That is the question. “The exile Tibetan administration has called for a boycott of festive celebrations during Losar.” Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, has requested all Tibetans to forgo the usual new year festivities this year, given the “continuing tragic situation” in Tibet, and instead hold prayers and perform religious rituals. But there is another point …
English Translation of 13Th Dalai Lama’s Decree
This complete translation of the 13th Dalai Lama’s decree was prepared by Tsewang Norbu la of Germany. He calls it a “decree” rather than “declaration” as he feels that the Dalai Lama was not “declaring Tibet´s independence but reiterating her independent status.” It is an interesting point, though strictly speaking a declaration does not necessarily …
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Backstory to the 13th Dalai Lama’s Declaration of Independence
Sacred documents in the pious Tibetan world are generally treated with great reverence – placed on the head, wrapped in silk, fumigated with incense smoke – but perhaps not read or discussed as much as they should be. To save the Great Thirteenth’s Declaration of Independence (which we will be commemorating in a few days) …
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Updates on The RFA Issue
Libby Liu’s chief defender or jindak in the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Victor Ashe, has been strongly condemned by the US Government’s Office of Inspector General in a report released last week. The report depicts an agency with a dedicated staff but with a governing board that is incompetent, useless and perhaps fatally broken. …
A Most Unassuming Man
I met my old friend Sonam Topgyal la last summer – June 25th to be exact. He was in a bad way. Definitely cancer. I suspected stomach cancer of a kind, but could not bring myself to ask. He was weak from his last chemotherapy, but seemed glad to see me. As always we talked …
Why RFA Matters, So Much, Right Now
Commenting on my last few posts, some readers took me to task for raising the issue of Jigme Ngabo’s dismissal from RFA, thereby (according to them) diverting public attention away from the self-immolations in Tibet, especially when “… our nation is on fire” as one put it so graphically. If my critics had read the …
Can Some Good Come from the RFA Controversy?
The Tibetan Political Review has come out with an editorial that provides a masterly analysis of the whole RFA controversy and offers a way in which exile Tibetans can use this contentious debate to empower their fledgling democratic system. The solution offered is similar to the one I proposed in my two pieces, namely the …
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Protect Kundun, Free RFA
When I was researching my “Free Radio Free Asia!” piece I came across more information than I could fit into the article. I also came across material which was troubling, and which I could not bring myself to include in the piece, though it would have bolstered the case I was trying to make. A …
Another Senior CTA Official Joins “Free RFA” Debate
I am gratified that my blog posts have generated so much discussion on the issue of Jigme Ngabo’s dismissal from RFA. Even the few inaccuracies in my writing have inexplicably (but providentially) become catalysts for democratic debate, engendering historically unprecedented participation from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). First we had the clarification from CTA Press …
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Reinstate Jigme Ngabo with Honors
BY TSEWANG NORBU I am posting Tsewang la’s piece here on my blog since he is someone who has worked in RFA for a long time and has an insiders point of view. JN Although I view myself a political person but I often prefer to refrain myself from indulging in heated and emotional debates …
