Today,
on the occasion of the Birth Anniversary of our esteemed Temporal and
Religious leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I, on behalf of the
Tibetan Parliament in Exile would like to welcome and greet the Sangha,
family members of His Holiness, Prominent Tibetan dignitaries, former
and serving officials, representatives of the non-governmental
organizations, the general public, beloved students, invited guests and
more particularly the six member Australian Parliamentary Delegation
headed by Michael Danby and family members. His Holiness the
14th Dalai Lama was born at Amdo region of Taktser in Tibet to
benevolent parents on the 6th of July 1935. We are indeed blessed by
your leadership following your recognition as the undisputed
reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. On this auspicious day we offer
our heartfelt felicitations and to lead all the sentient beings in
general and the Tibetans in particular to the path of enlightenment, we
pray for your long life and also for your endeavors to flourish to
eternity. Tibetans all over the world have been celebrating
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Birth Anniversary every year with gusto
and gaiety. However, the sad situation inside Tibet has deprived the
Tibetans inside Tibet of this simple opportunity to rejoice and to
celebrate. Moreover, unfortunately any sign of merriment to honor the
day would result in incarceration. That in a nutshell is symbolic of
the unyielding malaise that has afflicts Tibet.  Today is not
only the day to honor His Holiness for his achievements in the last
more than seven decades but also to recall and review as to how much
have we been able to follow the path shown by Him. His
Holiness continues to take the responsibility of spreading happiness
through the message of peace, love, compassion and universal
responsibility. Moreover, irrespective of whether one is a believer or
not, by promoting moral and ethical values, he has been trying to build
a better world that we live in. His Holiness’ disarming charm have won
many hearts and transformed lives of many people. The wisdom and method
in His Holiness’ preaching of Buddhism made Buddhism more relevant and
widespread in this modern world. The adaptability of Buddhism to
redress innumerable strife and stresses despite technological and
economic development is a major contribution of His Holiness to
humanity. No wonder, people from all parts of the world flock to listen
to him and many honored him in myriad ways. His Holiness is
also committed to promote inter-religious harmony through discussions
to end divisions and discriminations with leaders of many other
religious traditions. It should be the common endeavor of all to
understand and realize that religion is meant for peace and harmonious
co-existence. In fact losing Tibet is not only devastating but also
brought untold suffering to the Tibetan people. However, people of the
world gained a lot from His Holiness’ insight by being in exile. If
it had not been for the prudent leadership of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, most probably, the Tibetan issue would have long been forgotten.
Through His profound wisdom, vision and pragmatism, we have made
remarkable achievements in terms of preserving our identity and
promoting our culture and religion despite the adverse circumstances in
exile.  Politically, even though the processes of dialogue
have not yet yielded the desired result given the stubbornness of the
PRC leadership, the world community and the Chinese intellectuals and
the general public understands and support the realistic approach
adopted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in
Exile. Eventually it is but natural that better sense will prevail upon
the Chinese leadership if the sovereignty and common interest of all
the nationalities within China has to be preserved for a harmonious
society. The very fact that the issue of Tibet is alive and also the
fact that it cannot be ignored but resolved, is due solely to the
leadership of His Holiness.  The all round remarkable progress
made during our life in exile and more particularly in democratic
reforms has laid the foundation of a long term struggle if the need be.
In keeping with the benevolent and prudent leadership of His
Holiness, today is also the time to remind ourselves of our own
responsibilities to our country and to the world. While
sharing the woes and untold sufferings of the Tibetans inside Tibet and
acknowledging the sacrifices made, we in exile recommit ourselves to
represent you in the free world. You have proven the fact that the
indomitable spirit of the Tibetans cannot be quelled by force under
very difficult circumstances. However it is essential that we have to
adhere to the principles of non-violence, which many of you have
demonstrated through your actions. Our actions should not become a tool
for our oppressors. Under the leadership of His Holiness, a time will
definitely come for our union. Every one in Tibet must focus on
educating the future generation of Tibetans.  As a people
struggling to return back to our homeland, the Tibetans in exile have
the added responsibility to take our movement forward. For that it is
essential that we keep ourselves informed of situations that concern
us. Each and every Tibetan must be politically aware and contribute in
whatever capacity possible. The responsibility of  making ourselves
economically self sufficient, sustainable development of our
communities, providing quality healthcare and education to our future
generation should be a joint effort between the people and the
government. People should actively participate in all the processes of
democracy, thereby enriching our democratic experience and
strengthening democratic polity to fulfill His Holiness wishes and lay
a solid foundation for our future struggle. We must abide by all laws,
and avoid irresponsible actions by few that defame the Tibetans in
general. We must better relations with the people and governments of
our host nations. His Holiness’ birth anniversary is also one
of the few occasions for the Tibetan diaspora in the developed
countries to meet in large numbers. Irrespective of the hardships that
you are encountering in creating a space for yourself at the moment, we
must at all times be conscious of our responsibility towards the cause.
There must be concerted efforts to strengthen the respective Tibetan
communities in your country or the area that you live in to teach our
youngsters the moral and ethical values that His Holiness espouses
apart from learning Tibetan language, culture and religion. Once
your own living standards improve, the Tibetan communities in the west
should be able to adopt poorer settlements in India or sponsor
education or health based projects inside Tibet. No matter how much
political freedom we achieve in the future, as long as Tibetans in
Tibet remain uneducated and impoverished, we will always be enslaved in
some way or the other. I take this opportunity to urge the
Chinese leadership to come out of their delusion, understand the
reality and resolve the Issue of Tibet in a peaceful manner that will
contribute to peace, stability and harmony not only in China but the
whole region. China will not find a more pragmatic leadership than His
Holiness in finding a mutually beneficial solution to the Issue of
Tibet. If China fails to make use of the opportunity, the present
leadership of China will be held responsible for their irresponsibility
by generations of Chinese people to come. The present Chinese leaders
are deluded by their economic and military prowess but genuine respect
could be commanded only with moral authority. They must understand that
this could be achieved only by respecting the fundamental human rights
situation in China and peacefully resolving the Tibetan Issue that
meets the aspiration of the Tibetan people and all other nationalities
within China. In conclusion, on the occasion of the His
Holiness the Dalai Lama, may His Holiness the Dalai Lama live for
eternity to serve humanity and may the Tibetans in Tibetans in Tibet
and in exile be united earliest. Tibetan Parliament in Exile6th July 2009