Tibetan Headlines
Feb 28: Nomads Renew Vows
Hundreds of Tibetan nomads living in the Dzekar Lhamo Thang area of Ngaba in the Sichuan province assembled at Dzamthang’s Choje monastery recommit themselves to good behavior in their communities, vowing especially not to kill, steal, or gamble.The three-day gathering was aimed at strengthening harmony within the Tibetan community and was attended by community members of all ages.
Feb 27: Protester Freed
Tsering Kyipo, 27, from Kardze in the Sichuan province has been freed from prison before serving his full term, apparently for good behavior while in detention. He served three of his four-year sentence for distributing flyers challenging Beijing’s rule and calling for the return of HH the Dalai Lama.
Feb 27: Amnesty Report
Amnesty International, the international human rights watchdog, has released its 2014/15 annual report which condemns the compromise of basic freedoms faced by Tibetans at the hands of the Chinese government. The report looks at human rights in 160 countries. Regarding Tibet, which comes under the sub-heading “China”, it states: "Ethnic Tibetans continued to face discrimination and restrictions on their rights to freedoms of religious belief, expression, association and assembly.”
Feb 26: Geneva Summit
The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy 2015 focused on Tibet when Ms Dicki Chhoyang, Kalon (Minitser) for the Department of Information and International Relations of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, addressed the opening session. She is scheduled to speak again on the Tibet issue and the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama during the main event of the Summit.
Feb 25: Sent to School
Young monks in Tibet visiting home for Losar (the Tibetan New Year) are being prevented from returning to their monasteries. Authorities in Qinghai are demanding that they attend government schools as lay students. The campaign appears to target monks from rural nomadic areas who are under 19 years old and is understood to be aimed at restricting Tibetan monasteries, perceived as centres of resistance to Beijing’s rule.
Feb 25: Tibet House, Brazil
The Tibet House, Brazil, a new Office of Tibet serving South America, will open on April 1. Mr Tsewang Phuntso, the current Liaison officer for Latin America, will be the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for South America.
Feb 24: More Prohibitions
The establishment of “illegal associations formed in the name of the Tibetan language, the environment, and education” is now a prohibited activity in the Qinghai province of Tibet, along with publishing articles, books or audio recordings encouraging “separatist goals,” and the dissemination of voice mails, drawings, or video clips opposing China’s rule.
Feb 23: Spiritual Leader
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been listed top of the Watkins Spiritual 100 for the fourth consecutive year, coming ahead of Pope Francis, Vietnamese Spiritual Leader Thich Nhat Hanh and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The UK-based Watkin's Mind, Body and Spirit Magazine says that internet presence is one of the deciding factors.
Feb 22: Losar Celebrations
In the Tibetan exile community in India, senior Indian dignitaries attended Losar (Tibetan New Year) celebrations in Majnutilla in Delhi and expressed their continued support for the Tibetan cause. In the United States, the government hosted an official reception with Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall; and in Tibet an uncorroborated video shows Tibetans throwing tsampa (a Losar tradition in Tibet) at a police car with no reports of any arrests so far.
Feb 21: Celebrations in Tibet
Tibetans living in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces have been openly celebrating Losar, the Tibetan New Year, together with the 80th birth year of HH the Dalai Lama this week. Monks and laypersons displayed life-size photos of His Holiness on thrones in monastery courtyards, made offerings and recited prayers for his long life. No information is available about the authorities' response.
Feb 19: Losar Tashi Delek
Everybody at Contact Magazine would like to wish our readers a very happy Losar (Tibetan New year), and an auspicious and joyful 2142, year of the female Wood Sheep.
Feb 17: Book Launch
Meltdown in Tibet, a book by Canadian writer Michael Buckley which exposes the environmental destruction taking place in Tibet, has been launched in McLeod Ganj. The book details China’s destruction of ecosystems in Tibet through the building of mega-dams, extensive mining and grassland degradation. HH the Dalai Lama says in the forward to the book "This book should be part of a wake-up call to the international community and China".
Feb 16: Guests of S Africa
Three representatives of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile attended the annual inauguration of the South African Parliament in Cape Town, and the State of Nation Address by South African President Jacob Zumaon. Mr Tashi Phuntsok, Ms Nangsa Chodon and Ms Tenzin Kunsang attended as official guests of the Inkatha Freedom Party and have had formal meetings with South Aftican parliamentarians, briefing them on the Tibet situation and the Middle-Way Policy.
Feb 15: An Activist Dies
The Tibetan exile community is shocked at the news that two Tibetans have died of stab wounds in the Tibetan colony Majnu ka Tilla in Delhi. Lobsang Chokta was Vice-president of PEN Tibetan Writers Abroad and a tireless champion of literature, freedom of expression and linguistic rights; he was an unwavering advocate for imprisoned Tibetan writers, language and heritage. The other was Tenzin Choedak, a monk from Drepung Gomang monastery.
Feb 13: Independence Day
The 102nd anniversary of the proclamation of Tibetan Independence by the 13th Dalai Lama was celebrated worldwide in a campaign led by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT). SFT have challenged people to raise the Tibetan flag around the world, and also organised the first-ever public talk on the Tibetan flag in McLeod Ganj. The flag is used as a symbol of resistance against Chinese occupation.