Statement of the Kashag on the 45th Anniversaryof the Tibetan Democracy Day, 2 September 2005
On this occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Tibetan Democracy Day,
the Kashag extends its warm greetings and Tashi Deleg to all the
Tibetans in and outside Tibet, and to the international community who
support and show solidarity to the Tibetan people. This democratic
system, founded on the harmonious blend of spiritual and political
values, is the result of an outstanding effort made solely by His
Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Since democracy is regarded as the best form of political system in
this post-modern world, most of the advanced countries hold this system
as sacrosanct. During such a time, due to the kindness of His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, the Tibetans in exile also had the rare opportunity to
enjoy the fruits of democracy without having to struggle for it.
Therefore, today is a moment to rejoice in jubilation.
Because of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s singular efforts, democracy
has reached to a higher degree in the exiled Tibetan community, which
will serve as a major gift for the Tibetan people inside Tibet when we
are reunited in the future. And even while in exile, this has
facilitated the successful functioning of the administration and
institutions of the Tibetan community, as well as the preservation of
Tibetan religion, culture and language.
At a time the cause of Tibet is close to a resolution-owing to His
Holiness the Dalai Lama’s altruistic intentions and the unified force
of the Tibetan people-the protective deities and highly-realised lamas
have emphasised the importance of enhancing the collective merit of the
Tibetan people. Accordingly, the Tibetans in and outside Tibet have
been able to carry out a great deal of merit-earning activities
throughout the last Tibetan Wood-Monkey year. This year also,
coinciding with the 70th birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, we are performing a series of pujas at all the major monasteries
and pilgrim sites by collecting donations from the Tibetans in and
outside Tibet. The Kashag would like to once again request all the
Tibetan people to extend us full co-operation and support in this
regard.
Guided by the Middle-Way policy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in the
ongoing process of dialogue with the People’s Republic of China, the
Tibetan delegation was able to hold the fourth round of talks with them
from late June to early July this year, at the Swiss capital city of
Berne. At that time, they had the opportunity to provide clarifications
to the doubts and reservations expressed by the Chinese government
during the third round of talks, and were able to take a step further
in the direction of meaningful negotiations. In future also, we will
make more efforts towards it by continuing this process of dialogue.
Therefore, we would like to once again request the Tibetan people in
and outside Tibet to work towards the creation of a conducive
environment for negotiations.
In a meeting of its work on nationality affairs which was held on 27
May this year, Hu Jintao, the President of the People’s Republic of
China said: “China is a multi-national state and each nationality has
its own distinct cultural, traditional, linguistic and historical
development. Having a correct view on these, we should absolutely
prevent all those actions, which aim to forcibly change the identity of
the nationalities” This is in tune with the reality. Therefore, we
sincerely welcome the statement and hope that it will be put into
practice.
Finally, I pray for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and may the truth of the issue of Tibet prevail soon.
The Kashag
2 September 2005
N.B. Translated from the original in Tibetan