Around 100 Tibetans and supporters participated in a sit-in and candle light vigil in Downtown Berkeley on November 27 to highlight the Beijing-sentenced death execution Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is facing today.
Over a dozen young children, their shirts stencilled with Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s images, stood with their hands in chains, their mouths gagged, in symbolism of the on-going oppression of the Tibetan people. Other participants recited prayers, distributed leaflets and courted passers-by to sign petitions for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s release campaign.
“China’s brutal regime inside Tibet continues to blatantly undermine Tibetan people’s right to political and religious freedoms. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is just one known face amongst several hundred Tibetans inside Tibet who face execution – or long prison terms coupled with routine torture – for articulating the Tibetan aspiration for freedom and justice,” said Topden Tsering, President of San Francisco Tibetan Youth Congress.
“It is important that we, Tibetans and Tibet supporters, continue to intensify our pressure on the Chinese government to relax its draconion control inside Tibet,” said Tsewang Mingyur Khangsar, a senior member of the Tibetan community and a long-time activist. “As long as we have not lost hope, victory is ours. And free Tibet is an idea that will happen sooner than we all think.”
“We call upon China to release Tenzin Delek Rinpoche now. We call upon the free loving people everywhere to not let China get away with this blatant disregard to international legal norms,” said Tseten Tashi, General Secretary of Tibetan Association of Northern California.
Other speakers included Dawa Dorjee of Bay Area Friends of Tibet, who called on Tibetan youngsters to apply themselves more seriously to political activism, and Dechen la, representing Committee of 100 for Tibet.
Second action day in the larger Tenzin Delek Rinpoche campaign, this sit-in and candle light vigil will be followed by a protest outside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco this Friday, starting at 11.00 a.m. There is one more day-long sit-in vigil, followed by a candle light vigil, scheduled outside Downtown Berkeley the Saturday after that.
“My heart goes out to the Tibetan students in India who were roughed up badly by the Indian police,” said Tsering Yangchen, one of the participants. “I want to send them a message that your act in patriotism will not be forgotten and I want to request Tibetans in the U.S. to be more politically active.”
This action campaign is being organized by San Francisco Tibetan Youth Congress, in coordination with Tibetan Association of Northern California.
Co-sponsors are Bay Area Friends of Tibet, Tibet Justice Center and Tibetan Nuns Project.
