Activist Sangyal Kyap’s cycle rally across Canada underway
DHARAMSALA, 18 Aug: Tibetan Activist Sangyal Kyap has embarked on yet another campaign for Tibet, a cycle rally across Canada from Tuesday.
While Sangyal Kyap kicked off his “Bicycle rally for Free Tibet across Canada” from Vancouver on Tuesday which will see him paddle for three months, Topden, a Tibetan youth will accompany him till Calgary.
Kyap has maintained that he was encouraged to start the cross-country Bike Rally for Free Tibet after receiving “so much support from our community and friends”.
The Tibetan activist has put forward five demands as he launched his latest activism for Tibet, calling on the “international community” and Canadians urging them to support the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet; the renewal of stalled Sino-Tibet dialogue in good faith; the release 11th Panchen Lama and other political prisoners of Tibet; support for human rights in Tibet and to stop China’s reckless development policies in Tibet which are devastating Tibet’s environment and puts the whole planet at risk.
The rally will see him paddle across the ten Canadian provinces and three territories to the north spread across Canada while Kyap has vowed to continue with his activism after his rally.
The Toronto-based Tibetan activist took up activism for the Tibetan cause beginning with his 2018 solo protest before the Chinese embassy in Canada. Since then, he has undertaken around 221 campaigns over the last four years.
Kyap staged his first peace march for Tibet in June 2020 in June followed by his second in June 2021. On both occasions, he marched for over 20 days. His third peace march saw him march from 11 June to 6 July in 2022.
