People’s Movement for Middle Way concludes Bylakuppe-Dharamsala bike rally

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, Oct 12: Bylakuppe chapter of People’s Movement for Middle Way successfully concluded its 10-day bike rally from Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement to Dharamsala today.

A modest event at the Tibetan National Martyrs’ memorial located at the entrance of Tsug-lak-Khang, the main temple in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala marked the conclusion of the bike rally which began on Oct 2 from Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement in the south Indian state of Karnataka with stops at Bengaluru and Delhi.

Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament along with parliamentarian Dolma Tsering and Lobsang Choejor attended the event.

Dawa Tsering, Tibetan MP and Deputy Director of the organization, in his welcome speech said, “the organization has relentlessly worked towards promoting awareness about the Middle Way (Umay Lam) policy. Prior to 2008, Umay Lam was ridiculed and some even mocked the movement. Yet here we are. We organized the bike rally, we petitioned to Indian and Western governments. We proved them wrong.”

“I applaud your resolve to promote awareness about Tibet and for successfully concluding the bike rally,” Tibetan Speaker said and added, “Until now, many Tibetans have sacrificed their life for the cause of Tibet; we can’t afford lapses in our times.”

Rigzen Dorjee, Director of Bylakuppe chapter of People’s Movement for Middle Way, in his address described the rally as an expression of their unshakeable faith in Umay Lam. “We want to promote awareness about Umay Lam to the people,” he added.

“Our rally started with four bikes from Bylakuppe. With the addition of three more bikes from Delhi, we have seven bakes here as we conclud the rally. We raised a total of 7 lakh rupees as donation through this rally; we will organize more programs in the future,” he concluded.