By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent
Kathmandu, June 1 – Young Tibetan students from different Tibetan schools in Kathmandu participated in the RTYC campaign ‘The Voice of Tibetan Children for Tibet’ through art at Samtenling Monastery in Boudha today. More than 50 students made drawings, cartoons and paintings that expressed their feeling of solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet. Some of them were as young as eight years old. There were 10 participating schools with 10 studetns from each school. Some of the schools were Srongtsen School, Manjugoksha School, Namgyal Middle School, Namgyal High School and Atisha Primary School.
Many of the paintings that the children made included monasteries, monks, nuns, the Potala Palace, Tibetan flags, mountains, Chinese soldiers shooting at Tibetans and slogans like ‘Free Tibet’ and ‘Stop Killing in Tibet’ that have currently become an inalienable part of the Tibetan Freedom Movement. One of the boys who made an exquisite painting of a young monk meditating under a tree explains that, “The young monk is meditating and wishing for a free Tibet with the dove taking away the Chinese flag and drawing a Tibetan flag in its place”.
Another girl explains that her father has been telling her about the recent crackdown in Tibet and she is well aware of the situation inside her homeland, she made a detail drawing of all the Tibetan elements plus Chinese soldiers shooting at Tibetans. The recent unrest in Tibet and revival of the Tibetan freedom movement world over has proved to be a blessing in disguise for Tibetan children to know and understand their roots and culture more closely than ever.
One such example is Mrs. Gyaltsen Tsundu, a former political prisoner who now lives with her husband and four children in Boudda. She told Phayul, “My husband and I regularly take part in protests here, our children know about it, we tell them about the Tibetan crisis and they come to hear about it at their school as well. Hence they are well informed and I think all Tibetan parents should educate their children about our struggle so that we don’t lose our identity, my eldest son who is sixteen is becoming like us and I am happy for him, he recently participated in the protest inside UN House”.
This is the third beginning of Tibetan protest activity in Kathmandu since 10th March. The activities against Chinese authorities by Tibetans in Nepal were briefly stopped during the elections here in April and in May to respect the loss of lives due to the devastating earthquake in China. One of the volunteers told Phayul on anonymity that they would resume their protest campaign in Kathmandu from tomorrow.
