Exile

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 2 July: Veteran Tibetan activist Lobsang Palden, widely known as Lobga Rangzen and president of the New York & New Jersey chapter of the Tibetan National Congress (TNC), died after self-immolating outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on 2 July. He had left behind a final video message that was both a political testament and a plea for Tibetan unity and independence.

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 1 July: Tibetans across the world staged coordinated protests on Wednesday as China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress came into force, with a coalition of four Tibetan non-governmental organisations leading demonstrations in Dharamsala against what they described as legislation designed to systematically erase Tibetan identity.

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 30 June: With China’s “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress” set to take effect on 1 July, Sikyong (President) Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on Monday rejected the legislation as a significant legal escalation of Beijing’s longstanding assimilation policies in Tibet, arguing that it formally codifies genocidal practices the Tibetans have opposed for decades.

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 26 June: The Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Dolma Tsering Teykhang, speaking in her personal capacity, said China’s newly adopted law “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress” does not warrant revising the Middle Way Approach, arguing that the policy has already defined the minimum political objective Tibetans are prepared to accept.

By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 15 June: As friends, admirers, and fellow Tibetans gathered to bid him a final farewell, veteran Tibetan independence activist, writer, and poet Lhasang Tsering was cremated on Monday at the crematorium located half kilometre to Mcleod Ganj. He passed away on June 11 at the age of 74, leaving behind a life story etched into the history of the Tibetan freedom movement through sacrifice, conviction, intellectual honesty, and an unwavering commitment to his cause.

The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC) has declined to register a writ petition filed by two Nepal-based monasteries seeking protection of their fundamental right to vote, ruling that the matter substantially overlaps with an already pending civil suit and may instead proceed through a merger with Case No. 22.

Two monastic communities from the Choejor Tibetan Refugee Settlement in Nepal have challenged the Tibetan Election Commission’s decision to suspend final-round voting in the constituency, arguing before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC) that the move violated their fundamental right to vote and amounted to a breach of protections guaranteed under the Charter of Tibetans in Exile, international law, and the Indian Constitution.

Newly sworn-in Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile member Tashi Dhundup has urged the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to establish a concrete policy toward Nepal, arguing that the challenges facing Tibetans in the country have persisted for decades and remain pressing today.

The six newly appointed Kalons (Ministers) of the 17th Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile, took their oath of office today before Chief Justice Commissioner Yeshi Wangmo during a ceremony held at the CTA’s Sikyong Hall.

The first session of the newly constituted 18th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile began today with the election of six ministers to the 17th Kashag (Cabinet) of the Tibetan government in exile and deliberations on a Solidarity Resolution on Tibet, which is expected to be adopted on the final day of the session tomorrow.