By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 9: A tragic incident unfolded in New York City during the early hours of New Year’s Day, where two Tibetan youths were stabbed by an unidentified assailant. An altercation that started at the KTM Bar and Lounge in Queens escalated into a violent melee near the vicinity of the bar, resulting in the fatal stabbing of a 29-year-old Tibetan youth named Tsering Wangdu and severe injuries to his companion.
Tragically, Tsering Wangdu, 29, succumbed after being fatally stabbed in the thigh, while his friend sustained severe slash wounds to the chest and face. Both victims were promptly rushed to Elmhurst Hospital for urgent medical attention. His friend remains in critical condition, fighting for survival as a result of the severe wounds.
According to multiple sources, the unidentified assailant involved in this tragic stabbing incident is still on the run and no arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
The Tibetan community has been deeply shaken by the death of the fellow immigrant who moved to the US from Nepal. Shock and sorrow reverberate through the community as they mourn the loss of Tsering Wangdu and pray for the recovery of his critically injured friend.
A US-based Tibetan Jigme Ugen, in response to the tragic assault, called for justice and accountability on social media. He wrote, “The media calls it NYC’s first homicide in 2024 but our tiny community, it will indelibly remain painfully etched in our history. The Tibetan community across the world remains devastated and grieves this loss, and prays for his friend’s recovery.”
“It has been +7 days and the assailant is still on the run and no arrests have been made. Tsering’s family, friends and community are searching for answers and seeks justice,”he further wrote.
5 Responses
I also sympathize and rest his soul. I hope that justice will be done and that inequalities will end.
It’s a matter of great shame that young Tibetans are getting violent and resorting to killing each other! It shows that the younger generation has lost touch with our culture and religion! They are embracing western values of violence and aggression as a means of proving themselves men! This is very tragic and HH The Dalai Lama will feel sad to hear such unfortunate incidents happening among the Tibetans. This will not bode well for the reputation and public perception of Tibetans if these young people continue with their violent ways. The good image Tibetans have carved out, thanks mainly to HH The Dalai Lama will be destroyed and this will be very harmful not only the Tibetans as a group but the whole Tibetan Movement will be affected! This is not only happening in New York but it’s happening in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, France and other places where Tibetans are living in clusters. This must stop to salvage our good reputation.
The solution to the present problem is for young Tibetan men be given military training. The world has changed for the worse after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. There are sparks of war being lit around the world by vested powers for geopolitical reasons and resource grabbing endeavours. In Burma, the military junta which seemed invincible for many decades is finally crumbling owing to the fight spearheaded by young school and college students who have taken up arms against the junta’s cruelty to the civilian population for merely protesting against the junta’s disregard for democratic norms. Besides, independence movements are mushrooming across the world owing to growing nationalism among people oppressed by egregious regimes such as the CCP. Other nations such as Scotland, Wales in the UK, Catalonia in Spain, French New Caledonia, Quebec in Canada, Northern Ireland and Taiwan are all gravitating towards independence. Tibet was never part of China but was forcibly occupied by communist China since 1949/50. It is therefore bounden upon the Tibetan people to fight for Tibetan independence to throw the Chinese colonial yoke that is suffocating the Tibetans in Tibet. The Dalai Lama is on record saying, རེ་བ་ཡག་ས་ནས་རྒྱབ་ གྲ་འགྲིག་སྡུག་ས་ནས་བགྱིས་ (Hope for the best and expect the worst). The bromance between communist China and India has evaporated and now they are competing vigorously for sphere of influence! Indian policies of the Nehru era are discredited and there is much more appreciation of a buffer state between India and China that was compromised by Pandit Nehru’s infatuation of communist China. The Indians have at long last realised the folly of sacrificing Tibet to suck up to communist China as they face unsurmountable challenges vis-a-vis Communist China and Pakistan. America is also wooing India as a counterweight against communist China. In such a scenario of geopolitical competition between big powers, Tibetans should be prepared for any eventuality including taking up arms to liberate Tibet. Besides, the day of the CCP collapsing is another prospect that must be taken into account to seize the opportunity to free our country from foreign occupation. It is time to think of post Dalai Lama scenario wherein Tibetans may be thrust into taking up arms as we saw the Iraqi expats taking arms at the behest of the US when it invaded Iraq to topple Saddam in 2003! Instead of killing our own brothers, it would serve a monumental service for our young men to get military training! It will help them in disciplining themselves and also keep away from trouble. They should join the military garrisons of their host nations so when an opportunity arises, we have the manpower and expertise to fulfil our coveted goal of independence!
It was a fight with the bouncer not Tibetan on Tibetan know your facts before you go lecturing people.
I don’t know who you are but who are you pass judgments on things you have no idea about? Do you even know what happened that night? Without knowing the full story don’t go around concluding everything like u lived that moment. If u are really a patriot you go and join the military and serve and let your kid and everyone in your family go to the military and serve.
Rest in peace to the promising young soul. We had many mutual friends and everyone has nothing but positive things to say about him. It is nothing short of despicable how KTM has not been responding to the public’s requests for release of information. We need to put more pressure on them and NYPD.
That said, it was only a matter of time until something like this hit the news and rattled our community. I hope this will put an end to the “tradition” of fighting at every single Tibetan party or gathering which ruins the atmosphere. There are actually some bars and nightclubs in Manhattan Koreatown and in Flushing which have banned Tibetan men from entry because of fighting. I have showed my ID to security only to be turned away because of my Tibetan name. Not a good look on a community known for the love and compassion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.