Sangay asks Tibetans to develop self-reliance

DHARAMSHALA: Keeping with his practice of avoiding political functions, the Dalai Lama evaded the 55th anniversary of Tibetan uprising day, organized at the main Buddhist temple adjacent to his exile home in McLeodganj here.
Tibetans in exile held a mass protest on roads against the alleged brutal rule of China in Tibet on Monday. The ceremony started from the main temple and concluded at the busiest square of Dharamshala.
Officials of Tibetan administration said that the Central Tibetan Administration will observe 2014 as the year of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, to pay tributes to his visionary leadership and contribution to Tibet and the world. "I am also happy to remind Tibetans and our friends across the globe that 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Dalai Lama receiving the Nobel peace prize. On April 25, we will also commemorate the 25th birthday of the 11th Panchen Gedun Choekyi Nyima," said Tibetan prime minister in exile, Lobsang Sangay.
"Tibetans must bear in mind that 2020 will mark 70 years since the invasion of Tibet by the People's Republic of China. By then, the generation of Tibetans with memories of a free Tibet will have greatly dwindled," Sangay said in his speech on the occasion.
He said that exile is a precarious phase of uncertainty and contingency, and occupation can be a dangerous transition to permanent subjugation.
Sangay said that Dalai Lama will turn 85 by 2020 and by that year, he will have led the Tibetan people for 70 uninterrupted years. "The next generation of Tibetan leadership inside and outside Tibet has to cope with a crucial and challenging reality. Tibetans inside Tibet will have no personal memories of traditional Tibet, while Tibetans outside Tibet will know only a life lived in exile," he added.
Tibetans in exile constitute only 2.5% of six million Tibetans, but it is likely that there will be equal number of Tibetans in west and in India, Nepal and Bhutan.
He said there is a need to build self-reliance in the Tibetan world, in thought and action. "Our more than 50-year-old movement cannot depend solely on others to help us achieve our goals. It is time to assume individual responsibility and collective leadership and stand on our own feet. We need to build our individual and collective strengths. We need to reflect deeply," he asked.
"It is our hope that the new Chinese leadership led by President Xi Jinping will pay heed and adopt this pragmatic and moderate stand" he added.