His Holiness’ Representative addresses Asia Europe People’s Forum
Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 2:00 p.m.
London: Despite intense pressure from Chinese authorities, the organisers of the 6th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) went ahead with the invitation to Mrs. Kesang Y. Takla, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama based at the Office of Tibet, London, to address their workshop on 6 September 2006 in Helsinki, Finland, under the plenary session that focused on democracy and human rights.
Addressing the inaugural plenary session on peace and security on 4 September, Ms. Heidi Hautala, member of the Finnish Parliament and Chairperson of KEPA, in an apparent reference to the official Chinese pressure on the conference organisers, said that no government can dictate the subjects for discussion and reaffirmed the people’s duty and right to speak out the truth.
“No government can demand to erase certain subjects from our discussion. Unfortunately the preparations of this forum have proven otherwise. It is our duty and right to speak the truth. At the end even the Chinese government will have to accept that the flow of information cannot any more be stopped at national borders. Individuals who defend people’s struggle for their legal rights deserve respect, not punishment and violent harassment,” said Ms. Hautala of KEPA, The Finnish Service Center for Development Cooperation.
The Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) is the biggest international development related NGO forum that has ever been organised in Finland, in which hundreds of participants from both Asia and EU took part. Close to a hundred Finnish NGO’s, including KEPA, together with their international counterparts, had organised this forum that took place from 3 to 6 September in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.
According to the AEPF international organizing committee member, Charles Santiago, about 450 participants from 30 countries, representing over 200 NGOs, trade unions and religious groups from Asia and Europe had registered their participation at this forum.
Speaking on the topic, the plight of the Tibetan people and their efforts to protect and promote their unique identity, culture, language and democracy for a peaceful future, Mrs. Takla outlined the past and present situation of Tibet and also focused her talk on how Tibetans in exile are practicing a robust democracy.
“Today the exile Tibetan community is practicing a vibrant and robust democracy. It has put in place a democratic structure, with its three overriding pillars: Legislature, known as the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies; Executive known as the Kashag with its Kalon Tripa (Chief of the Kashag) directly elected by the Tibetan people; and an independent judiciary known as the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission that looks into the people’s grievances against the Administration, and disputes amongst the people themselves,” said Mrs. Takla, who is also the chairperson of the Tibet House Trust, the London-based official charity that helps Tibetan refugees living in the Indian subcontinent.
Mrs. Takla concluded her talk by drawing attention to the urgency of resolving the issue of Tibet in the interest of both the Tibetan and Chinese people on the basis of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way Approach wherein the Tibetan leader is simply seeking genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese constitution.
“With the massive influx of Chinese population into the Tibetan areas – turning the indigenous Tibetans into a minority in their own territory – it has become an urgent necessity for both sides to find a peaceful resolution to the Tibetan issue. This is of paramount importance not only to save the distinct Tibetan identity from extinction but also to create what the Chinese government calls a harmonious society, a society in which Tibetans and Chinese can peacefully coexist,” said Mrs. Takla, on whose workshop panel also sat Mr. Pasang Wangdu from Tibet, who earlier unfortunately had to deliver his presentation in Chinese language and which was translated into English by a Chinese translator.
After their respective presentations, both Mrs. Takla and Mr. Wangdu answered questions from the audience that included some members of the Chinese delegation, including three Tibetans from Tibet. The questions from the audience ranged from the situation of the human rights and religious freedom in Tibet to the whereabouts of the young 11th Panchen Lama recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
On 5 September, Mrs. Takla was invited to show a documentary about the development projects in the exile Tibetan community in India. After the screening of the film, she answered questions from the audience that also included some Chinese officials and the three Tibetan delegation members from Tibet who chose to stay back until the conclusion of the programme.
Interestingly, around the same time Mrs. Takla was engaged at another meeting, Nyima Tsering from Tibet, whom the Chinese authorities had introduced as ‘a living Buddha and Deputy Director of the Democratic Management Committee of the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, capital of Tibet’ had shown a film that was said to be arranged by the Chinese Association for International Understanding.
Recalling her participation last week at the international forum in Finland, Mrs. Takla said she got the feeling that had the Tibetan participants from Tibet not been followed by their official Chinese minders and translators, they would certainly have interacted with her in a more open, friendly, and Tibetan-like manner.
The AEPF networks civil society representatives from both Asia and EU and makes proposals and suggestions over the borders. Additionally it analyses the impact of globalisation on people’s lives, and deals with issues related to security and militarisation.
The AEPF also aims at creating a channel and dialogue for civil society members in order to attempt to influence the official Asia Europe Summit (ASEM) process. Among its various recommendations, the 6th AEPF also urged the ASEM summit to address critical human rights issues during its 10-11 September meet in Helsinki.
–Report sent by the Office of Tibet, London
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)