By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, December 12: The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy today organized a panel discussion on ‘Underground Tibetan Writings in Tibet’ focusing on Tibetan writer Thubten Lobsang Lhundup better known by his pseudonym Di Lhaden.
Dawa Tsering, former Representative; Office of Tibet; Taiwan, Adruk Kunchok, Lecturer at Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education in Bangalore and Tenzin Nyinjey, Researcher at Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy spoke on various issues related to repression of Tibetan writers in Tibet.
Dawa Tsering gave a brief account on the political situation inside Tibet as expressed by Lhaden in his book. He said that while Lhaden appreciates and supports the modernization in China, he was against China’s hard-line policies on Tibetans adding. Lhaden, he said, supported the Middle Way Approach to resolve the issue of Tibet.
“Fighting for freedom is not only an individual right but a responsibility of every human being and so is the case with democracy,” said Dawa Tsering.
In 2011, Di Lhaden’s first book titled Tsesok Le Trun Pe Kecha (Words Uttered With Life On Risk) was released on the third anniversary of 2008 Mass Uprising in Tibet and the 16th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The book covers 2008 mass uprising with a timeline of protest events, causes, scope, clampdown and analysis by Chinese scholars, police brutality and government propaganda against the Dalai Lama. It also covers commentaries on Kyegudo earthquake, leaders in Tibet and religion etc.
Adruk Kunchok described the changes in Tibetan writers’ thoughts over the period and said that though Tibetans writers had written on various issues including even praises for the Chinese government the Tibetan writers wrote the truth about the purpose, cause and effect of the 2008 widespread mass uprising.
Kunchok also noted that Di Lhaden, instead of only blaming China for situation inside Tibet, he had proposed ideas to resolve it.
Speaking about situation of human rights, Tenzin Nyinjey said that Lhaden has based Human Right on an individual’s dignity and equality. He then added that right is related to freedom and freedom is innate, not granted by a lama, god or any government.
In his latest book, Tungol Trimlug (Resistance Through Cooperation With Law), Di writes about his motivation for writing the book, expresses his belief that Tibet’s non-violent struggle has the potential to achieve genuine peace and reconciliation between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government
Lhaden was born in 1980 at Dida Village, Pema County in Golog. At 11 years old, he was admitted to his local monastery and four years later joined Serthar Buddhist Institute. When he became 28 years old, he went to Lhasa to study at Drepung and Sera Monasteries; however, he had to return to his native place shortly.
Lhaden takes a keen interest in writing and has been doing active writing since he was 22 and won many accolades.
