CTA marks India’s 71st Independence Day

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, August 15: Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) today marked India’s 71st Independence Day by hoisting the tricolored Indian national flag at a brief ceremony held at the Kashag Secretariat in Dharamsala.

Members of Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet), Secretaries and senior officials of the CTA who attended the ceremony sung the Indian national anthem as the President of CTA, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay hoisted the tri-coloured Indian national flag outside the Kashag Secretariat.

20840417_1625754407468963_1330035416_n“On behalf of the CTA, I would like to wish the government and people of India a very hearty congratulation on India’s 71st Independence Day,” President Sangay said.

The President further expressed his heartfelt gratitude and thanked the government and people of India for hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Administration and Tibetan people since coming into exile in 1959.

“No country has done more than what India and the people of this great country has done for Tibetans. So we are eternally grateful,” President Sangay added.

And to the Tibetan people, the President of CTA, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay said, “India was under the British colonial rule for over 200 years, but the Indian people and its leaders fought for its independence with persistence and resolve to preserve its identity and culture under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent movement. We have to protect our identity and keep on fighting for our freedom. We shall overcome too,” Sikyong Sangay concluded.

After the ceremony, Sikyong attended a similar ceremony hosted by the local Indian administrative office at Police Ground in lower Dharamshala to mark the occasion.