DHARAMSHALA, February 22: Thousands of Tibetans in the restive Ngaba and Golok regions of Tibet have celebrated the 80th birthday of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama during the Tibetan New Year that started on Thursday.
A video smuggled out of Tibet shows people throwing up paper prayer flags in the air in front of a life-sized cutout of the Tibetan leader on a throne in Thubten Chokle Namgyal Ling in Ngaba, a hotbed for Tibetans protests against the Chinese regime.
Around three thousand people participated in the celebrations marked by public display of reverence and loyalty to the Tibetan leader whose image stands banned by the communist regime, which calls the Dalai Lama “a monk in wolf’s robes”.
People can be seen throwing small prayer flags into the sky, making offerings, and reciting prayers for the Dalai Lama’s long life.
Monasteries which took part in public celebrations on the first day of the Lunar New Year included Se, Nyentse, and Sumdo monasteries in Ngaba, and Jonang Kyada in Golog.
The bold display of loyalty and reverence to the Tibetan leader, viewed by China as a “splittist”, comes amidst China’s stepping up of security in the regions where large number of security forces in riot gears were deployed ahead of the Tibetan New Year.
There is no information yet on reactions of the Chinese authorities to the celebrations.
Tibetans have been jailed for mere possession of the 1989 Nobel laureate’s picture in their cellphones in the past.
A Tibetan source told RFA that monasteries and laypeople in this region of Tibet have the unique tradition of paying special respect to their spiritual teachers when those teachers reach 80 years of age.
136 Tibetans have immolated themselves since 2009 in protest against China’s repressive policies in Tibet.
