New York, April 26 – The Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of NY & NJ in concert with the regional members of SFT organized a protest vigil near Chinese Mission yesterday evening to mark the 17th Birth Anniversary of the missing Panchen Gendun Choekyi Nyima whose whereabouts is still unknown. The event started off with a brief address by Mr. Gyatso, the Vice-President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and Mr. Rinpo Tenzin a solo bike rider from Minnesota. It took about 3 days for Mr. Rinpo to reach NYC on bicycle from Washington DC. This ride according to him was an attempt to bring awareness about the issue of Tibet and the demand for release of the Panchen Lama and all other political prisoners in Tibet.
Both the speakers voiced for the release of the Panchen Lama and all other political prisoners in Tibet and further encouraged the participants to keep the issue of Tibet alive in the times to come. This was then followed by chanting of slogans against the Chinese Government for freedom of Tibet and release of the Panchen Lama and all other political prisoners in Tibet. Many passer bys had a glimpse of the protest event and some even took pictures of the gathering. There were about 150 supporters who made their best efforts in making their voice heard. The program ended with singing of the National Anthem and a day’s final call for “Tibet’s Victory” popularly termed as “Bhoe Gyalo.”
A separate memo on this occasion was also sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations as well as to the High Commissioner of UN.
