By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, May 23: Around a hundred Tibetan activists, students and community leaders from India, Nepal, United States of America and Europe have converged in the Indian capital new Delhi for the International Rangzen (Independence) Conference that kicked off today.
A two-day conference starting Satturday marks the 64th year of Chinese occupation of Tibet and imposition of the infamous “Seventeen Point Agreement” in 1951. The organizers said that the conference for Rangzen on this date by a new generation of Tibetans is an act of protest and answer to China.
The conference will review the 60 years of the Tibetan freedom movement and discuss issues ranging from the ongoing crisis in Tibet to finding creative and practical steps in the freedom movement. The conference, say the organizers, will also pay gratitude to the government and the people of India for their continuous support to Tibet.
The larger part of the conference will be for invited participants only. However, it will also have two panel discussions for public in collaboration with India International Centre on ‘Tibet and India’s Security’ and ‘Tibet at the Threshold of Globalization’. The panelists for the discussions are Mohan Guruswamy, Strategic Analyst; Vikram Sood, Former Head of RAW; TCA Gopalchari, Former Ambassador; Claude Arpi, Tibetologist; Bharat Karnad, Security and Strategic Analyst; Professor Ashis Nandy, Social Scientist; and Rajiv Vora, Gandhian.
“Our lives as refugees are inseparably linked with our national struggle for freedom, only if our struggle is successful would we be able to return to our homeland, I don’t want to die a refugee” said Dorjee Tashi, a participant from Delhi. “It is our common dream to take our leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama back to a free Tibet”.
Another participant, a student from Gujarat, says there may not be an immediate solution for Tibet, but that it is the responsibility of the current generation to sustain the hope of a free Tibet. “I have come from Gujarat at my own expenses to participate in the conference,” said Dechen Wangmo, a Phd scholar from Central University, Gandhinagar.
The conference, while – respectfully recognizing the great contribution of the Tibetan government in exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in sustaining the struggle through the most difficult period of our history – will hope to inspire more Tibetans to reaffirming Independence as the ultimate goal of our struggle for the long term interest of the Tibetan nation, the organizers hoped.
