Obituary: Tashi Choedar la, a veteran patriot and former CTA official [Friday, 22 April 2011, 2:32 p.m.]
DHARAMSHALA:
The Central Tibetan Administration mourned the sad of demise of Mr
Tashi Choedar, a veteran patriot in the resistance movement against
communist China’s invasion, who later dedicated over 40 years of his
life for the Tibetan cause in exile.Mr Choedar was born to
Drenya Jhara family in Lhoka district (presently under Tsona district)
in 1937. Between the age of 8 and 11 he learned Tibetan reading and
writing at a school in Jhayul which was specially established by His
Holiness the Dalai Lama’s family.
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| Tashi Choedar la (1937 – 2011) |
In
1956, he was chosen in a clandestine way by His Holiness the Dalai
Lama’s elder brother and Kasur Gyalo Dhondup and sent to Darjeeling via
Tawang to learn modern education, particularly English and accounts.Subsequently
in 1959, he joined many Tibetan youngsters in Colorado, US, and worked
in translation works for three years. He returned to India in 1961.In
yet another secret mission, he was dispatched to the US in 1962 to
sharpen his language skills and learn international politics and
administrative management at George Town University in Washington, DC
and Cornell University, New York.In 1965, he returned to India as called by Kasur Gyalo Dhondup and worked for some time as a staff in Sumdrel Lekhung in
Delhi. Owing to his dedicated service as head of the Delhi office’s
Tibetan research and analysis wing for many years and the remarkable
achievements that he made, he was appointed to the post of deputy
secretary in the Central Tibetan Administration in 1978. While
working in Delhi he made good use of his spare time to take special
interest in studying the status of China’s military strategies in Tibet
and wrote a book on it in English. Eventually, after taking
retirement from the service as the department of security’s joint
secretary in 1999, he went to the US on immigration and spent the
remaining part of his life with the family. Never remaining idle, he
produced books on Tibetan proverbs and kept alive his enthusiasm and
interest in following the issue of Tibet.Good temperament and gift for striking up good rapport with the colleagues are some of the special feature of his personality. But the unavoidable cycle of birth, old age, illness and death is an inborn part of every living being. So
as he began feeling unwell in the later part of 2010, he received the
opportunity to get the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in
Dharamsala. Mr Choedar la breathed his last in US after prolonged
illness on 18 April 2011. He was 74.In a condolence message to
its former joint secretary, all the staff of the Department of Security
of the Central Tibetan Administration conveyed their commiseration and
prayers to the family members of late Mr Choedar la. “He
dedicated more than 40 years of his life for the cause of Tibet with
impeccable integrity and commitment, leading a meaningful life and one
of the senior officials of administration. We offer our prayers and
extend deep appreciation for his achievements,” the department said in
the message.
