By Abigail Scott
Madison, WI April 17 – When His Holiness The Dalai Lama visits Madison, Wisconsin on May 2 – 4, 2007, he will see the Tibetan national flag flying over two important public buildings in downtown Madison—the Monona Terrace Convention Center and the Madison Municipal Building. On Tuesday, April 17 the Madison Common Council voted unanimously to “welcome and honor” the Dalai Lama by flying the Tibetan flag over its buildings. The resolution was co-sponsored by the Mayor of Madison and Alderperson Tim Breur requested that all members of the Common Council be added as cosponsors.
Nearly 100 Tibetan-Americans and their supporters were present at the Common Council meeting. Before the vote, six Madisonians spoke in support of the measure: Lobsang Tenzin (President of the Wisconsin Tibetan Association), Hilary Edwards (Midwest Regional Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet), Pema, Chung Tsering, Skip Kindy (Former Madison Tibetan Resettlement Director) and Sherab Lhatsang.
During his speech, Lobsang Tenzin expressed his gratitude to the elected officials, “We [the Tibetan community] are deeply touched by the proposal…This simple and extremely powerful gesture of goodwill and respect means a lot to all Tibetans and we are very happy and proud to be residents of a city that honors our national and spiritual leader.”
The atmosphere at the meeting was festive. The audience was allowed to clap after speeches. After the resolution passed, the Mayor of Madison, Dave Cieslewicz, walked around to congratulate members of the Tibetan community in attendance. WTA president Lobsang Tenzin on behalf of Wisconsin Tibetan Association honored Mayor Cieslewicz before the crowd and Common Council by presenting him a khata, a Tibetan gesture of respect and appreciation.
Hilary Edwards commented afterwards, “This is one victory in an ongoing campaign to highlight human rights abuses in China. During the Beijing 2008 Olympics, all eyes will be on China. We want to be sure that the world gets a clear picture of the persecution Tibetans suffer at the hands of the Chinese government.”
