Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, May 1: Tashi Wangdi, a Tibetan diplomat and former minister of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), passed away at the age of 78 in Canada.
Wangdi was born on April 15, 1947 in Tibet. He fled the country in 1959 and later joined the Tibetan government-in-exile in 1966 as a junior officer. Over the next four decades, he served in various leadership roles, including as minister (Kalon) of six departments, Religion and Culture, Home, Education, Information and International Relations, Security, and Health.
Wangdi also held diplomatic posts as the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, the Americas, and Brussels. He also ran for Prime Minister of the exile Tibetan government, the highest office of the Tibetan exile polity in the 2011 elections.
Educated in India and the United Kingdom, Wangdi earned a bachelor’s degree in politics and social science from Durham University. Early in his career, he served as English secretary in the Departments of Home Affairs and Education within the CTA.
His final public appearance was on June 7, 2024, at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala, where he released his autobiography titled ‘My Life: Born in Free Tibet, Served in Exile’. The book recounts his early life in Tibet and his service to the Tibetan people in exile.
7 Responses
He was a man of nobility and yet inconspicuous and gentle, human and dedicated only to the welfare of Tibet and Tibetan people. Really a man of example to follow. May his spirit travel in peace and as we Buddhists say „dewa chendu kyewar shog“ (བདེ་བ་ཅན་དུ་སྐྱེ་བར་ཤོག ། ????❤️
Saddened by the demise of Kazur Tashi Wangdi la – a truly gentleman who dedicated his life serving the exile Tibetan administration, including the Tibetan Youth Congress (1974-1977).
Praying for his return to continue our freedom struggle, and with sincere condolences to his entire family and friends.
We are so bereaved at the hearing of our beloved, dedicated Ex-Minister Kalon Tashi Wangdu la passing away.
We pray that he will reach Buddhahood and return to help us again from suppression.
Prayers
Deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of my longtime friend and colleague Kasur Tashi Wangdu-la – a friend I had known almost all my life. He was the most humble and decent human being I have ever known and the nature of his simple and respectful ways he treated all kinds of people is something many of us in our community should take lessons from.
In the past I have travelled with him on many domestic and foreign tours accompanying His Holiness the Dalai Lama and what I have observed during these trips is his total commitment to the cause of Tibet and his unwavering love and devotion to His Holiness the Dalai lama. For this, I had the deepest of respect.
I wish to convey to his children and the family my heartfelt condolences.
I saw Kalon Tashi Wangdu when I was a boy in Mussoorie Tibetan Homes! There was a football match between Tibetan boys studying at the Wynberg Allen School (Kalon Tashi Wangdu La’s Alma mater) and local Tibetan School (CTS) at Happy Valley. He was the goal keeper of the Wynberg Allen Tibetan Boy’s team. He was really tall and perfectly suited for a goal keeper. I was too young to take sides perhaps because I don’t have much memory of who won the game except a penalty kick was awarded to the Tibetan school which was taken by a rather short boy who was compact in his physical built. I have no memory about the result of penalty either. Wynberg Allen School had many Tibetan students-both girls and boys. Ex-Minister and consort of Ngari Rinpoche, Rinchen Khando la and Senge Rabten are those who made their mark on the exile Tibetan horizon. The most well known among the Tibetan students in other schools at the time, such as mine was Chamba Namgyal, a burly man who was their best athlete in both hundred meter dash and hundred meter hurdles. He was a footballer in their team as well. During football matches between rival teams, it is said, the players would often take knives with them in anticipation of fights breaking out. I left Tibetan Homes and went to quite few different schools. My memories are the Annual Inter- School Sports held at the Wynberg Allen School grounds every year. There were many schools participating in this grand event. The best team in athletics was Woodstock school whose students were mostly Americans. I used to feel frustrated to see our Tibetan girl’s team (even though I was no more in Tibetan Homes) lacking far behind the girls of other teams which frustrated me. My own school had a good sprinter in the hundred meter dash but he never made to the podium. The Tibetan school sprinter also suffered the same fate. On Sundays, we would often see the Wynberg Allen School students at church service. They used to wear green blazers with a matching batch along with stripped green ties and grey trousers and skirt for the girls. It was a long walk to the church and I never felt excited about attending church on Sundays. The only excitement was wandering my eyes at the pretty Anglo-Indian girls on the pews! I heard Tashi Wangdu La married Dikyi La who was a daughter of the Sadhutsang family. She was also tall as well which was unusual for a Tibetan woman.
Kalon Tashi Wangdu was an upright man and a truely dedicated servant of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people. I met him in a western country in person for the first time when he came with the Dalai Lama. I was surprised with his humility and unassuming nature. He never acted as if he was a high official of the Tibetan Government! He put himself as a servant rather than a leader! I was both surprised and impressed by his demeanour. I have not been able to read his autobiography and know little about his life other than the chance meetings in my school days and later in the west. I also admired him for not joining the bandwagon of CTA ex-civil servants who banded together to defend the indefensible of article 39 saga! I don’t take sides. I am neither a fan of ex-Sikyong Lobsang Sangye or Sikyong Penpa Tsering. In fact, I believe, if Kasur Tashi Wangdu was elected as the first Sikyong in 2011, we could have avoided the present polarisation under a mature, experienced and humble leader. The present divisions occurred because of the inexperience of two young hot blooded protagonists. However, people were fatigued by the status quo and got carried away by populism. It seemed an exciting odyssey of sorts for a new generation, fresh from a prestigious university such as Harvard and he had both the looks and the perfect resume! That’s all history now! Suffice to say that Kasur Tashi Wangdu was a patriot dedicated for the cause of Tibetan freedom from Chinese occupation. He conducted his official duties with dedication and decorum and never dithered from the firm belief in the unity of the three cholkas and the inalienable right of the Tibetan people’s historical legacy of National independence!
Kasur Tashi Wangdi was a man of impeccable integrity. He lived simply not using CTA funds for transportation, etc. His commitment to HH Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people inside and outside of Tibet was exemplary. He served demonstrating the principles of the Buddha while his brilliance allowed him to repeatedly get things done for the Tibetan people as well as the people of the world. We miss him greatly.
My family and I were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Kasur Tashi Wangdi-la. His lifelong service to the Tibetan government in exile and his unwavering commitment to our shared Tibetan cause was truly remarkable. My respect and admiration for him grew even more when he demonstrated a thoughtful and understanding response to my sincere critique of our working relationship at the Delhi Bureau. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family during this difficult time.