V-TAG India Marks Third Anniversary with Nationwide Outreach through Tibet Awareness Campaigns Across Indian Educational Institutions

Dharamshala: On 6 November 2024, the Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group (V-TAG) India commemorated the third anniversary of V-TAG since its official launch in 2021 with a coordinated series of awareness campaigns across major Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Bylakupee, and Dharamshala, demonstrating significant outreach to educational institutions and communities. The multi-city initiative engaged over 350 students and faculty members through various programs focused on Tibet’s ongoing struggles and cultural preservation efforts. Numerous activities were held as part of the celebrations, including talks, courtesy calls, educational presentations, and poster campaigns. 

V-TAG Delhi engages Delhi University students 

At Delhi University’s prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), V-TAG volunteer Tenzin Choesang conducted an awareness session for 40 commerce students. In her presentation, the V-TAG member emphasised His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership and the Central Tibetan Administration’s role in preserving Tibet’s heritage while highlighting critical challenges, including colonial boarding schools and self-immolation protests against the Chinese occupation and repression. The presentations made urgent appeals for solidarity in Tibet’s freedom struggle. 

The sessions drew strong engagement from students, with participants demonstrating deep concern for Tibet’s future. “I hope Tibet will be free real soon,” remarked one student, reflecting the growing support among Indian youth for Tibet’s quest for sovereignty and cultural preservation. 

V-TAG Bengaluru Expands Academic Engagement 

Kristu Jayanti College hosted a significant event featuring both institutional leadership engagement and student outreach. V-TAG volunteers, including Tenzin Choeyang, Yangchen Dolma, Tenzin Choezom, Dechen Choezom and Zompa met with Father Emmanuel P.J., Director of the College of Law & Office of International Relations and a strong advocate for Tibet and a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause. The team conducted a comprehensive presentation for 60 psychology students, covering Tibet’s geographical significance and current political challenges. 

V-TAG members presented Tibet’s rich historical identity, detailing its geographical boundaries, national symbols, and sovereign status prior to the 1950s Chinese occupation. The session explored contemporary challenges facing Tibet, including environmental degradation, forced assimilation through colonial boarding schools, and the significant number of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule. The presentation, which examined Tibet’s complex role in international politics and its global implications, generated engaging discussions among students at Bengaluru’s educational institution. 

Mass Outreach in Bylakupee 

The campaign reached its peak in Bylakupee, where volunteers engaged with approximately 250 participants at the Government Polytechnic and Engineering College. The team, led by Karma Dorjee, Tenzin Dhadon and Tenzin Lhadon distributed 200 informational pamphlets and raised awareness on two key topics. V-TAG members highlighted the systematic human rights violations occurring in Chinese-run colonial boarding schools, where Tibetan children face forced cultural assimilation. They also emphasised China’s controversial environmental policies in Tibet, particularly water diversion projects that threaten regional ecosystems and downstream countries. The awareness session successfully engaged local students in understanding Tibet’s pressing geopolitical and environmental challenges, marking a significant step in educating the public about these critical issues. 

V-TAG Dharamshala’s Strategic Poster Campaign 

In McLeodganj, Dharamshala, V-TAG team led by Kunsang Tenzin, Tenzin Lhatso and Tenzin Loden, launched a strategic poster campaign drawing attention to three critical issues facing Tibet. The campaign spotlights the forced disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a revered Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, by Chinese authorities in 1995. It also addresses the alarming toll of self-immolation protests, with 157 Tibetans having sacrificed their lives demanding freedom and human rights. 

The awareness drive additionally exposes China’s controversial colonial boarding school system, where Tibetan children face forced cultural assimilation. Targeting both local Indian residents and international tourists in McLeodganj, the campaign has effectively increased public understanding of Tibet’s ongoing struggles against Chinese repression. The strategically placed posters throughout the town serve as powerful visual reminders of Tibet’s fight for cultural survival and basic human rights. 

Coordinated Efforts 

The success of the anniversary campaign was underpinned by careful preparation, including strategic planning meetings led by V-TAG National Coordinator Ngawang Choden along with distribution of advocacy toolkits by the Tibet Advocacy Section of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration and the active engagements by the participants of the recently-held “South India V-TAG Youth Advocacy Training” held at the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Studies, Bengaluru. 

The campaign represents a significant milestone in V-TAG’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness about Tibet’s struggle for freedom and human rights. Through educational institutions and public spaces, V-TAG India continues to build support for Tibet’s cause across India. 

-Filed by V-TAG India and Tibet Advocacy Section, DIIR, CTA

Tenzin Choesang, a member of V-TAG in Delhi, speaking at Shri Ram College of Commerce regarding the current situation in Tibet, particularly the assimilationist policies of China’s colonial boarding schools as well as the self-immolation protests by Tibetans.

The members of V-TAG in Bangalore paid a courtesy visit to Father Emmanuel P. J., Director of Kristu Jayanti College of Law and the Office of International and Domestic Relations.

A group of V-TAG members in Karnataka, South India, distributed 200 pamphlets and engaged approximately 250 students and faculty at the Government Polytechnic and Engineering College in Kushalnagar.

Presentation was given to around 60 psychology students at the Kristu Jayanti College of Law and the Office of International and Domestic Relations about Tibet and the ongoing human rights violations in Tibet.

Posters on the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Self-Immolation protests against the PRC government’s repression and the Colonial Boarding schools in Tibet organised by V-TAG Dharamshala on 6 November 2024.

Members of the V-TAG in Dharamshala organised a poster campaign to make the local community and tourists aware of the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Tibet, particularly the 11th Panchen Lama, Colonial boarding schools, and self-immolation protests.