By Tendar Tsering
BODH GAYA, January 9: Namgyal Dolkar, daughter of late Lha Gyari Namgyal Gyatso, an ex-political prisoner who draws lineage from the greatest religious king of Tibet, along with three other Tibet supporters launched a peace march to Nepal from Bodh Gaya earlier today.
“We have been fortunate to find refuge in India and receive education under the blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We have the responsibility to fulfill his dreams and live up to the expectations of our forefathers,” said Namgyal Dolkar, who made news last year when she won an Indian citizenship following a court ruling.
“To fight for our rights prudently, to have vision for the restoration of our independence, and to practice freedom of expression are the basic principles of our people in this 21st century,” added Dolkar.
Joe Hamilton, a Tibetan activist and song writer based in Germany, Kunchok Norbu, a Ladakhi, and Tashi Namgyal, a student of Ladakhi origin studying at the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) School are the three other marchers.
Talking to Phayul, Tashi Namgyal, 16 said that he is joining the march to Nepal in a “determined show of gratitude to TCV school and to the Tibetans”.
The group expects to reach Lumbini, Nepal in a month’s time after covering the holy Buddhist sites of Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar.
Dolkar told Phayul that her Indian citizen “could never change her Tibetan blood and responsibility to fight for freedom in Tibet”.
Instead, Dolkar noted, that the Indian citizenship has given her more opportunities to serve the Tibet cause, enabling her to use her “freedom of movement” to initiate the “walk of faith for peace and freedom in Tibet”.
“Being an Indian citizen could never erase the Tibetan within me or my duty towards Tibet and my ancestors.”
According to the Indian Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986, anyone born in India after January 26, 1950 and before July 1, 1987 can apply for Indian citizenship.
Dolkar’s father who draws lineage from Tibet’s greatest King Songtsen Gampo was an ex-political prisoner who imprisoned in Chinese jails for 20 years.
Report re-edited on 22.10 IST January 9, 2012.
