The Norwegian Tibet Committee held a peaceful demonstration on Monday 29th November 2004 in front of the Chinese Embassy in protest against the death sentence given to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche by the Chinese Authorities. Many Norwegian Tibet supporters and Tibetans turned up even though the notice was very short and the temperature was around minus 13.
The Norwegian Parliamentarian Mr. Olav Gunnar Ballo rang me gave his full support for the demonstration and expressed his wish to join the demonstration but he was held up by meeting at the Parliament. He also informed her that he had talked with the deputy minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised the urgency of Tenzin Delek Rinpoches death sentence. He was reassured that the Norwegian Authorities were doing all they could together with the EU on this matter. Mr. Ballo raised several questions regarding Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to the Minster of Aid Ms. Hilde F. Johnson at the Questionnaire on Wednesday last week. http://www.stortinget.no/spti/dw-o2004112406-001.html
The activists initiated the demonstration with lighting of torches (flambeau), and stood with posters and Tibetan flag. In the beginning it looked like there was no one at the embassy, but then of- course they were doing the thing they are so good at- they were watching us from behind the curtains and filming us. We sang the Tibetan National Anthem and said some mantras and then shouted some slogans. Many cars passed by us while we were demonstrating, majority stopped and took with them the flyers and many just honked and showed us their thumb of solidarity. An Old Norwegian lady stopped and said “Poor you guys don’t give up, continue the fight”. As Martin Luther King said “The greatest tragedy is not evil people’s brutality, but good people’s silence”.
Mr. Jampal Kunsang putting the flyer into the Chinese Embassy’s post box and hoping that they will read it and that something good will come out of the Chinese soon, and finally the Tibetans ended the demonstration with a mantra of Guru Rinpoche.
By Ms. Namgyal Tsomo Gyachungtsang
(President of the Norwegian Tibet Committee)
