PRESS RELEASE: Mount Kailash Is Sacred, Not for Sport
8 May, 2001: We are deeply disturbed by reports that the Chinese authorities have given permission to a group of Spanish climbers to scale Gang Rinpoche (Mount Kailash) which is sacred to three religions of the world. The Hindus, Buddhists and followers of Tibet’s native religion, Bon, consider Gang Rinpoche to be sacred. For the Hindus Gang Rinpoche is the symbolises of Mount Meru, the centre of the Hindu universe. For Tibetan Buddhists it is the abode of Demchog and his consort. For Tibet’s followers of the Bon religion it is equally sacred.
For China to give permission and for a group of Spanish mountaineers to seek permission to scale the sacred mountain is a clear disrespect of the religious sentiments of the followers of three major religions in the world.
We urge the group of Spanish mountaineers to desist from this outrageous adventure, especially in view of the glaring fact that the freedom of religious worship in Tibet is so violently trampled upon by the Chinese authorities. To treat one of the world’s most worshipped mountains as an item of sport will constitute a gross insensitivity to the religious sentiments of the Tibetan people and beyond.
Thubten Samphel
Information Secretary
Central Tibetan Administration
Dharamsala