Tibetan Headlines
Oct 10: Miss Himalaya
This year’s Miss Himalaya competition has concluded with Preksha Rana, 21, from Gaggal crowned Miss Himalaya 2017. The two day competition was held at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala. Runners up were Tashi Lhamo, the lone Tibetan contestant from Kathmandu, and Palak Thakur from Palampur. This year was the fifth Miss Himalaya and attracted a record nine contestants.
Oct 9: Early Release
Kunchok Dhondup, 25, has been released from prison after serving nine and a half years of his twelve year sentence. He has returned home to Upper Nurma Village in Machu County in the Gansu Province. He was arrested in 2008 for taking part in the protests being held across Tibet against Chinese rule there, in his Machu County more than 2,000 Tibetans took part in protests.
Oct 7: Trip Cancelled
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has cancelled his visit to Japan scheduled for next month on the advice of his doctors who have advised him to rest and to refrain from long distance travel. He was due to visit Tokyo, Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures and attend a religious ceremony in memory of the earthquake that hit the Kumamo to region last year.
Oct 7: Resorting to Begging
Tibetan nomads who were evicted from their traditional grazing lands some years ago have been evicted again from their homes in Qinghai’s Yulshul prefecture. Their homes are being demolished to make way for Chinese development projects while they live in tent settlements and many have resorted to begging as the only way to make a living, reports Radio Free Asia.
Oct 7: Potala Makeover
The Chinese state media Xinhua has announced that the Potala Palace in Lhasa is to undergo a large scale renovation to the roof costing more than US$1.5 million (£1.2 million). Damage to the gold-plated roof caused by exposure to the elements will be repaired and the report also says the security surveillance system will be improved. The Potala is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Oct 6: Social Media Restrictions
In a further development of the Chinese authorities’ determination to restrict the use of social media in Tibet, managers of social media chat groups were summoned to a meeting in Tsekhog (Zeku) county in Qinghai last week to warn them against allowing “inappropriate” online discussions. WeChat group managers signed a pledge to “uphold their responsibilities”. Many chat groups had disbanded their groups in advance, fearing reprisals.
Oct 6: Award
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, the leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has received the Takasu Award in recognition of his contribution towards the welfare, education and resilience of the Tibetan people. The Takasu Foundation is an aid group based in Japan. Dr Sangay dedicated the award to the CTA workforce for their hard work and determination and is donating the $100,000 (£76,000) prize money to the Department of Education.
Oct 5: Swiss Funeral
The funeral took place at Lucerne in Switzerland of Tashi Namgyal, 32, the Tibetan asylum seeker who committed suicide last month on a railway line. His suicide note called for independence for Tibet and freedom from Chinese rule, and asked the Swiss government to give asylum to the 300 Tibetan asylum seekers whose applications, like his, had been refused. Over 350 Tibetans attended his funeral.
Oct 4: New Road
China has opened an expressway from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to Nyingchi near the border with Arunachal Pradesh, India’s most northeastern state. China claims Arunachal as their territory and the border with Tibet is strategically important to both India and China. Experts are quoted as saying that this new road will give China an advantage. Chinese state media Xinhua says the expressway will boost tourism.
Oct 4: American Success Story
An American Tibetan, Tenzin Dolkar, has been appointed Minnesota’s new State Rail Director with responsibility for Minnesota’s 4,400 miles of track. She has been promoted from her position of Chief Policy Advisor on Transportation and Agriculture. Dolkar, who was born in Phuntsokling Tibetan settlement in Orissa, India, and moved to the US when she was 17, said, “I am honoured by Governor Dayton’s appointment”.
Oct 3: Anniversary Celebration
The Tibetan Nuns Project celebrated its 30th anniversary at Dolma Ling Nunnery in Dharamshala. The project was set up to empower Tibetan women through scholarship and education. Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, leader of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, said the occasion was symbolic of the significant contributions to the revival of Tibetan Buddhism in exile made by Dolma Ling and the higher education of Tibetan nuns.
Oct 3: Basketball Winners
The “Stop TB” basketball tournament was won by Team Lugsum from Bylakuppe in south India who beat Tibetan Dicky Larsoe (TDL) in the final held at Gangchen Kyishong in Dharamshala. Twelve teams took part in the tournament which was organised by the Tibetan Government-in-exile’s Department of Health in collaboration with the Tibetan National Sports Association and Tibetan Youth Congress to promote TB awareness.
Oct 2: Anniversary Disruption
A photographic exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of the 1987 pro-independence movement in Lhasa, Tibet was disrupted by a Chinese American woman, Wen Qi Zhu, 43, who removed and attempted to damage pictures on display. The event was organised by Gu Chu Sum, the former political prisoners’ movement near Tsugla Khan, the main temple in Dharamshala. Wen Qi Zhu said the images were “fake”.
Oct 2: Excellence Award
The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has awarded the Ministers Award of Excellence in Student Achievement to 13 year old Tsering Kalden, a student at the Tibetan Learning Centre which is run by the Tibetan Community in Australia and the first Tibetan to win this award. She was one of ten award winners chosen from 30,000 students from 254 community languages schools.
Oct 1: Tibet at the UN
The deterioration in Human Rights in China was raised at the United Nations Human Rights Council which has just concluded in Geneva. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Switzerland and Germany, among others, raised concerns, with the US, EU and Germany especially mentioning Tibet and Xinjiang.