By Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala: Commemorating the 74th birth anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetans living in exile on Monday (6 July) implored their spiritual and temporal leader to continue to live as the sole protector and saviour of all sentients beings until the end of the Samsaric world and prayed for the resolution of Tibet issue.
Thousands of Tibetans and people from across the world participated in the function celebrating the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, this morning. Colourful Tibetan and Indian cultural performances added grandeur to the celebratory function.
His Eminence the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje presided over the function, which was attended by dignitaries, including the visiting Australian Parliamentary delegation and heads of the three pillars of Tibetan democratic institutions in exile.
The Kashag expressed concern over the ongoing repression inside Tibet, including killing, beating, torture and incarceration of Tibetans by the Chinese government since it brutally crushed the Tibetan people's peaceful protests in Tibet in March 2008.
Paying tribute to all those heroic men and women of Tibet, as well as expressing solidarity with them, the Kashag reassures all those people that their great sacrifices will never go in vain.
The Kashag expressed its disappointment that the Chinese government's failure in providing a rational explanation as to whether it agrees or disagrees with the memorandum on genuine autonomy for all Tibetans presented to the Chinese government last year.
The Chinese side has resorted to distorting the Tibetan proposal and leading the international public up the garden path by quoting bits and pieces of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's statements issued many years ago, the Kashag added.
The Kashag said the administration and Tibetans in exile will focus their efforts on reaching out to Chinese people living across the globe to raise awareness among them about the truth of the Tibet issue.
"We are ready or prepared to engage in dialogue on the already-submitted memorandum, which can obviously serve as the definite agenda for the future conduct of the dialogue process. There is no change whatsoever in our determination to continue the talks once we receive a clear signal from the Chinese government," the Kashag said.
In its statement, the Tibetan Parliament in exile urged the Chinese leadership to understand the reality and resolve the Tibetan issue in a peaceful manner that would contribute to peace, stability and harmony in both China and Tibet.
"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," Speaker Penpa Tsering said.
The Statement of the Kashag on the Seventy-fourth Birthday
Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
On this joyous occasion of the seventy-fourth birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Kashag — on behalf of the Tibetans in and outside Tibet — firstly makes obeisance to His Holiness and wishes him many happy returns of the day. The Kashag, at the same time, implores him to continue to live as the sole protector and saviour of all sentient beings until the end of this Samsaric world.
While remembering the great religious and secular service that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been rendering towards the short- and long-term benefits of all humanity in general, and the people of the Land of Snows who have been suffering in this current era of “Five Degenerations” in particular, the Kashag would like to beseech him to continue to keep his compassionate eye on all humanity, and particularly on the people of his adopted Land of Snows, in the future as well or until they are all elevated to the realm of enlightened beings.
Since March 2008 until now, Tibetans all over the three traditional provinces of Tibet have been staging peaceful protests against the Chinese government, which the latter crushed by brute force. The fallout, as we can all see, is that many Tibetan protestors are being killed, beaten, tortured and incarcerated. While paying tribute to these heroic men and women of Tibet, as well as expressing our solidarity with them, the Kashag would like to reassure all these people that their great sacrifices will never go in vain.
Everybody knows that during the eighth round of talks last year, the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama submitted in writing a Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for All Tibetans to the People’s Republic of China’s government, in which all the future aspirations of the Tibetan people are enumerated or elucidated. This memorandum is the latest in the series of suggestions put forward by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the resolution of the Tibet problem. Rather than providing a rational explanation as to whether it agrees — or disagrees — with what is contained in the memorandum, the Chinese side has resorted to distorting the Tibetan proposal and leading the international public up the garden path by quoting bits and pieces of His Holiness’ statements issued many years ago. Moreover, it is making deliberate attempts to cause instability in Tibet. All these developments raise further doubts in our minds whether the present leadership of the People’s Republic of China really have the willingness to resolve the Tibet problem. Therefore, we have now shifted our focus on engaging with the Chinese people — or rather thought it more important to do. As such, we have been doing our utmost to form Chinese-Tibetan friendship associations in all those countries across the globe where Chinese nationals reside, and create awareness among them about the truth of the Tibet issue. In the future also, the Kashag believes, it is very important for both the Tibetan administration and public to invest all our energies toward this end.
As for us, we are ever ready or prepared to engage in dialogue on the already-submitted memorandum, which can obviously serve as the definite agenda for the future conduct of the dialogue process. There is no change whatsoever in our determination to continue the talks once we receive a clear signal from the Chinese government.
The Kashag would like to take this opportunity to extend our greetings and heartfelt thanks to all the peace-loving people across the world who have been providing, either directly or indirectly, support and assistance to the cause of Tibet as well as to the maintenance of its culture and religion. The Kashag would like to particularly express our sincere appreciation to those many Chinese writers and scholars who have, since last year, been issuing statements and writing articles in defence of the just cause of the Tibetan people.
Similarly, the Kashag would like to welcome and thank the Australian all-party parliamentary delegation for the trouble it has taken to come to Dharamsala coinciding with the seventy-fourth birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama so as to show their support for the Tibetan cause. Your presence here in Dharamsala is not only an indication of the love and support the Australian government and people have for the Tibetan people, but the Kashag recognises this as an important gesture that will be recorded in bold letters in Tibetan annals.
Finally, the Kashag prays for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the spontaneous fulfilment of all his wishes. May the truth of the issue of Tibet prevail soon!
Statement of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile on the occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birth anniversary-2009
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.
PHOTO--His Eminence The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje (C) preside over the function marking
the 74th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in Dharamsala, India, on 6 July 2009. Senior officials
of the Central Tibetan Administration, including the Supreme Justice Commissioner, Justice
Commissioners,Speaker and members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and members of theKashag attended the ceremon.
PHOTO---Australia's Labor MP Michael Danby, who heads a six-member parliamentary delegation to
Tibetan community in Dharamsala, wishes His Holiness the Dalai Lama a long life and express
Australia's support for the peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue.
Photo--Tibetan schoolchildren present colourful cultural perform during the function marking the 74th birthday
celebration in Dharamsala, India, on 6 July 2009
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