of turning to a creator, teach the law of causality, the principle of cause and effect, which resembles a scientific view.’

Going through the ‘Heart Sutra’, His Holiness explained that things exist in dependence on other factors, so they do not exist independently. Emptiness does not make things empty; phenomena themselves are empty, because they do not have independent existence. He alluded to the interdependence between cause and effect, that something is a cause only because there is an effect.

The ‘Heart Sutra’ shows that independent existence is an illusion by saying “Form is empty, emptiness is form.” Emptiness is a property of the form, and form is the basis of the property of emptiness. When you look for form, you find emptiness. This is what undermines clinging to intrinsic existence.

He remarked that consciousness too is empty and mentioned that meditation on emptiness is effective in undermining our negative emotions; it is not just an intellectual exercise.

Negative emotions are not of the nature of the mind; they do not taint its luminosity.

8 TPI NEWS Back Page Focus Tibetan Buddhist monk appears in RSF heroes list Buddhist artefacts to go on display for The Tibet Post International

15 May 2014

By NJ Thakuria: 10 May 2014

Undated photo of Jigme Gyatso. Media File

Guwahati: Well known Buddhist monk and human rights activist Jigme Gyatso has been honoured by an international media watchdog as an information hero.

Also known as Golog Jigme, who found fame with the film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ is included in the list of 100 information heroes, which has been prepared by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) and released on May 3 on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. Born in 1969 at Golog Serta of eastern Tibet, Jigme Gyatso helped film-maker Dhondup Wangchen to produce the powerful 25-minute documentary titled ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ that sheds light on Tibetan peoples’ plight under Beijing’s occupation. The short film with interviews of 108 ordinary Tibetans was secretly screened in the Chinese capital in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

‘Jigme Gyatso was immediately arrested, sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment, then beaten and tortured.

He was released in October 2008. However, in 2012 Jigme Gyatso, described by fellow Tibetans as ‘monk of moral integrity and a sincere social worker’, was seized again by the authorities, who are holding him in secret. His family has had no news of him since September 2012,’ said an RSF statement issued from its head quarter in Paris.

The RSF list includes media (information) activists (aged from 25 to 75) from 65 countries who have helped to promote the freedom enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through their courageous work or activism.

‘They put their ideals in the service of the common good. They serve as examples. World Press Freedom Day should be an occasion for paying tribute to the courage of the journalists and bloggers who constantly sacrifice their safety and sometimes their lives to their vocation,’ said RSF’s secretarygeneral Christophe Deloire.

The list includes an Indian female journalist from Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India bordering Tibet.

Tongam Rina, who works for Arunachal Times, an influential English daily newspaper published from Itanagar, was shot at by miscreants on 15 July, 2012 in front of the newspaper office suspectedly for her bold articles against anti-social elements in the society.

Some other information activists who have made it to RSF list include Asif Mohiuddin (Bangladesh), Hamid Mir & Muhammad Ziauddin (Pakistan), MV Kaanamylnathan (Sri Lanka), Mariyath Mohammed (Maldives), Najiba Ayubi & Danish Karokhel (Afghanistan), Chiranuch Premchaiporn (Thailand), Oudom Tat (Cambodia), Peter John Jaban (Malaysia), Le Ngoc Thanh, Truong Duy Nhat & Pham Chi Dung (Vietnam), Liu Hu & Huang Qi & Li Jianjun (China), Yu Terasawa (Japan), Svetlana Reiter, Aksana Panova & Israpil Shovkhalov (Russia) etc.

Similarly Malahat Nasibova, Khadija Ismayilova & Ganimat Zahid (Azerbaijan), Najiba Hamrouni (Tunisia), Said Matinpour & Jila Bani Yaghoob (Iran), Glenn Greenwald & Laura Poitras (USA), Lydia Cacho & Anabel Hernández (Mexico), Yoani

Sánchez & Angel Santiesteban-Prats (Cuba), María Pía Matta & Mireya Manquepillán Huanquil (Chile), Gerard Ryle (Australia), Lúcio Flávio Pinto (Brazil), Giuseppe Maniaci (Italy), Johnny Bissakonou (Central African Republic), Muhammad Bekzhanov & Mutabar Tadjibayeva (Uzbekistan), Lukpan Akhmedyarov (Kazakhstan), Gorka Landáburu (Spain), Ali Dilem (Algérie), Eric Topona (Tchad), Claudia Duque (Colombia), Queirós Anastácio Chiluvia (Angola), Ali Anouzla & Ali Lmrabet (Morroco) also featured in the list.

Others who succeeded in including their names in the list are Kalafi Moala (Tonga), Hassan Ruvakuki (Burundi), Maydaneh Abdallah Okieh (Djibouti), Rodney Sieh (Liberia), Nicaise Kibel Bel’Oka & Tshivis Tshivuadi (Democratic Republic of Congo), Milka Tadic Mijovic (Montenegro), Abdul Bary Taher (Yemen), Andrzej Poczobut (Belarus), Ileana Alamilla (Guatemala), Amara Al-Khitabi (Libya), Agnès Uwimana Nkusi (Rwanda), Assen Yordanov (Bulgaria), Reyot Alemu (Ethiopia), Mabel Cáceres (Peru), Malick Ali Maiga (Mali), Zhanna Litvina (Belarus), Rowena Paraan (Philippines), Yrgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu (Eritrea), Dina Daskalopoulou (Greece), Lirio Abbate (Italy) etc.

The list of honoured journalists continue with Adnan Hassanpour (Iran), Julian Assange (Australia), Brankica Stanković (Serbia), Siamak Qaderi (Iran), Serhiy Leshchenko (Ukraine), Nuriddin Karshiboev (Tajikistan), Mazen Darwish (Syria), Hanan AlMqawab (Libya), Dina Meza (Honduras), Fahem Boukadous (Tunisia), José Belo (Timor Leste), Ahmed Humeidan & Ali Abdulemam (Bahrain), Itsmania Pineda Platero (Honduras), Biniam Simon (Eritrea), Verónica Basurto (Mexico), Gotson Pierre (Haiti), Sardar Muhammad (Iraqi Kurdistan), Dawit Isaac (Eritrea), Abeer Saady (Egypt), Razan Zaitouneh (Syria), Blaž Zgaga (Slovenia), Oleksiy Matsuka (Ukraine), Saouti Haïdara (Mali), Amira Hass (Israel), Hasan Cemal & Ismail Saymaz (Turkey) and Waleed Al-Shehhi (United Arab Emirates).

‘These information heroes are a source of inspiration to all men and those who aspire to freedom. Without their determination and the determination of all those like them, it would be simply impossible to extend the domain of freedom,’ asserted the RSF statement adding that this ‘initiative aims to show that the fight for freedom of information requires not only active support for the victims of abuses but also the promotion of those who can serve as models’.

Another Tibetan youth stabs self against China’s rule, hospitalised

By CTA official Media: Tibet Net: 29 April 2014

Dharamshala, 9 May 2014: - Sources from Tibet said, ‘after yesterdays stabbing the protest regarding mining near Kham region of Eastern Tibet has turned very serious in Tongbar.’ As another Tibetan man around 34 years old is hospitalised after stabbing himself in protest and remains in a critical condition.

Sources in Tongbar have recently told the Tibet Post the plans to mine minerals from a site close to holly-river in Tsawa Dzogang county (Zogang Xian, Qamdo PrefectureTibet Autonomous Region) Chamdho, Kham region of eastern Tibet. As well as receiving photos showing the locations where the mining is due to take place.

The sources Lobsang and Tashi, both originally from the county who now live in Dharamshala, India told the Tibet Post that, ‘due to the intense situation Rigzin, who has a five month old child, staged a protest by stabbing himself on the roof of Phakpa Gyaltsen’s house (who protested against the Chinese mining just the day before by stabbing himself and then jumping off the roof of a building). After witnessing Rigzin’s demonstration villagers intervened and called the emergency services where he was taken to hospital in Chamdho city, where he remains.

Rigzin intended to kill himself not only as a sign of protest but also to commemorate the death of Phakpa Gyaltsen.

Chinese armed securities have surrounded the hospital and are currently looking for him, as well as surveying the resident nurses who are looking after him.

‘The current situation is very tense,’expressed the sources.

‘His condition is very serious and the locals cannot determine whether he will survive due to lack of contact,’ they added.

Due to blogging and other forms of communication the

Planning Mining project in Tongbar township in Dzoge County, eastern Tibet. Photo: TPI

Chinese government have cracked down severely on Tibetan communities in order to stop the spread of details of this intense situation; therefore, allowing them to continue with their mining plans.

The sources also told the Tibet Post, ‘the particulars of Rigzin’s condition are unavailable due to officials collecting mobile phone numbers from local Tibetans to ensure no contact is being made with any personnel outside of Tibet.’ The Chinese government have also restricted internet access and outgoing calls and messages.

Translated by Becky Bargh and Yangchen Dolma.

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Undated photo of Rigzin. Photo: TPI

Cambridge’s first Tibetan exhibition

X-ray of a Buddha kyamuni’s statue in bronze (MAA, 1935.346).Tibet. 14th centuryPurchased by Louis C.G. Clarke.Courtesy of the Hamilton Kerr Institute and the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Photo: Cambridge News

By Becky

Bargh: 12 May 2014

Some of the world’s oldest Buddhist manuscripts dating back to the eleventh century will go on display for the first time in Cambridge, UK from 28 May 2014 to January 17 2015.

Historians, anthropologists, linguists, art historians, and scientists have contributed to ‘Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond’, which will go on show at Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Visitors will follow the journey of Buddha’s words in three different spaces within the Li Ka Shing gallery of the museum.

First, the Himalayan Buddhist Altar will be on display which demonstrates an exploration of the text as a sacred object.

Secondly, the Laboratory shows how Tibetan books are made and analysed, investigating the long history of printing in Tibet and the pigments used.

The final section is in the Library, which displays the journeys taken by Buddha’s word across Asia.

Dr Mark Elliott, senior curator in anthropology at the museum, said: “It’s a real first. A lot of these artefacts have never been seen on display before, and certainly not together. But we’re also looking at Tibetan books, and Tibetan Buddhist art, in a completely new way.”

The exhibition will bring together collections and research from a range of sources, including the Sedgwick Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge University.

Kalachakra Tour 2014 Ladakh, India

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