Yesterday, September 2, marked the 54th Tibetan Democracy Day, celebrated by Tibetans in exile worldwide. Tibetan political leaders in Dharamsala issued statements affirming their resolve to bring freedom and dignity to Tibetans in Tibet and their support for the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach in dealing with China. Mr. Penpa Tsering, speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, delivered a speech in which he said the following of China:
“The government of China does not look upon Tibetans as a people endowed with dignity rightfully due to a human being. All its actions, wherever profitable, are geared towards benefiting and ensuring the well being of the communist Chinese government. In doing so, it ignores and tramples on every provision of the international bill of human rights. …[W]e take this opportunity to call on the government of China to reform in a positive direction its extremely leftist way of thinking on the issue and, like the societies of the progressive and morally upright countries of today, urgently and spontaneously lead Tibet too to a new path of becoming an exemplary society of peace in coexistence with China, rooted in a foundation of harmony and stability.”
The full text of the speech, which also clearly outlines the history of democracy in Tibet, can be found here.
