By Phurbu Thinley
Phayul Correspondent
Dharamsala, September 22 – A group of more than 17 Tibetan NGOs and welfare groups jointly organised a special celebration event in the morning today, which was participated by overwhelming public gathering to commemorate the conferment of two prestigious honorary presentations to the Tibetan leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet during the ongoing visits to Canada and US.
Earlier on 7th September 2006, Canada honoured His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Honorary Citizenship of Canada and again on 13th of this month, the House of Representative of USA passed a Bill to award His Holiness the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honour.
These are reasons enough for the Tibetans and their friends here to celebrate a day in great joy and jubilation at a time when China is engaged in a new defamation campaign against the Tibetan leader.
The event was purely a celebration of joy and pride for the Tibetans here for the great honour and acknowledgement that has been shown to their most inspiring leader for his tireless effort to create a more peaceful and understanding world. For Tibetans here, the honour bestowed upon their leader means acknowledgement of the genuine peaceful middle-way approach proposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to resolve the issue of Tibet through non-violent engagement and in a spirit of dialogue for the mutual benefit of both the people of Tibet and China.
The President of the Indo Tibetan Friendship Society, Mr. A. S. Mangotia and Bharat Tibet Sahyog Manch President, Mr. Sunil Manocha were present during the function to join hands with Tibetan friends in celebrating the event.
The special celebration event started at 7:30 in the morning with the offering of long-life prayer for His Holiness followed by speeches from the dignitaries and, presentation of songs and dances by various groups. The event finally concluded with the traditional Tibetan good-will expression of throwing flour into the air and shouting “kyi-kyi so-so Lha Gyalo”, meaning-“Happiness, Happiness and Victory to God”.
