Tibetans mark 49th National Uprising Day in London

Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 10:25 a.m.

Fabian Hamilton,MP and member of UK Foreign Affairs Committee addressing the gathering (Photos: Luke Ward)

London, UK: The 49th
anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day was marked here
yesterday with a huge rally from the Chinese Embassy to the Office of
the British Prime Minister. Later, an evening concert to honour the
reunion of some former Drapchi prisoners of conscience, popularly know
as the ‘Singing nuns of Tibet’ now living in freedom in exile.

Speaking on the occasion, the Guest Speaker, Mr. Fabian Hamilton,
MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the afternoon
gathering at the Westminster Cathedral Hall that the issue of Tibet is
serious and worthy of every support.

“The influx of Chinese settlers in Tibet is a serious threat
and is making the Tibetans a minority in their own land. When we were
in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, we saw Chinese everywhere and more were
due to arrive and many will have come now because of the introduction
of the railway line from China to Tibet,” said Mr. Hamilton, who was
one of the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of
Commons that visited Tibet in 2006 and reported their findings in a
report.

He informed the audience how during their visit to Lhasa he and
his colleagues and the interpreter from the British Embassy in Beijing
had to dodge Chinese minders so that they could see the real situation
of the Tibetan people. He also said that at one point on seeing the
picture of the previous Panchen Lama in a temple, he asked the Chinese
interpreter where was the picture of the Dalai Lama? He said the
Chinese interpreter had no answer and was looking nervously at the
Chinese official accompanying them.

“For some reason His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a man of great
peace is considered a threat by the Chinese authorities,” said Mr.
Hamilton, adding that for once he agreed with the current American
President George W. Bush, who when presenting the US Congressional Gold
Medal to His Holiness said that China should not fear because the Dalai
Lama is ‘a man of faith, sincerity and peace’.

The British parliamentarian also urged Prime Minister Gordon
Brown to meet with His Holiness during his visit to UK in May. “Our
duty today is to see to it that peaceful and non-violence means adopted
to resolve issues makes ‘headlines’, said Mr. Hamilton, who accompanied
by his family also visited Dharamsala last year with five other members
of the parliament. Besides witnessing the various aspects of the
democratic set up of the Tibetans in Diaspora, they also had an
audience with His Holiness.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is visiting UK in May this year
primarily at the invitations received from the All Party Parliamentary
Group for Tibet, Tibet Society, Dharma Network (formed of various
Buddhist organisations in UK), Blackfriars Hall of Oxford University
and the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, to give a series of public
talks and teachings in London, Oxford and Nottingham. The visit is
being coordinated by the Office of Tibet, London. An Early Day Motion
(EDM) 984 sponsored in the House of Commons by Mr. Norman Baker, MP,
while welcoming the forthcoming visit of His Holiness to the UK, calls
upon the British Prime Minister to recognize the strong historical
connections between this country and Tibet and take the opportunity to
meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

From right: Representative Tsering Tashi and former Drapchi prisoners of conscience Gyaltsen Drolkar and Ngawang Sangdrol among the audience listening to the Guest Speaker

In his address, Mr. Tsering Tashi, Representative of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama for Northern Europe, Poland and the Baltic Countries, said
Mr. Hamiltons acceptance of the invitation to the Tibetan event
despite his busy schedule demonstrates the British publics sympathy
and support for the just cause of Tibet.

He also thanked everyone, including some Tibetans and
supporters who had come from different parts of the UK and Europe, for
coming to the event to mark the Tibet Day. He said the presence,
especially of the

Lauding the global efforts in supporting the four former
Drapchi prisoners of conscience, Mr Tashi said: “The story of their
road to freedom in exile after suffering many years of hardship and
even torture at the hands of the Chinese authorities in occupied Tibet
is a reminder to all of us that the human sprit cannot be vanquished by
force.”

He expressed concern at the increasing Chinese population in
Tibet, which is transforming the Tibetans not only into a powerless and
an insignificant minority in their own land, but also posing a serious
threat to the very survival of the Tibetan culture and identity.

“The important work that now remains to be done is how to
reverse this dangerous demographic aggression of Tibet and persuade
China to discourage the settling of Chinese in Tibet,” Mr. Tashi said,
while acknowledging the fact that with better awareness and information
more and more Chinese were showing respect for Tibetan Buddhist culture
and supporting His Holiness the Dalai Lamas non-violent Middle-Way
Approach to resolve the Tibet issue that takes into consideration the
long term interest of both the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

The Tibet Day event was jointly organised by the Tibetan
Commemorative Committee consisting of the Office of Tibet, the Tibetan
Community in Britain and the Tibet Society. The event began with
prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and peace in
world, and closed with the singing of the Tibetan national anthem.

The former Tibetan nun political prisoners Phuntsok Nyidron,
Ngawang Sangdrol, Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo, who currently
live in Switzerland, the United States and Belgium respectively, are in
London at the invitation of the Tibetan Community in Britain as a part
of its effort to raise more awareness about the Tibet issue.

Report filed by Office of Tibet, London

(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)