DHARAMSHALA, September 16: A Tibetan monk who assisted the jailed Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was among those individuals and groups honored with Lhakar Awards in New York city on Saturday.
Students for a Free Tibet on Friday held a ceremony to honor Golog Jigme Gyatso (in absentia), who was jailed for helping Dhondup Wangchen in filming “Leaving Fear Behind”, and other winners of this year’s Lhakar Award which was instituted in 2010 by the New York based student group to recognize contributions to the Tibetan struggle. Golog Jigme Gyatso won the Lhakar award for Resistance for his “unparalleled impact on the preservation of Tibetan culture and promotion of Tibetan political space.”
“Lhakar is a homegrown people’s movement that emerged in Tibet in 2008, and has now become a global force,” said Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the Lhakar Awards Committee. “We’re seeing incredible acts of strategic resistance in Tibet every single day. With Lhakar’s focus on small acts of daily resistance, Tibetans are turning their very existence into resistance.”
Late Dr Hector David Castro was given the Lhakar award for Solidarity. Dr Castro, then El Salvador’s chief delegate to the UN, requested the invasion of Tibet by China to be included in the agenda of the General Assembly in 1950, months after China began occupying the country. He passed away in 1973. His great grandson, Mr. Alejandro Castro received the award on his behalf.
Lhakar award for Dedication was awarded to Pasang Sherpa for his “unflagging dedication to the Tibetan cause.” The citation says that Pasang Sherpa’s “prominent presence and positive energy, as an activist and a supporter, at every Tibetan rally, vigil, march, and event over the last few years has made him a legendary character for Tibetans in New York and beyond.”
Phayul.com and High Peaks Pure Earth respectively were honored with Lhakar award for Journalism for its “outstanding contribution to advancing political and social awareness in the Tibetan exile world” and “deepening the bond between Tibetans inside and outside Tibet.”
Yudrug Band from Tibet was honored with Lhakar award for Innovation for “taking Tibetan music into new frontiers, integrating elements of resistance, literature and rebellion into their story.”
“Lhakar is a uniting element among all Tibetans, turning our culture into an enduring force for freedom,” said Tenzin Dolkar, interim executive director of Students for a Free Tibet. “The spread of Lhakar across Tibet in the last four years has brought resilience and sustainability to the Tibetan movement.”
