Losar dedicated to Tibetans inside Tibet

GANGTOK, 22 Feb: Tibetans here today joined their compatriots in exile across the world in observing their New Year, Losar, bereft of any celebrations and with solemn and somber gestures of solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet. The community, it may be recalled, has resolved not to celebrate Losar this year in light of the crisis inside Tibet which has seen a rash of self-immolations by Tibetans in protest against continuing Chinese occupation. These self-immolations have triggered stronger protests by the people inside Tibet which have been greeted with a severe crackdown and more lives lost to Chinese police firings.
In Gangtok, the Tibetans took out a Solidarity Rally organized jointly by the Tibetan Youth Club and Tibetan Women’s Association of Gangtok. More than 500 people participated in the rally which started from Sera-jey Dho-phenling Monastery at Chandmari, came down  Tibet Road passed through Kazi Road and ended at Chokasum at Nam Nang.
The Tibetan New Year officially begins with Tsedhor, the religious ceremony attended by officials of the Central Tibetan Administration and presided over by the Dalai Lama. Tsedhor was held at the rooftop of Tsuglha khang, Main Cathedral in Dharamshala, but the dances and music, which usually form part of this celebration, were not performed this year.
After the religious ceremony, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile started a daylong Solidarity Hunger Strike for the victims of Chinese police firing and Self Immolations in Tibet at the Tsuglha khang courtyard. Head of the three pillars of Central Tibetan Administration, Parliamentarians, officials of Central Tibetan Administration, and hundreds of public gathered to observe the hunger strike. The Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Penpa Tsering delivered the Losar Message [turn to pg2 for complete message].
As mentioned, the mood was as somber in Sikkim as well.
“We are not celebrating Losar with gaiety and fanfare this year and are instead taking out a Solidarity peace rally to protest Chinese crackdown in Tibet and in support of the people who have given up their lives for the sake of a Free Tibet,” explains Chung Chung, president of TYC, Gangtok.
“All of the people who set themselves on fire were very young - between the ages of 18 to 25 - and have not even seen a free Tibet,” he added.
“We lost our freedom in 1959 and since then there is no freedom of religion, democracy or women’s rights in Tibet. We are being supressed by the Chinese government from doing anything,” he said, adding that the people, especially the younger generation in Tibet want the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet as he is also their spiritual leader.
On 23 January, people of Amdo and Kham in eastern Tibet had taken out a peace procession, but the Chinese government opened fire on them without giving any reason, thereby killing 07 on the spot and injuring more than 70 persons, he further informed. The people who had come from Tibet for the Kalachakra prayers in Bodh Gaya have still not been allowed to return to their homes and have been forced into reeducation camps in Tibet Autonomous Region by the Chinese Government, he added.
He further informed that the rally taken out today was also to bring awareness amongst the Tibetans as well as the other communities about the plight of the Tibetan people inside Tibet.
Tibetans in Darjeeling sat on a one day hungerstrike, while in Kalimpong they are sitting on a relay three day hunger strike. The decision to tone down Losar celebrations here was also in solidarity with the loss suffered by Sikkim in the 18 September 2011 Earthquake, members of the Tibetan community add.
“We were earlier planning to take out a candle light rally in the evening here in Gangtok, but instead of the rally now all the Tibetans have been advised to light butter lamps infront of their respective homes in the evening,” the TYC president further informed. As per plans, Tibetans around the world will be switching off the lights in their respective homes at 9 p.m. to pledge solidarity with their compatriots inside Tibet.
“Tibetans in exile have reacted to the pain and suffering inside Tibet, while the monks and nuns who immolated theselves were sacrificing their bodies to draw the world’s attention to Chinese repression in Tibet”, the TYC president stated.
“In exile, we support those in Tibet who are on the front line of protecting our religious and cultural integrity; we try to ensure that their voices are heard by the world community. It is our responsibility to make sure that the calls of those Tibetans for restoration of freedom are heard, and their sacrifices are not in vain,” he further added.