Sikyong Penpa Tsering reading the statement of Kashag for the Sixty-Fourth Anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day. Photo / Tenzin Jigme Taydeh / CTA
Dharamshala: Today, we celebrate the sixty-fourth anniversary of the Tibetan Democracy Day. On this joyous occasion, the Kashag extends its warm greetings to the delegation of the Estonian Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet led by its Chairman, Honorable Mr Juku-Kalle Raid, Member of Foreign Affairs Committee of Estonia Parliament; Honourable Mrs Karmen Joller, Member of Social Affairs Committee, and Honourable Ms Ester Aruse, Member of Foreign Affairs Committee and Mr Roy Strider, who kindly coordinated the visit, and present and former officials of the Central Tibetan Administration, as well as fellow Tibetans living in and outside Tibet. The Kashag extends our warm greetings to all across the world who support the just cause of Tibet and the people of Tibet.
Under the visionary leadership and indomitable determination of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan people remained resilient unfazed by the overwhelming hardship of losing their homeland to invaders and the multifarious challenges in a new environment. Within a week of His arrival in Mussoorie in India on 20th April 1959, His Holiness re-established the Tibetan Government in exile, aimed at resolving the issue of Tibet and ensuring the welfare and overall development of the Tibetan community in exile. Moreover, in conformity with the modern democratic system, His Holiness the Dalai Lama established the legislative assembly in 1960 to ensure democratic representation through the electoral system. Since then, His Holiness has initiated four historical steps towards the democratisation process, thus developing the Tibetan polity into an efficient and robust system, which is unprecedented in the exile community and a model for the entire world. Also, the fact that Tibetans in exile are freely enjoying the fruits of democracy resulted solely from the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s unwavering guidance and leadership, for which we always remain eternally grateful.
The Kashag, in our statement on the occasion of His Holiness’s birthday this year, highlighted His Holiness’s first of the four principal commitments aimed at Promoting Human Values. This serves as a curtain raiser to celebrate His Holiness’s 90th birthday next year. On this occasion, we would like to briefly recall His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Second Commitment of Promoting Religious Harmony.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama emphasises that, “different religious traditions share common principles such as love, compassion, patience, contentment, and observing moral precepts in taming the mind, which provides a basis for harmony between religions.” And that “all philosophical religious traditions in the world underscore the need to practice love and compassion. The main teachings of all the major religions is non-violence. Non-violence is love and compassion. The obstacle to practicing love and compassion is anger. The antidote is practicing patience and not holding animosity against those who harm us. These principles are common across religions. Different philosophical views are necessary due to differences in human temperaments and inclinations.” Furthermore, His Holiness emphasises that, “If all the world’s religions understand each other’s perspectives through sincere and disciplined dialogue, harmony can be achieved.” His Holiness strongly emphasises that while maintaining one’s own philosophical views and rituals, religious practitioners and followers should develop a sense of oneness of humanity and respect other religions as well as those who don’t believe in religion.
During His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to the sacred land of India on the 2500th anniversary of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment in 1956, His Holiness observed that India is not only where Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism originated, it is also one of the world’s most Muslim populated nation and where Judaism and Christianity spread and Zoroastrianism found a second refuge. During his stay of over three months in India, His Holiness witnessed the tradition of harmonious coexistence of different religions, which has remained vibrant in this free and democratic nation since the reign of Emperor Ashoka. These observations convinced His Holiness that different religions, which uphold universal human values such as compassion, love, and non-violence, should and can work together in harmony.
In conformity with the successive Dalai Lamas receiving empowerments, transmissions, and instructions from various traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has received initiations, instructions and oral transmission from many great masters of different traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. As reflected in the Records of the teachings received, the textual tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in general and the initiations, instructions and oral transmissions have become the repository of the great oral lineage of pith instructions. Presiding over 12 of the 14 Tibetan Religious Conferences held since 1963, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has emphasised on the importance of non-sectarianism, opening a new chapter of harmony among the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism in exile.
In His efforts to promote religious harmony among the world’s religions, His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with Sri Lanka’s spiritual leader Bhante Gunaratana in 1956. Thereafter, in 1967, His Holiness met with Venerable Smodeg Phra Sangaraja, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand. His Holiness has held regular meetings and interactions with the foremost proponents of Pali tradition such as Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, a religious leader of Vietnam and Venerable Phra Maha Ghosananda, the Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism. These interactions have helped promote understanding and harmony within Buddhist traditions. Furthermore, under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in an effort to foster dialogues on understanding monastic rules and developing an understanding of the different cultures and traditions, a five-year Pali and Sanskrit International Bhikkhu Exchange Program was launched in 2022. Likewise, the first International Sangha Forum held in Bodhgaya in 2023 brought together over 2,000 monks following the Pali traditions of Southeast and South Asian countries of India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and those of the Sanskrit tradition from Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Mongolia including Tibet and other parts of the world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the forum, emphasised the importance of fostering dialogue on monastic rules and the role of Buddhism in the 21st century.
Starting with His international visits to Europe and North America from early 1970s, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has emphasised universal responsibility. His Holiness has visited over 60 countries nearly 300 times, including visits to the Vatican, Washington National Cathedral, Westminster Abbey in London, St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York, as well as Jerusalem, a holy site for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the Hindu Kumbh Mela, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, and many other religious sites and temples in cities and towns. During these visits, His Holiness has left an indelible imprint of his universal message and met with numerous renowned leaders of different religions.
Similarly, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also participated in many interfaith dialogue and harmony conferences, such as the World Day of Prayer for Peace in the sacred land of Assisi, Italy, organised by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in 1986; the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993; various international religious conferences held in India; the Interfaith Dialogue and the Need for Religious Tolerance in San Francisco in 2006; the Terrorism – National and International World Conference in India in 2008; the World’s Religions: Dialogue and Symphony Conference in 2009, and the World Peace Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2010. At these conferences, His Holiness has consistently called for harmony among the religious faiths to promote human values and contribute to world peace.
Furthermore, His Holiness the Dalai Lama urged religious organisations to pay attention to environmental protection at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. In 2015, under His Holiness’s guidance, Buddhist leaders worldwide issued their first joint statement calling for action on climate change. In 2017, His Holiness attended the “World Peace and Harmony through Interfaith Dialogue” Conference with various religious leaders in India. Likewise, in 2019, the 15th “Youth Interfaith Pilgrimage and Dialogue” Conference was held in Bangalore, organised by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Many similar meetings have been held under the guidance and support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Besides that, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has authored over hundred books in English, which have been widely read and translated in many major world languages, which includes “Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teaching of Jesus”(1996); “The Art of Happiness (1998); Ethics for the New Millennium” (1999); “The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality” (2005); “Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together” (2010) and “Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World” (2011). His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his public talks, discussion and interviews has emphasised the importance of promotion of human values, world peace, and environmental protection through interfaith dialogue and harmony. These have been viewed, listened to and disseminated widely by most major global media organisations.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visionary guidance on the importance of the need for ethics, mental well-being, and universal responsibility in the modern education system is being incorporated into the educational curriculum and implemented by many governmental and non-governmental organisations around the world. Some of these major organisations include UNESCO’s Intercultural Dialogue Project, the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ interfaith dialogue initiatives, the Peacemakers in Action Network’s efforts to leverage religious leaders for peace building, Religions for Peace’s interfaith dialogue and collaboration activities, the Mind and Life Institute’s dialogues between Science and Buddhism, the World Peace Council’s peace promotion campaigns, global ethics promotion initiatives of the Global Ethics Foundation, and the primary and middle school teacher training programme under National Council of Educational Research and Training of India.
Many academic institutions such as Emory University; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University; University of Virginia; University of Southern California, US; primary and secondary schools under the California Department of Education; the Dalai Lama Centre for Interfaith Understanding at the University of Cambridge UK; Griffith University, Australia; University of Tübingen, Germany; Sophia University, Japan; McGill University, Canada, and the University of Delhi, have also incorporated His Holiness’s visions in their curriculum. The Mind and Life Institute, neuroscience research, and discussion of ethics evolved from the principal commitments of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are continuously progressing and expanding is yet another great contribution to humankind.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s concept of interfaith dialogue find reflections in the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution on the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and on Promotion of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace, and the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Resolution on Combating Intolerance, Negative Stereotyping, Stigmatisation, Discrimination, Incitement to Violence and Violence against Persons based on Religion or Belief. These resolutions reflect many of the principles of interfaith dialogue that His Holiness has long advocated.
On the contrary, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is implementing hard-line policies aimed at eradicating the distinct Tibetan identity in Tibet. This is a blatant violation of common aspirations of humanity for religious harmony, promotion of ethics, and world peace, which has been consistently reported by independent research organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as by the delegation of the EU’s European External Action Service on their visit to Tibetan areas in June this year, the US State Department’s Annual Human Rights Report, and various UN expert reports. On 5th August this year, the American Bar Association passed a resolution on Tibet, stating, “The American Bar Association urges the United States Department of State Office of Global Criminal Justice to investigate and publish updated findings on the question of genocide, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations in Tibet.”
Additionally, the PRC government is forcefully implementing an assimilationist policy called “forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” through a three-pronged process termed as “to facilitate ethnic exchanges, communication and integration”, aimed at eradicating the Tibetan people’s identity through indoctrination programmes and Sinicisation campaigns in the religious, political and social programmes. As part of this policy to eradicate anything Tibetan, the Chinese authorities are distorting Tibetan history, erasing national identity, and forcibly changing the way of life, and destroying architectural buildings, designs and artwork with Tibetan characteristics. Over a million Tibetan children are forced into state-run colonial boarding schools to learn Chinese language and ideology without access to their families. Books related to Tibetan nationality, religion, and histories are being forcibly removed from the libraries of these schools. And pictures and statues of historical figures such as Thonmi Sambhota, who created the Tibetan script, and other ancient and modern scholars in the school campuses are being wiped out. Such alarming reports continue to emerge from Tibet.
In June this year, hundreds of Tibetan young monks were forcibly evicted from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba area of Amdo to force them into the draconian colonial-style boarding school. Moreover, the 19th century Atsok Monastery was completely razed to the ground on date. On 12th July, the Ragya Gangri Norbu Educational Institute, which accommodates over 1,000 Tibetan students, was forcibly shut down, causing great distress to the school’s teachers and students. These appalling incidents clearly shows that the PRC government, in contrary to their propaganda of the proclaimed progressive steps of human society towards democracy, freedom, justice, equality, and harmony, is regressing into the dark age of brutal colonialism.
In support of the aspirations of the Tibetan people, US President Joe Biden signed the “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act” on 12th July this year. The Act highlights that “the current policies of the People’s Republic of China are systematically suppressing the ability of Tibetans to preserve their religion, culture, language, history, way of life, and environment.” The Kashag mentioned in its statement on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 89th birthday that the Act recognises the US government’s position on historical status of Tibet, that the Sino-Tibet dispute is unresolved and that it is the official policy of the US government to promote a negotiated resolution to the dispute through dialogue.
The Kashag would also want to acknowledge the unanimous resolution passed by the Canadian Parliament on 10th June this year. This resolution asserts that the Tibetan people and their country have the right to self-determination and are empowered to freely choose their economic, social, cultural, and religious policies without interference from any external power. The resolution also condemned the Chinese government’s systematic policy implementation of cultural assimilation against Tibetans.
The aspiration of Tibetan people to preserve our national identity and to develop our own culture cannot be crushed by any form of brute force. More so, it is the important responsibility of Tibetans living in free countries to make every effort so that the Chinese government corrects and ends its misguided and repressive policies in Tibet. Hence, the Kashag urges every Tibetan to make collective efforts in unity.
While we celebrate the Tibetan democracy day, we must also acknowledge that there is still considerable scope for improving our democratic system. In particular, it is the need of the hour to strengthen completion and effectiveness of the Laws and Regulations that ensure fairness and justice for all.
In conclusion, we pray that the light of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s vision and meritorious accomplishments continue to shine across the world and all His Holiness’s wishes are spontaneously fulfilled. May the truth of Tibet prevail.
Kashag
2nd September 2024
* In case of any discrepancy between this English translation and its Tibetan original, the latter should be considered as authoritative and final for all purposes.
