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Tibetan Students on a peace march to draw attention to Tibet
DHARAMSALA, 15 February 2001: Mr. Sonam Topgyal, the chairman of the Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration flagged off a peace march today aimed at drawing international and Indian attention to the appalling condition in Chinese-occupied Tibet.
Mr. Karma Lodro, the president of the Dharamsala branch of the Students for a Free Tibet, which initiated the peace march, said the Dharamsala chapter was founded in September 2000. "The main aim of the Dharamsala chapter is to fight for the rights of the Tibetan people and to motivate the young Tibetans for the cause of Tibet," Lodro said.
Lodro said that the peace march was undertaken to facilitate a meaningful dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government and to exert pressure for the release of the Panchen Lama.
There are 30 participants for the Dharamsala-Delhi peace march. Seven are young nuns who recently came from Tibet. Three are French, two women and a man, who had earlier participated in peace marches in France. The rest are young Tibetan men who decided to forgo the Losar festivities to do something for Tibet.
A simple gathering of consisting of a little more than 200 Tibetan and foreign crowd saw off the peace marchers this morning from the Tsuglhakhang, the main temple, opposite the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Representatives from the Tibetan Youth Congress, the Tibetan Women's Association and other Tibetan official organizations and NGOs offered scarves to the peace marchers.
Mr. Sonam Topgyal and Mr. Thubten Lungrig, the vice-chairman of the Tibetan parliament addressed the small crowd. They both emphasised the point that it was important for the Tibetan youth of today to carry on the struggle started by their parents.
The peace marchers are scheduled to reach Delhi on 10 March when they will participate in the demonstration to mark the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan national uprising which resulted in the flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to India, Nepal and Bhutan.
This is the fourth peace march to be initiated in India by the Tibetan refugees.
Tibetans settled in Australia handed over Australian dollars 2050 to the Indian embassy in Canberra towards Prime Minister's National Relief Funds in an effort to help in the relief operation of the recent earthquake that hit northwestern India.
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