Sikyong Penpa Tsering delivering Kashag’s Statement. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/ CTA
Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration celebrated the 34th anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India. The courtyard of Thekchen Choeling Tsuklakhang (monastery) saw the attendance of hundreds of people participating in the celebration.
The Kashag and the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, in their statement, extolled His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visionary leadership in practising compassion and His lifelong commitment and contribution towards efforts in resolving conflicts and promoting human rights.
Delivering the statements, Sikyong Penpa Tsering and the Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel noted that the day also marks the occasion of 75th Human Rights Day. Tibetan leaders objected to the recently released China’s ‘White Paper’ on Tibet and strongly condemned the claims made by the Communist Party of China regarding the social and economic progress of Tibet.
Both Kashag and the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile explicated Beijing’s vigorous extermination of the Tibetan identity in the name of “forging a strong sense of the Chinese national as one single community”, regulation and surveillance of every aspect of the management of monasteries and religious activities in the name of “Democratic Management Committees”, systematic eradication of the Tibetan language behind the façade of “building solid foundation for a sense of community for the Chinese nation” and extensive Sinicisation of Tibetans under the pretext of “inter-ethnic exchanges, communication and integration”.
The Tibetan leaders illuminated that the sole objective of the PRC in replacing Tibet with the term “Xizang” in the ‘White Paper’ is to ‘wipe out’ Tibet from the world map, make Tibet fade away from the memories of people of the world and subsequently assert its (PRC’s) ‘unfounded legitimacy’.
The event witnessed the felicitation of three staff who have extended 25 years of service towards community healthcare. The Tibetan Settlement Office, Dharamshala, was awarded the Target Achiever Award for achieving the target mark for Tibetan Medicare System registrants. The event also saw the launch of TIPA’s Yarkyi musical series and a Compilation of Substitute Glossaries on Materia Medica in Tibetan Medical Science.
The event was interspersed with riveting cultural performances by the TIPA artistes, and school children from schools based in Dharamsala.
The CTA leadership, including the Justice Commissioner Tenzin Lungtok of Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang, Kalon Tharlam Dolma Changra of the Department of Education, Kalon Norzin Dolma of the Department of Information and International Relations, members of the Tibetan Parliament’s Standing Committee, Election and Public Service Commissioner Wangdue Tsering Pesur, Secretaries along with the representatives of Tibetan NGOs attended the event.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for advocating peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the Tibetan people.
Of the prizes provided in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, the Peace Prize is the only one that is awarded in Norway instead of Stockholm.
The day also commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1948.
Dignitaries applaud the cultural performance by various groups. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/ CTA
Members of the Tibetan Parliament at the event. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/ CTA
Sikyong felicitating staff who have extended 25 years service to community health. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/ CTA
Sikyong launching a book on Sowarigpa system of medicine. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/ CTA
Speaker presenting certificate. Photo/ Yangchen Dolma/ Tibet Post International
Justice Commissioner launching TIPA’s Yarkyi musical series. Photo/ Yangchen Dolma/ Tibet Post International
