Source; phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 11: At the conclusion of the three-day Fourth All India Tibet Support Groups Conference, organisers today said that Indian supporters will hold a massive rally for Tibet in the Indian capital New Delhi this coming February in commemoration of 2013 as the “Year of Tibetan Independence.”

“A massive rally will be organised in February in the Indian capital in which Indian Tibet support groups and supporters will actively participate,” Vijay Kranti, a long time Tibet supporter and one of the core conveners of the conference said. “We expect over one hundred-thousand supporters to take part in the rally.”

After his return from forced exile in India, His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama on February 13, 1913 declared Tibet’s independence by making the ‘Tibetan Proclamation of Independence,’ a five-point public statement reasserting Tibetan independence.

“Rallies will be organised in all the Indian states across the nation simultaneously,” Kranti added while speaking exclusively to Phayul at the sidelines of the conference.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 11: Multiple award-winning Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden has won the “Best Narrative Feature” for his movie “Old Dog” (Khyi rgan) at the Brooklyn Film Festival which concluded yesterday.

Competing with more than 100 premieres from nearly 30 countries, “Old Dog” was voted amongst the best at the June 1 – 10, 2012 Festival, winning a total of US $57,000 in prizes and film services.

Award-winning films at the Brooklyn Film Festival, recognised as one of the “most trusted and respected arbiters of excellence in the art of filmmaking” have gone on to be nominated and awarded at both the British Academy Awards and at the American Academy Awards.

"Old Dog," a poetic story about Tibet's changing society, where old values are in direct conflict with new, has a Tibetan cast consisting of Yanbum Gyal, Drolma Kyab, Lochey, and Tamdrin Tso.

DHARAMSHALA, June 9: Speaking to a group of over 150 Indian supporters from all over India, including members of the Indian parliament and former civil servants, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay said success for Tibet would mean India’s success as well.

Dr Sangay was addressing the Fourth All India Tibet Support Groups Conference in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama earlier today in Dharamshala.

Referring to the chain of self-immolations in Tibet, Dr Sangay said Tibet needs India more than ever.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 8: Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai yesterday paid a “courtesy visit” to Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the latter’s exile residence in Dharamshala. 

Chimme Rinzin Choekyapa, secretary of the Dalai Lama told Phayul that Secretary Mathai’s visit was a “routine courtesy call.”

Ranjan Mathai, who assumed the Foreign Secretary post in August last year, held closed-door talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader for over an hour Thursday afternoon.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 8: In an open call for solidarity with Tibet, an international group of parliamentarians today called upon lawmakers all over the world to observe June 20 as “Parliamentary Solidarity Day for Tibet.”

The International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet, a global network of democratically elected representatives of the people, is initiating the campaign.

“In view of the human rights crisis faced by the Tibetan people, the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet calls on parliamentarians worldwide to observe a “Parliamentary Solidarity Day for Tibet” on 20 June, 2012,” the group said in a release.

DHARAMSHALA, May 30: A mother of three young children has torched herself to death in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet, today. Rikyo, 33, set herself on fire near the Jonang Zamthang Gonchen monastery in Zamthang (Ch: Rangtang) county, in the distraught Ngaba region, the nerve centre of the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

Speaking to Phayul, Tsangyang Gyatso, an exile Tibetan who has close contacts in the region said that Rikyo passed away at the site of her self-immolation protest. “Rikyo set herself on fire at around 3 pm (local time) today close to the Jonang Monastery, protesting against Chinese rule,” Gyatso said. “She passed away at the site of her protest.” Rikyo’s body is currently being kept at the Jonang Monastery, although Chinese security personnel have reportedly demanded the body to be removed.