By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, May 4: Tibetan exiles around the world Tuesday observed a minute of silence and held prayer services to observe a day of mourning for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Kyegudo three weeks ago.
Under the direction of the religious department of the Central Tibetan administration, Tibetan exiles in Bhutan, India and Nepal – led by senior lamas and regional administrative heads – held a minute-long silence at 7:49am local time in their respective settlements. Tibetans elsewhere around the world have also been urged to observe the same in their respective localities.
In Dharamsala, the seat of Tibetan Government-in-Exile, hundreds of mourners, including Buddhist monks and nuns, and sympathisers, led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama stood in silence with their heads bowed for a minute at 7:49am local time here at the Tsuglagkhang (Main Tibetan Temple).
Senior leaders and officials of the Tibetan government, including the Prime Minister Prof Samdhong , also took part in the mourning ceremony.
The Tibetan Prime minister said the gathering was in “solidarity with the people” of Kyegudo.
Weekly prayer service for seven consecutive weeks after the death of a person has religious significance in the Tibetan Buddhist custom.
Tuesday’s prayer service is the third one held here every week since the earthquake, which, according to official figures, killed more than 2100 people. Unconfirmed sources from the quake-hit area, however, contend that many times the official figures had died.
Tibetan Prime minister here this morning said the death toll from the April 14 earthquake was actually much more than the official figures placed by the Chinese government. Besides, thousands more are left homeless and seriously injured and are struggling to revive from the trauma of the earthquake, Rinpoche said.
Chinese state media have said that rehousing of homeless survivors of the earthquake at the pace pace with which relief works are done at the moment would take up to three years.
Chinese authorities have also reportedly said of their plan to build Kyegudo into an “eco-friendly tourist city”, but would not reveal whether the new town would be restored on the ruins or be built somewhere else.
Observers on the other hand have pointed out that the Chinese government has used the disaster in Kyegudo, where vast majority are Tibetans, to demonstrate its ability to use its power and resources to surmount disasters, and to rally citizens around a patriotic message of national unity.
