In one of the largest Tibetan gathering in Bengal, over 400 Tibetans participated in the Tibetan National Uprising Day commemoration held at Siliguri. The commemoration was organized by North-east Tibetan Youth Congress, which includes the regional TYC chapters of Salugara, Gangtok, Kalimpong, Ravangla, Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Oodlabari. The participants were members of TYC from the above mentioned regional chapters along with the members of Tibetan Women’s Association, Kalimpong and general public of Salugara, including the monks from Sed-Gyud Buddhist Insitute, Salugara.
In the opening ceremony, Mr. Chunang Tsultrim Dorjee, General Secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress, gave a fiery speech, igniting the spirit of the participants. Mr. Tsultrim supervised and led the commemoration. He called on the participants to re-dedicate ourselves for our freedom struggle, which is the best way to pay tribute to the sacrifice made by our brave martyrs. “Almost all Tibetans pray and revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama – which is done through daily prayers and wearing or putting his image on the altar. However, the true reverence to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a Tibetan will be assuming more and additional responsibility for our cause in response to the urgent realities in Tibet, which His Holiness stresses every now and then”, he said.
Mr.Dawa Gyalpo, President of the North-East Zone, TYC, in his address to the participants, also stressed the need to put in collective and united effort for our freedom struggle, which only guarantees our success.
The march started from Kalachakra Temple, Salugara to Court More, which is the hub of Siliguri, covering nearly 15 kilometres on foot. The commemoration was one of the “passionate and vibrant protest marches in the streets of Siliguri” to be witnessed by the local Dadas (Bengalis), as mentioned in a local newspaper. A large contingent of media, print and television, covered the event with enthusiasm. The participants shouted pro-independence and anti Chinese slogans. Pamphlets in English, Bengali and Nepali were distributed.
Reaching the center of the city, Court More, a large Chinese flag was set on fire, amidst loud slogans, which attracted a large Indian crowd. Following that, Mr. Tsultrim read out the TYC Statement on the 48th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day appealing for Indian support on Tibet’s issue. The commemoration concluded by offering prayers for world peace and long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The day also marks the culmination of the six days’ ‘Peace March for Tibet’, from Ravangla to Silguri, organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Ravangla, which started on 5th March 2007 from Ravangla (Sikkim). Mr. Tsultrim lauded and honored the spirit of the fifty participants from Kunphenling Tibetan Settlement (Ravangla), among which some were over 75 years old.
