By Tsering Tashi,
Office of Tibet, London
Addressing a public talk about the situation in Tibet on 25 April in Oslo, Norway, Mrs. Kesang Y. Takla said that although the birthday of the Panchen Lama should be a happy occasion it was not so because of the sad reality of the plight of the Panchen Lama and his parents. Mrs. Takla is the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Northern Europe based at the Office of Tibet in London.
She also used the occasion to appeal to the Chinese government that if they are really serious about their insistence for the use of dialogue to settle the Iraq crisis, then they must show a practical example to the world by entering into a dialogue to resolve the issue of Tibet with the Tibetan side lead by His Holiness the Dalai Lama who has always advocated the use of non-violence and dialogue. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for leading the non-violent Tibetan struggle for freedom.
Citing the sudden execution last December of Lobsang Dhondup and the death sentence passed on Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and other Tibetans, Mrs. Takla said that bi-lateral and multi-lateral governmental dialogue with China on the issue of human rights in occupied Tibet would have no meaning unless there is a mechanism in place to monitor the actual improvement of the situation inside Tibet. But she added that what was interesting in the case of Lobsang Dhondup and Delek Rinpoche is that concern for their life was not only shared by Tibetan and the international community but also by some Chinese, including writer Wang Lixiong.
The talk which took place in the hall of the Norwegian Institute for Human Rights was jointly organised by the Norwegian Tibet Committee and the Norwegian Students for a Free Tibet whose members found the Tibetan representative’s visit very inspiring. The following day the Tibetan Community in Norway held a reception in honour of the visiting Tibetan dignitary.
During her visit to Norway, Mrs. Takla also had a good meeting with the country’s State Secretary, Vidar Helgesen, and the head of Asian Affairs in the Foreign Ministry, Elisabeth Jacobsen, and other officials.
On 27 April she had a lunch meeting with women’s groups that was hosted by the Norwegian Tibet Committee’s Women’s Section and that was attended among others by representatives of the Forum for Women and Development, and SOS-Norway.
On 28 April, Mrs. Takla had a meeting with the Norwegian Parliamentary Group for Tibet. It may be recalled that on 9 April, the leader of the parliamantary group, Mr Olav Gunnar Ballo, MP, had raised the issue of Tibet in the parliament that was telecast live on national TV.
“I was very satisfied with this visit and everyone seems excited to do more for the cause of Tibet,” says Mrs. Takla, who also was invited to visit the office of Voice of Tibet (VOT), the Norwegian Tibetan language radio station based in Oslo and with an editorial office in Dharamsala in northern India, seat of the Tibetan government in exile.
Mrs. Chungdak Koren who helped to coordinate Mrs. Takla’s visit to Norway told this reporter that the Tibetan representative’s visit was very timely especially in view of the expected next round of the Norway/China meeting. “I think the visit was very timely and successful both at the official and non-governmental levels. It also helped to create more awareness for the Tibet issue and inspired the support group members. The public talk that was announced by the local media also attracted many people. The visit was hectic but we made the most effective useful of the few days she spent here,” said Mrs. Chundak Koren, former representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, and who currently is the chairperson of the Tibetan Community in Norway and a board member of the Norwegian Tibet Committee.
