DHARAMSHALA, March 6: Taking voluntary initiative in the face of growing sacrifices in Tibet calling for freedom and the Dalai Lama’s return, a Tibetan exile family has decided to heed to their calls and make the journey back to Tibet.
Tsetan Dorjee, along with his mother and sister will begin their march back to Tibet this Saturday, March 10 – the 53rd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.
The three, who have been living in Dharamshala, the exile seat of the Dalai Lama, since their escape from Tibet, told Phayul that the March was their expression of solidarity and unity with the Tibetans inside Tibet.
“Some Tibetans shout outside the UN office to wake them up, but before waking up the UN, Tibetans have to wake themselves up,” Tsetan Dorjee, 35, said.
“As Tibetans in Tibet keep burning themselves for a free Tibet, it is our responsibility to be united and stand together for Tibet,” Dorjee added. “It is time to be a Tibetan for Tibet, not just for one’s own family.”
Dorjee, who has been living in Israel for last few years along with his wife and two children, said that he came back to India only for the journey back home.
“If we don’t take individual responsibility at this critical period, how can we call ourselves Tibetans,” Dorjee asserted.
Dorjee’s 54-year old mother Dhum Po Kyi and sister Lhamo Kyi, 18, a student at the Tibetan Children Village School, Suja, all want to return as a family.
For Dhum Po Kyi, joining her son in the march back home to Tibet is a “blessing and honour” as she believes that she is trying to pave a way for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
“Even if I die on the way, I will not regret because I am joining a peace march for freedom in Tibet and for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” Dhum Po Kyi said.
“It is my lifelong wish and the wish of millions of Tibetans in Tibet to see the Dalai Lama back on Tibetan soil,” she added.
Dorjee, who escaped into exile in 1998 and has penned books in Tibetan, hoped that his family’s sacrifice will send a strong message of unity to all Tibetans.
“If I die under the Chinese gun at the border, my message to all Tibetans is to be united in our struggle,” Dorjee emphasised. “We will make sure that our March reaches Tibet. We will persist and continue.”
26 Tibetans inside Tibet have torched their bodies calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile. Mass protests by hundreds of Tibetans in recent weeks have been brutally suppressed as internet and mobile connections in many parts of Tibet remain suspended.
Source: Phayul.com
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