Province of Caltanissetta expresses its support for Tibetan autonomy

The function was attended by dignitaries including, Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, parliamentarians and mayors of the provincial countries and other authorities of the region.

In his address, Angelo Marotta, President of the Provincial Region of Caltananisse and of the union of all the president of provinces of Italy, said: “The presence of several mayors from the province of Caltanissetta, president of the province, the administrators and councillors of the province together with high authorities testify the sensibility of our community towards the Tibetan cause and towards recognizing the rights of its people.”

Mr Marotta also said, “His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s words and those of the deputy speaker encouraged us towards bigger tasks for Tibetan cause,” adding, “We will call for immediate action of all the communes in the Province of Caltanissetta for Association for Tibet.”

While he lauded His Holiness’ contribution to the world at large, the official said, with the arrival of Tibetan flag in the region, a new relationship has been cemented on the solid foundation of universal love and compassion laid by His Holiness.

Later that day, an exhibition on pictures taken in Dharamsala was held at the “House of Children.”

Tibetan Parliament greets New Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh

In a letter dated 31 December, Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Ngawang Tsultrim expressed his hope that Himachal Pradesh under the leadership of Prof. Dhumal, “ [would continue]the existing good and cordial relationship between the people of Himachal Pradesh and Tibetan people and would be further strengthened”.

The State Governor V S Kokje administered the oath of office to Mr Dhumal at the historic Ridge in the state capital on 30 December.

Chief Minister Dhumal’s party, the BJP won the assembly election with an overwhelming majority, securing 41 out of the 68 seats.

Deputy Speaker attends women empowerment conference

Addressing as the chief guest, the deputy speaker raised the issue of Tibet, which drew solidarity and support from the participants.

While expressing her support to the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the president of the Bhartiya Stree Shakti, Dr. Medha Nanivadekar also strongly expressed her solidarity for the cause of Tibet.

Also during the conference, four women freedom fighters of Goa were honoured with the gallantry award.

Important dignitaries present included Mrs. Pamela Tai, chief of the Rashtriya Samiti and Mrs. Shashi Kala Kakodkar, daughter of former Goa Chief Minister and other prominent leaders. Eminent Indian scientists, Dr. Mina Kumari and Dr. Kulkarni were also present at the conference.

Central Tibetan Administration presents auspicious offering to His Holiness

Deputy Commissioner of North Kannada district Munish Mudgil and Superintendent of Police, N Shivaprasad were present to welcome His Holiness on behalf of the district administration.

While addressing media persons at the airport, His Holiness expressed his gratitude to the state government and the local people for extending their support to the Tibetan people since Tibetans had settled in the region from the 1960’s.

His Holiness further said, “Owing to the support provided by the Indian government during the last 45 years, we have been able to establish agriculture based settlements and many centres of learning for the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism and culture.”

The members of the Kashag had an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the following day.

His Holiness also conferred teachings on Jamphel Tsencho at Drepung monastery at the request of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Prior to the teaching, officials of CTA including The Justice Commissioner, speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Kalon Tripa, members of the Kashag, members of Parliament and former Kalons, offered auspicious offerings to express their gratitude to the great service His Holiness has rendered to the Tibetan people in particular and the world in general.

While in Dharamshala, more than 300 Tibetans gathered at Tsuglagkhang to offer long life prayers and offerings to His Holiness. The officials of the Central Tibetan Administration also attended the prayer ceremony.

Later that afternoon, Kalon Kesang .Y. Takla, Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations launched the official website for the office of Tibet based in Australia-www.tibetoffice.com.au.

On 7 January, His Holiness inaugurated a new assembly hall at the Drepung Loseling monastery.

In the subsequent days from 8-13 January, His Holiness gave teachings at Drepung Loseling monastery.

On the morning of 14 January, His Holiness conferred a long life empowerment, and later, a long life offering ceremony for His Holiness was held.

His Holiness and South Tyrol President inaugurate TCV Hostel in Mungod

The President of the province Dr. Luis Durnwalder, Bolzano was also present at the inaugural ceremony.

Mr. Tsewang Yeshi, President of the TCV, in his welcome address thanked Dr. Luis Durnwalder for the financial support provided for the construction of the TCV hostel and also for a health centre built at TCV School in Chautra.

“This project is an initiative of Jetsun Pema the mother and guiding force of TCV work to have this hostel with a vision and understanding that the problem of tackling poverty and illiteracy is best done at the base with the direct involvement of the population concern rather then to go for any best solution that uproots them in any form,” Mr. Tsewang Yeshi said.

His Holiness also visited the Representative’s Office and cooperative society of Mundgod.

That afternoon, His Holiness visited Mungod Central School for Tibetans and spoke on the teachings of Buddha to the students.

Tibetans hold festival for non-violence in Ahmedabad

The five-day Tibet festival was hosted by the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the Central Tibetan Administration and Kanoria Centre for Arts, Darpana Academy and Alliance France d’Ahmedabad.

In her opening remarks, Mrs. Kesang Y. Takla, Kalon for the DIIR, said, “Tibet is a guinea pig of sorts - an experiment that has to work, to show the world that violence is never the answer. Short term resolutions at best, is all that violence can beget, apart from more violence, of course. If we succeed in our struggle, the world will take note of the fact that there is an alternative to the route of war. It is to this end that the Central Tibetan Administration-in-Exile is very pleased to facilitate this sharing of our culture.”

Stressing on the importance of holding the festival in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Kalon Kelsang Y Takla said, “This great city is the land of Gandhi and non-violence. Even His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been greatly inspired by the teachings of Gandhi and it is significant that we are holding the festival here. This will help people know about our culture and heritage and also help us share the story of our non-violent struggle for our homeland with them.” Mrs. Mallika Sarabhai, the Director of Darpana Academy, and one of the co-hosts of the festival said, “Gujarat, more than any place, needs to reiterate the message of non-violence.”

She added, “The facts are horrifying and need to understand. We support the Tibetan struggle and non-violent must lead to a new path for the world.”

The festival included a plethora of exhibitions-both at Darpana Academy and Kanoria. The exhibitions at Kanoria included photos of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a traveling exhibition titled “A Long Look Homeward,” which provided vivid perspectives of Tibetan struggle for freedom, and traditional thangka paintings from Norbulingka Institute.

The exhibition underway at the Darpana Academy is on the Tibetan assistance during the Gujarat earthquake.

Mrs. Annick Chandra Pelle, Director of the Alliance Francaise d’ Ahmedabad said, “It is amazing that despite the geographical proximity of the two countries, we in India know very little about Tibet. This exhibition is an effort from our part to remedy that and place Tibet in the public consciousness.”

The other programmes on the first day included a lecture on Tibetan medicine by Dr. Pema Dorjee of the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, and screening of the film The Cup at Natarani Theatre, Darpana Academy, which attracted a sizable audience.

Film Scriptwriting course held in Dharamsala

The five-day scriptwriting course, which began on 11 February, was inaugurated by Kalon Kesang Y Takla, Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations. The participants learned the essential elements of scriptwriting process, including, finding a story, discovering and developing dimensional characters, dialogue, structure, goal and motivation and examples from different films.

The course was organized by London-based Tibetan filmmaker Sam Wangyal of Wild Nomads for the Himalayan Film School in association with the Audio-Visual section of DIIR.

Mr Niko Von Glasgow, an award winning German film director, producer and scriptwriter, conducted the course.

Mahiti imparts Free and Open Source Software Training to Tibetans

The software training was organised in coordination with the Tibetan Computer Resource Centre (TCRC) - a branch section of DIIR. The centre aims to harness information technology to provide a medium of communication between the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan communities and rest of the world.

Participants, including officials from various departments of the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetan non governmental organisations attended the FOSS training. They learned the basics of browsing, window security, visual tools, software equivalent to page maker such as scribe, ink scape, CMS-Plone, audio visual tools, audio editing tools, video editing tools, music composing tools, basic concepts of FOSS, and fire-fox extension for web developers.

While speaking on the concluding day, information secretary of DIIR, Mr. Thubten Samphel expressed gratitude and appreciation to the organisers for imparting computer and information technological skills to Tibetans.

Recounting the relation between India and Tibet, which dates back to more than 1300 years, when Tibetans used to send their best and brightest students to India to study Buddhism and learn the wisdom of ancient India to take back to Tibet, the secretary told the organisers, “We hope this should be the beginning of a binding and meaningful partnership.”

“Since we are on the threshold of the age of internet, we feel that India and its people with their technological prowess and savvy are the right person for the Tibetan students to get your knowledge.” Mr Samphel added.

He further said, “In the course of our partnership, we hope you will give us chance to consult you on the issues such as internet security, hackers, which are of concern for the Central Tibetan Administration and various Tibetan NGOs who use the power of internet to outreach the real situation in Tibet.”

Terming the information technology as a god send for downtrodden people, who have a message and grievances, he said, “Internet has provided for the Tibetans, who base their struggle on non-violence to outreach our concerns and our sense of injustice to the wider world.”

The chief executive officer of Mahiti, Mr Sri lauded the support given by TCRC and TCV school for their cooperation in organising the workshop. He was upbeat in expressing that the four-day workshop, which is the fourth in series, has been a very valuable experience for them and would form the basis for their for their program to be held in northeast.

Kalon Tempa Tsering, Jetsun Pema receive Honourary Citizenship in Italy

The fourteen municipalities recognised that Tibetan people, like any another people of world, have the same right to self-determination, civil and religious rights. Mayors of all the fourteen municipalities were present at the ceremony.

(H)elp conferred the Honourary citizenship to Jestun Pema and Kalon Tempa Tsering in recognition of their important role that is internationally relevant by helping to taking care and to educate thousands of Tibetan refugees children.

In her speech, Jetsun Pema thanked the dignitaries and said, “At this critical time for Tibetans, as refugee, receiving such support is very encouraging for us. Your support to us does send a message to China. I deeply appreciate the solidarity of (H)elp in different parts of world and I ask you to continue to help Tibetan Children in the future.”

“We thank (H)elp for this honourary citizenship and recognition of the rights of Tibetans and showing support to us. Such support to us doesn’t mean that it is an anti-Chinese, but it shows that you are pro justice, pro truth and pro peace,” Kalon Tempa Tsering noted in his acceptance speech.

The fourteen municipalities also called for the recognition of the legitimacy of the Central Tibetan Administration based in the Northern Indian town of Dharamsala, and unanimously called upon the external ministry of the Italian Government to support the non-violent struggle of Tibetan people for freedom.

As part of the visit, Kalon Tempa Tsering and Jetsun Pema attended a public forum on “Human Rights in China” with human rights experts from Padova University. They also took time meeting school students of Thiene city. Cultural activities were also organised in the town to coincide with their visit.

European Parliament member Marco Pannella Meets His Holiness

During their meeting, His Holiness and Mr Pannella discussed the initiative of the Radical Party to label 2008 as the year of the First World Satyagraha for Democracy, Justice and Freedom. Satyagraha is a philosophy and practice of nonviolent resistance developed by Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Gandhi.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, expressed their appreciation of the initiative, and claimed that no other political party has ever taken such as Gandhian, nonviolent approach. The Radical Party’s application for observer membership in the Liberal International will be discussed at the upcoming Belfast Congress in May of this year.

DIIR releases a Documentary on Wildlife Protection

A year ago, the world was alarmed at the skin trade flourishing in Tibet under the laxed law enforcement by the Chinese government. This has also brought disgrace to the whole Tibetan community in and outside Tibet. Traditional Chinese medicine utilizes a staggering number of tiger bones, but the eye-catching colourful Tibetan dress trimmed with animal skin has drawn far more global attention. Today there are only few Tibetans in Tibet most of whom are government cadres still using animal skin. They are in fact being forced by the higher Chinese authorities to do so if they wish to keep their jobs. Most consumers in Tibet today are Chinese tourists buying skins to decorate their houses or as a gifts to their friends.

Since His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice, most people in Tibet have shunned the practice of using animal skins such as tiger, leopard or otter skins to trim their clothes.

This documentary contains the bold initiatives taken by the Tibetan people in Tibet in the wake of His Holiness’s appeal and the subsequent campaigns led by many animal lovers internationally. Such initiatives from the Tibetan people in Tibet have received huge appreciation and acknowledgement from international wildlife conservation groups.

The need of the hour was to keep the momentum of the campaign going until we are ensured that not a single Tibetan in the whole of Tibet wears clothes adorned with animal skin and that the demand and supply chain of the skin trade is completely broken thereby completely stopping the poaching of innocent animals.

Irrespective of whether a nation enacts law or not, protection of wild life, which is crucial to maintain the balance of our delicate ecosystem, is in the interest of all humanity. All human beings on this planet have a stake in protecting the wildlife and the larger environment from total extinction. It must be ensured that our posterity has a clean and a safe environment to live in.

The documentary will greatly help in bringing awareness to people about the illegal animal skin business.

CTA Officials receive lessons on Moral Code and Responsibility

In his opening remarks, PSC Chairman Mr Tashi Phuntsok expressed his hope that such talks by resource persons to the staff members on a regular basis would be helpful in improving the efficiency of CTA. The officials should also be aware of the present political situation inside Tibet, he added.

Education Secretary Ven. Karma Gelek Yuthok, as the resource person, spoke on the code of conduct and responsibilities of CTA officials.

Underlining the importance of improving quality and proficiency of staff members, he said, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has laid focus on improving the image of CTA officials to win the respect of Tibetan masses.

He added, “Under a democratic set up and rule of law, winning the respect of our people is the most important thing.”

He further said: “While doing their duties, the officials should have a positive motivation of taking a big responsibility in carrying forward the Tibetan struggle under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

“We should put our best effort in fulfilling our duties, while considering the overwhelming gratitude of His Holiness - to keep the bond between us and His Holiness as envisioned by him,” he added.

Relating it with spiritual implications, he said, the positive fruits of your work would be so enormous - while one also has to bear results of dereliction and negligence in one’s service.

Mr. Lhakpa from the Department of Security briefed the staff members on the political situation inside Tibet. He highlighted issues ranging from lack of political and religious freedom, poor human rights situation and a smear campaign targeted at His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

He said: “Effort should be made to keep alive the spirit of our people living in Tibet by making our selves aware of their patriotism and services.”

Central Tibetan Administration mourns the demise of Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche

Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche breathed his last at Mindrolling monastery at 8:00 pm (local time) Saturday, 9 February, at the age of 78. As a mark of respect, the departments and offices of the CTA remained closed on 12 February, following an hour-long prayer session.

The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, in a condolence message, said, “The members of the Tibetan parliament are deeply saddened by the demise of Kyabje Trichen Gyurme Kunzang Wangyal, the ornament of Nyingma tradition, who has greatly excelled in the learning, understanding and practice of Buddhist teachings.” “The greatest accomplishment of Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche has been his efforts in the propagation of Nyingma tradition - at the seat of its learning - Mindrolling monastery, which has become the centre of faith for all beings of the world,” the message notes.

“As the head of Nyingma tradition, Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche has shown an unwavering faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which is a matter of great honour.”

The message further notes, “The demise of Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche is a huge loss to the lineage of Nyingma in general, and all Buddhist devotees of the world in particular.” Sakya Gongma Rinpoche, head of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism will preside over the 3rd day ritual today and will lead the kha-chö drubchö or the Vajrayogini sadhana. Mrs. Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and Ven Thubten Phelgye, member of parliament, attended the prayer session.

Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche is revered and respected throughout the Buddhist world as a great Mahasiddha and one of the great accomplished masters of this century. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, the root teacher of Kyabje Minling Trichen Rinpoche, described his accomplishments as: “Having greatly excelled in the understanding and practice of precious Buddhist teachings and instructed him to teach it eleven times to the fortunate and worthy students in future.”

Congressman Tom Lantos - the Champion of Human Rights Passes Away

Kalon Kesang Y Takla, Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations, in her condolence message, said, “I am deeply saddened to hear about the demise of Congressman Tom Lantos, who was not only a steadfast supporter of the Tibetan people, but has committed his whole life, to espouse human rights and freedom.”

Recounting her first meeting with Congressman Lantos and his wife Annette, in 1988, in Washington, DC, Kalon said: “I am greatly honoured and impressed by his compassion and active support for the just cause of Tibet.”

“I deeply respect him and he will always be in our memory as a sincere friend of Tibet and justice,” the Kalon added.

Congressman Lantos was elected to Congress in 1980 and was serving his 14th consecutive term when he passed away. During his political career, which he pursued after a long and successful career in academia, he was known as an impassioned supporter of a broad range of social issues, most of which he was drawn to through his strong commitment to human rights. His championing of human rights throughout the world was a prominent feature of his tenure on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which he served as the senior Democratic member since 2001, and as its Chairman since 2007. He also founded and co-chaired the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1983.

Congressman Lantos’ dedication to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people culminated in October 2007, when on the basis of legislation, he sponsored with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in the House, President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda - the first time a sitting US President agreed to appear publicly with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

During his address at the presentation ceremony for the Congressional Gold Medal, Congressman Lantos urged the Chinese leadership to enter into negotiations on the future status of Tibet. Annette Lantos said that her husband’s life was “defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering dedication to his principles and to his family.”

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

His Holiness sends condolence message to Annette Lantos

In his message sent on 12 February, His Holiness said, “I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing away of your dear husband, Congressman Tom Lantos. I would like to express my heartfelt condolences and sympathies to you and to the members of your family.”

His Holiness said, “In him, we have lost a friend who committed his life to the promotion of human rights, freedom and justice, and who was a great source of hope and inspiration to the Tibetan people. As I recently wrote to him, I would like to repeat my deep gratitude for his unstinting support and dedication to the Tibetan cause.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the vital role that you, Annette, have played in assisting your husband in his work to help others seeking dignity and freedom,” His Holiness added.

Thousands throng Tsuglagkhang to listen His Holiness’s teaching

The Tsuglakhang courtyard was packed with devotees comprising of both Tibetans and non-Tibetans. Many Tibetans from Tibet were also among the crowd.

His Holiness spoke on the importance of training our mind and developing positive mental attitude such as compassion.

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