By Tsering Tashi (Office of Tibet, London)
London, March 11 – The 47th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day was marked here today by Tibetans and supporters with a rally outside the Chinese embassy, a peace march through the city centre and a cultural programme at the Westminster Cathedral Hall where guest speakers were former Tibetan political prisoners Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo and Mr. Harry Cohen, Chairman of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.
Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo recounted their painful experience of long prison sentences given by the Chinese authorities simply for shouting ‘Free Tibet’ and ‘Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama’.
They said they were lucky to be alive and therefore owe it to their colleagues who had died in prison and those still suffering in Tibet for the Tibetan cause to tell their story to the people in the free world so that no one in the world will have to undergo all the physical and mental torture that they have had to suffer. They thanked all the Tibet supporters and urged them to continue championing the Tibetan cause.
Drolkar and Lhama, who are on a speaking tour of UK at the invitation of the Free Tibet Campaign and the Students for a Free Tibet, said they have been inspired by the efforts of all those working for the Tibetan cause.
Mr. Harry Cohen, MP from the ruling Labour party, said politicians like himself and the public must tell China that what it is doing in Tibet is wrong. He said the Tibetan parliament in exile is a gift from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and that the Tibetan practice of democracy in exile is something that China can learn from. Mr. Cohen said the 4th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet held last November in Edinburgh brought many parliamentarians and Tibet support groups together to further commit their resolve to champion the Tibetan cause. He concluded by saying that he can easily say ‘Long live the Dalai Lama’ and ‘Free Tibet’ for which Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo paid a heavy price.
The statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 47th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day was read by Mrs. Kesang Y. Takla, His Holiness’
representative for Northern Europe and the Baltic countries, based at the Office of Tibet in London.
His Holiness, in his statement said that he has pursued the ‘Middle-Way Approach’ with consistency and sincerity. Referring to the five rounds of talks held between his envoys and the Chinese counterparts, His Holiness said that if China sees benefit in sincerely pursuing dialogue through the present contact, then it must make clear gesture. Just like it is not possible to create a sound of a clap with one hand, “a positive atmosphere cannot be created by one side alone”, His Holiness said in his statement.
The day concluded with a cultural presentation by the senior and junior performers of the Tibetan Community Dance Group and singing of the Tibetan national anthem.
On 9 March, APPGT Chairman Mr. Cohen, MP, and Representative Mrs. Takla of the Office of Tibet laid a wreath and scarf at the memorial for victims of oppression at Westminster Abbey near Houses of Parliament. The event, also attended among others by former political prisoners Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo, was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet to pray and commemorate the Tibetan national uprising against China’s occupation of Tibet and to remember all those who have died for Tibet’s freedom. Canon David Hutt of Westminster Abbey who also led a minute’s silence to remember all Tibetan victims of Chinese rule in Tibet welcomed the gathering at the memorial service.
