Losar greetings from Governor

Gangtok, 18 Feb: Governor of Sikkim, Shriniwas Patil, and the First Lady Smt. Rajanidevi Patil have extended warm greetings and good wishes to the people of Sikkim on the occasion of Losar.
In his message, the Governor conveys, “The celebration of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, symbolises the hope and aspiration for a new beginning. We offer prayers to the deities and seek prosperity, health and well being for all as blessings for the New Year. May the advent of this New Year bring peace, prosperity and harmony among all Sikkimese.”

CM greets Sikkim on Losar

Gangtok, 18 Feb [IPR]: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Smt Tika Maya Chamling have extended warm greetings and best wishes to the people of Sikkim on the occasion of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. In his message, the Chief Minister has wished that the New Year brings with it peace, happiness and prosperity for the people of Sikkim and foster unity and brotherhood amongst all.

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.

STATEMENT OF THE TIBETAN PARLIAMENT IN EXILE ON LOSAR

International community urged to register concern, intervene to de-escalate crisis inside Tibet

INTRO: Speaker, Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE) , Penpa Tsering, read out the statement of the TPiE during the Solidarity Hunger Strike observed by the Tibetan Parliamentarians on the first day of Tibetan Losar at Tsuglhakhang, Dharamshala...

Amongst the patriotic Tibetan men and women who have been committing the heroic act of self-immolations in Tibet under the two main slogans demanding “the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “freedom and human rights for the Tibetan people”, Venerable Tapey of Kirti Monastery set the trend on 27th of February, 2009. Since then, between the 16th of March, 2011 and 19th of February, 2012, some 23 Tibetans both lay and ordained, have committed self-immolation in Tibet for the sake of Tibet and its people. Two Tibetans have done the same outside of Tibet totalling 25 so far. Fifteen of them including three nuns have lost their precious lives in the process and we have not been able to ascertain the condition and whereabouts of the rest.
We have also come to know from reliable sources that on the 23rd of January, 2012 which was the occasion of the celebration of the Chinese New Year, Tibetans in Tibet observed it as a day of mourning by holding peaceful demonstrations. But the Chinese police and the militia opened indiscriminate gun-fire on them and 4 Tibetans in Draggo, 2 in Serta and 1 in Zamthang totalling 7 were massacred. We have further come to know that on the 8th of February of this year, the same type of peaceful demonstrations had taken place in other places like Nangchen, Trindu, Zatoe, Golok, Chuchen, Chabcha etc while observing ‘White Wednesday’ which is the favourable prayer day for the long life of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. However, as the Chinese government had sealed of all internet and phone connection in most of the places in Tibet and especially those where demonstrations had taken place, we have not been able to ascertain the scale of oppression and the number of people killed, tortured or arrested. There is in effect, an unapparent military rule in Tibet at present and the Chinese government has declared an open “war” on the Tibetan people as whole.
The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has continuously been appealing to the Government of China and the International Community regarding the urgent situation in Tibet through its series of press statements. Recently, a special delegation of the TPiE travelled to New Delhi to brief a number of Embassies of different countries about the fast deteriorating conditions in Tibet. We also wrote an open letter to the Chinese President.
Through this statement, we once again appeal to the Government of China and the International Community as follows:
Appeal to the Chinese leaders:
1. Withdraw the large reinforcement of military to reduce tension immediately and take measures to give due consideration to the aspirations of the Tibetan people.
2. Allow independent, non-partisan fact finding delegations to ascertain the ground realities. If you have issues with that, allow a Tibetan fact finding delegation to visit Tibet.
3. Stop the policies and programs aimed at destroying the identity of the Tibetan people. Provide religious freedom and undertake reconciliation measures to assuage the hurt sentiments of the Tibetan people.
4. Stop sedentarization of Tibetan nomads and include Tibetan participation in environmental stewardship by using their centuries old wisdom of having lived on the Tibetan Plateau.
5. All developmental activities in Tibet must give due consideration to Tibet’s fragile environment and should accrue due benefit to the native Tibetans.
6. Release all political prisoners including Panchen Rinpoche Gedun Choekyi Nyima, just as Burma did so to create more trust between the people and the government.
7. Resume dialogue with the Tibetans with the commitment and conviction to seek a lasting solution to the Issue of Tibet, and peace and stability in the whole geo- strategic region.

Similarly to the International Community, we call upon the leaders of the free world to not only express your concern but also seek your intervention in de-escalating the prevailing dangerous situation inside Tibet and help find a lasting solution to the Issue of Tibet for a mutually beneficial agreement through dialogue.
We are confident that while engaging constructively with China, you will not refrain from voicing your concern for the values of democracy, equality, justice and basic human rights that you so very much cherish.
Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
Dharamsala: Dated: February 22, 2012

Governor and CM extend Losar wishes

GANGTOK, 21 Feb: On the auspicious occasion of Losar, the Governor of Sikkim, Balmiki Prasad Singh extends his warm greetings to the people of Sikkim, informs a press release issued by the PRO to the Governor.
The Governor said, “Losar, which is celebrated as Tibetan New Year, is an occasion for renewal of hopes and replenishment of one’s good deeds. It is also the time to reflect on the year that has passed and seek to learn lessons from it.
I hope that the New Year brings joy and prosperity to every Sikkimese home.”
Similarly, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling and Tika Maya Chamling have extended their warm greetings and best wishes to the people of Sikkim on the occasion of Losar.