DHARAMSHALA: Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected political leader of the Tibetan people, expressed his profound condolences and solidarity with the Tibetan self-immolators at a prayer service held today at the Tsuglagkhang.
The prayer service was organised by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the successful democratic transition following His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s complete devolution of political authority to the democratically-elected Tibetan leadership.
Over a thousand Tibetans, including members of the Kashag, members of the Tibetan Parliament, the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission and staff of the Central Tibetan Administration attended the prayer service, presided over by Thomtok Rinpoche, abbot of Namgyal monastery.
Speaking at the prayer service, Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay said, “I took the oath of Kalon Tripa on 8 August 2011 after the complete devolution of political authority by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since then, every year on 8 August on the anniversary of the devolution, we have organised a grand prayer service in honour of the Tibetan self-immolators.”
“Today is the third such prayer service that is being held for the self-immolators. Usually, we hold prayer service for only those who have died in their self-immolation protests. However, we pray for the entire self-immolators and their family members on 8 August, irrespective of whether they have died or survived to honour their sacrifice.”
Sikyong also underlined the importance of reflecting on the sacrifices of the Tibetans inside Tibet particularly the self-immolators and urged everyone to derive inspiration from them to work even harder for the Tibetan cause.
“The self-immolation protest inside Tibet against the Chinese government kept on escalating since 2009. Over the years, I have repeatedly said that the list of the Tibetan self-immolaters should not become just a number. Even then, the total number of self-immolation has now reached 141. At least six Tibetans have died after setting themselves on fire this year alone,” he said.
Sikyong also talked about the growing international support for the just cause of Tibet. He spoke about the resolutions of support for Tibet passed in the US Senate and the House of Representatives, and the remarks made by Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council who called on China to resume dialogue with Representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to resolve the Tibet issue.
As the prayer service was underway, one hundred and forty one butter lamps were lit for the 141 Tibetan self-immolators with a banner depicting a photo of each of the self-immolators.
“Our fervent prayers are with all the 141 self-immolators and we will endeavor to make sure that their sacrifice do not go to waste,” Sikyong assured as he lit the ceremonial butter lamps.
