The Statement of the Kashag on the Seventy-fourth Birthday Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
On this joyous occasion of the seventy-fourth birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Kashag — on behalf of the Tibetans in and outside Tibet — firstly makes obeisance to His Holiness and wishes him many happy returns of the day. The Kashag, at the same time, implores him to continue to live as the sole protector and saviour of all sentient beings until the end of this Samsaric world.
While remembering the great religious and secular service that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been rendering towards the short- and long-term benefits of all humanity in general, and the people of the Land of Snows who have been suffering in this current era of “Five Degenerations” in particular, the Kashag would like to beseech him to continue to keep his compassionate eye on all humanity, and particularly on the people of his adopted Land of Snows, in the future as well or until they are all elevated to the realm of enlightened beings.
Since March 2008 until now, Tibetans all over the three traditional provinces of Tibet have been staging peaceful protests against the Chinese government, which the latter crushed by brute force. The fallout, as we can all see, is that many Tibetan protestors are being killed, beaten, tortured and incarcerated. While paying tribute to these heroic men and women of Tibet, as well as expressing our solidarity with them, the Kashag would like to reassure all these people that their great sacrifices will never go in vain.
Everybody knows that during the eighth round of talks last year, the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama submitted in writing a Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for All Tibetans to the People’s Republic of China’s government, in which all the future aspirations of the Tibetan people are enumerated or elucidated. This memorandum is the latest in the series of suggestions put forward by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the resolution of the Tibet problem. Rather than providing a rational explanation as to whether it agrees — or disagrees — with what is contained in the memorandum, the Chinese side has resorted to distorting the Tibetan proposal and leading the international public up the garden path by quoting bits and pieces of His Holiness’ statements issued many years ago. Moreover, it is making deliberate attempts to cause instability in Tibet. All these developments raise further doubts in our minds whether the present leadership of the People’s Republic of China really have the willingness to resolve the Tibet problem. Therefore, we have now shifted our focus on engaging with the Chinese people — or rather thought it more important to do. As such, we have been doing our utmost to form Chinese-Tibetan friendship associations in all those countries across the globe where Chinese nationals reside, and create awareness among them about the truth of the Tibet issue. In the future also, the Kashag believes, it is very important for both the Tibetan administration and public to invest all our energies toward this end.
As for us, we are ever ready or prepared to engage in dialogue on the already-submitted memorandum, which can obviously serve as the definite agenda for the future conduct of the dialogue process. There is no change whatsoever in our determination to continue the talks once we receive a clear signal from the Chinese government.
The Kashag would like to take this opportunity to extend our greetings and heartfelt thanks to all the peace-loving people across the world who have been providing, either directly or indirectly, support and assistance to the cause of Tibet as well as to the maintenance of its culture and religion. The Kashag would like to particularly express our sincere appreciation to those many Chinese writers and scholars who have, since last year, been issuing statements and writing articles in defence of the just cause of the Tibetan people.
Similarly, the Kashag would like to welcome and thank the Australian all-party parliamentary delegation for the trouble it has taken to come to Dharamsala coinciding with the seventy-fourth birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama so as to show their support for the Tibetan cause. Your presence here in Dharamsala is not only an indication of the love and support the Australian government and people have for the Tibetan people, but the Kashag recognises this as an important gesture that will be recorded in bold letters in Tibetan annals.
Finally, the Kashag prays for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the spontaneous fulfilment of all his wishes. May the truth of the issue of Tibet prevail soon!
The Kashag
6 July 2009
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N.B. This is an English translation of the statement issued in Tibetan. If there is any difference between this and the Tibetan original, please treat the latter as authoritative and final.
