Prague, March 10 – A total of 236 local, municipal and regional councils in the Czech Republic have hoisted the Tibetan flag on 10 March, joining the Flag for Tibet campaign. This is the highest number of flagging towns and villages since 1996 when the campaign was joined by the Czech Republic for the first time. At that time, just four towns joined and the support has been steadily growing ever since, with 184 flags last year.
“Though, this is just the official places,” says Marcela Prochazkova of Lungta TSG, the national organiser of the campaign. “In addition, there will be a lot more flags on buildings such as schools, libraries, clubs and just ordinary houses throughout the country.”
The numerous first-timers include the city hall of the country’s capital, Prague. On the other hand, there is a great number of small villages such as Sudejov with about 60 inhabitants.
“Of course, we have had quite a few towns which have refused to join. But it is a great success anyway, because it is not automatic that towns and villages will fly the flag again. The municipal assemblies have to take a vote every year, unless they decided to join the campaign for the whole term of office,” adds Prochazkova.
Other places which have hanged out the Tibetan flag include a Catholic church in Jablonec nad Nisou, Faculty of Arts of the University in Ostrava, the National Technical Museum, the castle of Tocnik, and a chateau in Mnisek pod Brdy. The astronomical observatory in Vlasim has hoisted the flag at 5:55 p.m. – exactly at sunset.
Another major event in the Czech Republic was a candle-light vigil in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, which was held on 9 March at 13 places around the country. The vigil in Prague, organised by Lungta TSG and Olympic Watch, was supported and attended by former Czech political prisoners who served time in prisons during the old communist regime. The organisers are also using other channels, including diplomatic, in their effort to help and secure the release of the political prisoner.
Today, Amnesty International staged a peaceful demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Prague. The demonstrators signed a letter with a message to the ambassador. Though, the embassy indicated in advance that the letter would not be accepted.
In addition, there are numerous other events taking place at some 30 places around the country. They include exhibitions, talks, discussions, slide shows and even painting of a huge Tibetan flag on a central square in the town of Ostrava.
A few weeks ago, a letter-writing campaign in support of Mt. Kailash was finished in the country. 3826 signed postcards were handed over to Czech UNESCO officials, urging them to take measures necessary to put the sacred mountain on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, which should make the planned construction of a road around the mountain impossible. To achieve this, however, international action of TSGs will be necessary.
