By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, March 30: Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) hosted a two-day conference on ‘China’s Repressive Policies and the Crisis of Burning Tibet’ in Dharamsala.
“The Institute has invited Tibetan scholars and writers to brainstorm on how the crisis in Tibet can be resolved so that Tibetans in Tibet no longer need to resort to the desperate act of self-immolation to press their case of the tragedy unfolding in their land,” said Thubten Samphel, Director of TPI.
Over a dozen of Tibetan scholars, writers and journalists in and outside India have gathered to discuss “in depth the major causes and ramifications of the current crisis of self-immolation protests in Tibet” according to TPI.
Ngodup Dongchung, Kalon (minister) for Department of Security, and Kirti Rinpoche, the spiritual head of Kirti Monastery also attended and conference and spoke on the issue.
In his inaugural speech Dongchung said that Tibetans should bring together ideas and lead the exile Tibetans who have been carrying out various campaigns and appeals international community. More importantly he said that Tibetans ‘should think of what more can we do by looking into the messages left by the self-immolators and should find a better way to tackle the worsening situation.’
While Kirti Rinpoche described that the real crisis is the danger of losing Tibetan identity in Tibet.
“In Tibet, the elder generations are disappearing, Tibetans are not allowed to learn their language and the Tibetan identity is losing,” Rinpoche addes.
Tibet Policy Institute was originally initiated as a think tank of the exile administration. Currently, it serves as an intellectual hub for Tibetan scholars across the globe and to articulate their views on the issue of Tibet in the hope that these views will shape the perception of the international community and the policies of the concerned governments to Tibet.
