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Exile Tibetan administration calls for Tibet Solidarity Day on May 17
Dharamshala, May 1: The exile Tibetan administration has called for May 17 to be observed as ‘Tibet Solidarity Day’ and appealed for “expressions of solidarity involving people’s elected representatives, local government or holding an activity as deemed appropriate.” The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration proclaimed the day to symbolise “international community’s solidarity with the aspirations of the Tibetan people who yearn for freedom and continue to stand strong in the face of great adversity.” Since 2009, as many as 117 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. Thousands of Tibetans have taken part in peaceful anti-China protests in recent years, many of which have been violently suppressed by Chinese armed forces, leading to the death and arrest of several protesters. CTA said Tibetans inside Tibet are sending “a clear signal to the world rejecting People’s Republic of China’s policies in Tibet which have led to political repression, cultural assimilation, environmental destruction and economic marginalisation.” “Now, more than ever before, Tibetan people need to be reassured and given hope that their plight has not been forgotten by the rest of the world,” the exile Tibetan administration said. May 17 also marks the day when the 11th Panchen Lama Gendhun Choekyi Nyima was disappeared in 1995 at the age of six along with his parents. Despite repeated requests to meet him and know his whereabouts by world leaders, China has refused to divulge any details and instead placed another boy of its choice as the 11th Panchen Lama. CTA said the fate of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima “symbolises that of many other brave Tibetans who continue to be imprisoned and deprived of their basic human rights.” “The Central Tibetan Administration therefore calls upon Tibetans and their friends to observe this day with expressions of solidarity involving people’s elected representatives, local government or holding an activity as deemed appropriate,” the release states. “In view of self-immolations, particularly the recent self-immolation by two monks of Ngaba Kirti monastery, all are requested to hold prayers on that same day.” December 10, 2012 was the last time a Tibet solidarity day was called for by the exile Tibetan administration.
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