Sikyong Penpa Tsering unfurls the tricolor national flag joined by Secretaries, and senior officials of CTA departments at the Kashag Secretariat grounds on August 15, 2021. Photo/Tenzin Phende/CTA
Dharamshala: A brief commemoration ceremony was held at the Kashag Secretariat today to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day. The celebration led by Sikyong Penpa Tsering was attended by the Secretaries and senior officials of the various departments of the Central Tibetan Administration.
As the ceremony began, the tricolor Indian national flag was unfurled by Sikyong followed by the singing of India’s national anthem. After the ceremony, Sikyong addressed the media personnel and expressed his congratulatory greetings to the government and people of India on this historic day.
Expressing his admiration for the Indian freedom movement, he said: “It is a well-established history that the Indian national struggle lasted 200 years. By comparison, the Tibetan struggle is in its 70th year which is a relatively short duration. When the struggle of a nation or of a people is concerned, regardless of whether it continues for another 100 years or not, it should not deter us. We must continue to strive collectively.”
“The Indian freedom movement, for example, had both advocates of peace and violence as a means to achieve independence. However, the Mahatma Gandhi-led peaceful movement distinguished India on the international platform. The Tibetan struggle is modeled after the peaceful path advocated by the Mahatma and led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the Central Tibetan Administration. The Tibetans inside Tibet under Chinese occupation are undergoing intense repression forcing them to self-immolate in protest at the cost of their own lives to advocate for the Tibetan cause,” he added.
“While India won its independence and its people derived the opportunity to bask in its light, and many nations across the world after World War II won their independence, unfortunately, in Tibet’s case, Tibet came to be invaded by China when the rest of the world was gaining independence. For the restoration of independence in the future, I urge Tibetans inside and outside Tibet to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly,” he urged.
Responding to queries of the recent celebration of the 70th anniversary of the so-called ‘Tibetan Liberation day’ by the CCP, Sikyong said, “For us Tibetans, what China celebrates as ‘Liberation day’ is the anniversary of occupation and oppression.”
“The State Council recently published a White Paper on the human rights situation inside China and especially the development in the minority regions. This report only shows the progress made under the CCP while the basic inalienable rights enjoyed by people in other parts of the world that governments must protect are written off. Therefore, it is apparent that this report is not credible. With human rights violations still ongoing in Tibet and other regions under Chinese occupation, CCP’s claims of the liberation of Tibet begs the question- from what or who was Tibet liberated? Rather than liberation, Tibetans have been languishing for the past 70 years, and it is no cause for celebration,” Sikyong said.
Sikyong interacts with the members of the Tibetan press.Photo/Tenzin Phende/CTA
The representatives of the Indian press at the programme. Photo/Tenzin Phende/CTA
A brief-ceremony presided by Sikyong and joined by the Secretaries and senior CTA officials at the Kashag Secretariat today. Photo/Tenzin Phende/CTA
