Veteran Activist Jamyang Tenzin Concludes Seventh and Final Tibet Awareness Cycle Rally

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 20 Nov: Veteran Tibetan activist Jamyang Tenzin arrived in Dharamsala today, completing his seventh and final Tibet Awareness Solo Cycle Rally. Jamyang’s solo cycle rally, held under the slogan “No matter how happy life in a foreign land may be, one must never forget their homeland. Tibetans must stand united in solidarity,” was scheduled to conclude on 10 December, marking the anniversary of the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. However, due to security concerns following the recent blast in Delhi, Jamyang told Tibet Express that he was unable to campaign in many of the locations he had originally planned to visit.

The 65-year-old Tibetan activist’s rally originally began on 6 July from the Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement in Karnataka and resumed on 18 October following his recovery from a typhoid infection, which he contracted during a rally stop in Wani, Maharashtra, in August.

“Initially, I had planned to conclude my cycle rally for Tibet on 10 December. However, due to the recent blast in Delhi and the chaos that followed when I arrived, I couldn’t visit many of the places I had hoped to. I was disappointed, but I felt it would be too risky to cycle around Delhi and the nearby areas. Therefore, I decided to head toward Dharamsala instead,” the veteran activist said. 

“However, I am truly satisfied and happy that I have concluded my campaign here in Dharamsala without any health complications or other obstacles, allowing me to fulfill my promise to work for Tibetan advocacy until the age of 65,” he said—a promise he had made to his late father.

Jamyang explained that the initial intention behind starting the campaign was to ensure that people, especially Tibetan youth, never forget Tibet and its culture and language. “I hoped that by seeing an old person like me cycling around the subcontinent, our youth would feel inspired to advocate for Tibet in every small way possible within their capacity or at least understand the importance and necessity of advocacy for Tibet,” he said.

His final cycle rally was dedicated to marking the 90th birth anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The rally began at the Bylakuppe Tibetan refugee settlement in the south Indian state of Karnataka, home to the three great seats of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism—Sera, Ganden, and Drepung—serving as a blessed starting point for his journey.

From there, Jamyang cycled through numerous villages and major cities, engaging with people about Tibet, its colonial occupation by China, the current situation of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule, and India-Tibet relations, before concluding in Dharamshala in northern India, the exile seat of the Dalai Lama and the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Reflecting on his grassroots advocacy experience, he said, “I think approximately 60% of Indian people don’t know about Tibet. Many would ask, ‘What is Tibet?’ And many mistook our Tibetan national flag for the flags of countries like Bhutan, Thailand, Taiwan, Nepal, and several others.”

Though this was Jamyang’s last cycle rally, he says he will continue to advocate for Tibet and the Tibetan freedom movement, if his health permits. “We must understand how crucial it is to actively advocate for Tibet,” he said, noting that earlier generations were far more engaged in the struggle. “Once upon a time, our campaigns were very robust because everyone contributed. But today, many Tibetans have grown comfortable in foreign lands, paying attention only to the 10 March Uprising Day—and even then, it is mostly the older generation participating, with very few youth involved.”

He emphasized that Tibetans must foster solidarity, rising above regional divisions within the exile community until Tibet’s independence is achieved. “I see Tibetans dragging each other down and criticizing one another, but I feel these are exactly the things our enemy, China, wants. We must stop this. As tsampa-eaters from the land of Tibet, we must stand together. And honestly, this is my advice to fellow Tibetans.”

Over the years, Jamyang’s advocacy through his solo cycle rallies has spanned the length and breadth of India, covering routes such as Dharamsala to Bodhgaya (3,000 km), Bylakuppe in Karnataka to Dekyiling in Dehradun (3,000 km), Dekyiling to Delhi (250 km), Ladakh’s Khardung La to Dharamsala (800 km), Tawang to Delhi, and Dehradun to Delhi via Dharamsala.