We are commemorating today a momentous occasion in the history of our nation, marking the 66th anniversary of the 10th of March 1959, when Tibetans from all the three provinces, being of one mind, united in a non-violent, spontaneous action to stage an uprising against the violent mentality and perpetrations of the Communist Chinese government. It is a day so deeply ingrained in the psyche of our people as to remain exceedingly difficult to erase from our collective memory. Today is also the Tibetan Martyrs’ Day to commemorate the patriotic valour of the Tibetan men and women who sacrificed their all, including their very lives, for the sake of the Tibetan religious, political, and national causes. The tragedy of the Tibetan nation began with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 which in due course undertook an armed invasion of the country. This was followed by communist China’s launch of all manners of campaigns, including violent ones, against the Tibetan people. It all culminated in China coercing the government of Tibet to sign under duress the so-called 17-Point Agreement in 1951. Nevertheless, following it, the Tibetan government strived to coexist with the communist Chinese government through dialogue in the manner of coddling the fire even though one was being burned by it. Even then, the government of China simply ignored and trampled on the provisions of that agreement. And manifests of protests by the Tibetan pubic against it kept growing day by day. Ultimately, the situation became so dire, including the fact that the personal safety of His Holiness the Dalai Lama came under threat, that it culminated in the outbreak of the day that we now commemorate as the 10th of March 1959 uprising anniversary. Seven days after that momentous occasion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to seek refuge in India, along with the government and many citizens of Tibet. Meanwhile, the government of China continued to carry out its repressive occupation rule in Tibet with campaigns one after another such as the Democratic Reform, the Cultural Revolution and so forth. These campaigns were used to carry out large-scale acts aimed at eradicating the religion, culture and nationality of the Tibetan people.
The hardline stance and policy which the government of China has pursued in Tibet throughout the occupation rule thus far has led to reprisal protests on successive occasions by monks and nuns, including from the Three Great Seat Monasteries, and the Tibetan public, including especially the major protests which erupted in the years 1987, 1988 and 1989. And then there was the outbreak of the simultaneous 2008 (Great Earth-Mouse year) protests by Tibetans in all the three provinces of the historical Tibet. Likewise, a total of 157 Tibetans in Tibet, feeling too despaired to live under the repressive rule of the Chinese government, made it a point to express their outrage by carrying out protest self-immolations. And this is only the known and verified number of victims from such cases. While this remains the stark reality of the situation in Tibet even today, the government of China has continued to utter nothing but lies about it, making false claims of how the Tibetan people are basking in freedom and how they are very happy. The purpose has been to deceive both the people of China and governments and peoples across the world. Such is the false propaganda, utterly removed from reality, still being continuously spread by the government of China.
On the 10th of December 2024, the Delegation of the European Union to the People’s Republic of China, which is the embassy of the European Union in China, released a statement on the human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China. The statement reiterated the embassy’s finding that the human rights situation in Tibet, especially with regard to the freedom of speech and expression, assembly, and movement continued to be tightly restricted. It added that, in particular, China was tightly restricting the issuances of passports to the Tibetan people. Likewise, it accused China of having put Tibetans under violent repression in the enjoyment of their freedom of religious belief and practice, and that the authorities were compelling the reorientation of religious activities in Tibetan Buddhism to reflect the current ideology of the Chinese government. The embassy’s report also took cognizance of the fact that the Chinese government has been pursuing a planned strategy of coercive national assimilation of the Tibetan children by separating them from their parents and establishing compulsory boarding schools for them, thereby severely endangering the survival of the Tibetan identity and language. As a basis for making this assertion, the embassy report pointed out, by way of example, that the Chinese government had forced the closing down of the Ragya Gangjong Sherig Norbue Lobling Academy and introduced compulsory Chinese language education for Tibetan students at the expense of education in their mother tongue. In such ways as well as in plans pursued in the past several months to do away with the entrance tests in Tibetan language for the purpose of qualifying for college admissions and so forth, China is seen to have started in Tibet the pursuit of what resembles a second Cultural Revolution campaign. On the 14th of January 2025, a total of nine human rights experts and working groups with the United Nations Human Rights Council made public a joint communication they had sent to the Government of the People’s Republic of China two months earlier, seeking information on the situation of a total of nine Tibetans who had disappeared after their arrests. This is but just an example, and China not only arrest or detain and imprison Tibetan people on false criminal allegations but in the case of a section of them, the victims are subjected to such severe, limitless beating and torture ahead of their impending release on completing their sentences that they end up virtually crippled. Besides, there have also been cases of deaths resulting from such pre-release ill-treatment of Tibetan political prisoners.
It has also by now become manifest that the government of China subjects Tibetans living in other countries to coercive transnational repression. In this connection, it bears noting that in December 2024, the government of China politically criminalized the leaders and other office bearers of Canada Tibet Committee and Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project totalling 20 people. The Chinese government was called out for this action by both the government of Canada and others from across the wider international community. Likewise, on the 12th of February this year, the government of Switzerland brought out a report containing 10 chapters which clearly established the fact that the government of China subjects Tibetan and Uyghur peoples living in this country to transnational repression.
In November 2023, the government of China published a white paper titled “CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements”, making clear that it was engaged in ongoing efforts to meddle in the recognition of the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the systems and procedures by which each of the reincarnations of the lamas in Tibetan Buddhism make their appearances is solely and uniquely a Tibetan religious tradition. Resolutions, announcements, and other forms of notifications have been issued from across the world, demanding that China desist from making any such interference in this uniquely Tibetan Buddhist religious practice. To us, the main thing to bear in mind at this time is that we have the heart-warming words directly from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama himself uttered on numerous occasions, saying that all the signs he had have indicated that he will live to be more than 110 years of age. We all should earnestly pray that this will indeed come true. Besides, it is impossible to imagine that any Tibetan or others in the international community would believe the genuineness of a future reincarnation of him who might be installed in a manner that is at variance with the intentions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself expressed a statement he made in 2011 specifically on this issue.
The national history of Tibet can be traced through the rules of the lineage of its ancient Tsenpo kings, successively followed by the Sakya, Phagdru, Rinpung, and the Gaden Phodrang rulers. The Central Tibetan Administration in exile today represents the people of all the three traditional provinces of Tibet is an unbroken continuation of that authority with indisputable legal jurisdiction over them. This stems from the fact that Tibet is a historically independent country. It was militarily invaded and subjected to occupation rule by China from the mid of 20th century. The fact is that the communist government of China today remains in continued implementation of a variety of both soft and repressive policies throughout the Tibetan territory with a design to transform it into a Chinese territory. This is a matter of utmost grave concern that worries the Tibetan people to no end. If the government of China continues to adhere to the hardline approach of showing absolutely no attitude of openness and understanding towards the Tibetan people, it can be concluded that the consequence on Sino-Tibet relationship will not be a good one.
On the 10th of February in 2025, during a regular press briefing given by China’s Foreign Ministry, a journalist asked about the contributions made by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s elder brother Gyalo Thondup who passed away recently. Among the responses given by its spokesperson was a reiteration of China’s demand that the Dalai Lama should openly recognise that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic of China. It therefore became clear that because there is absolutely no question of the Tibetan side distorting their own national history, no seed of truth could be found as a basis for resolving the Sino-Tibetan dispute. As per the issue of Taiwan is concerned, this is a matter for the people of Taiwan alone to decide; it has no relevance whatsoever for resolving the Sino-Tibetan dispute. A truly meaningful way for resolving the Sino-Tibetan dispute is the mutually beneficial Middle Way policy that the Tibetan side has already publicized widely. As regards the preconditions such as those set by the government of China, which have no basis in reality, there is no question of the Tibetan side being in any position to be able to accept them. If the Chinese side keeps setting such preconditions, so that the possibility for talks between the two sides continues to remain severed, with no success in terms of a mutually beneficial result being achievable, our reiteration remains that the responsibility for it would rest squarely with the communist government of China.
On 7th of January this year, Dingri and several other neighbouring areas in Tibet were shaken by a devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake, resulting in severe losses in terms of both human lives and property. After the occurrence of this tragically saddening natural disaster, there have been two developments which we all must get to know. One is concerned with the propaganda claims being made by the government of the People’s Republic of China after its brazen armed invasion and occupation of the entire territory of Tibet, saying continuously for the past more than 70 years, “following the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and under the perfect policy of the Communist Party of China, the Tibetan people have continued to enjoy earth-shattering experiences of happiness and material prosperity.” However, if one views the situation in an unbiased manner, the unsavoury truth could be seen to have emerged from the consequences of the recent earthquake as to how truly well-off the Tibetan people are in their day-to-day livelihood conditions. They also show how really robust the physical infrastructure and other construction projects, including the residential homes, are, and how really adequate the basic neighbourhood facilities in terms such as healthcare and medical personnel are. An examination of the available reports from the recently earthquake-hit areas in Tibet makes the falsity of the Chinese claims as clear as a drawing on the ground.
The government of China may have divided and sub-divided the national territory of Tibet into a province, an autonomous region, autonomous prefectures, and so forth to suit its own needs. Nevertheless, wherever the tsampa-eating People of the Snowland who belong to the Tibetan Plateau region live, whether from earlier times or to this day, and whether they be still living in Tibet or in exile now, there is no forgetting the fact among them that they are all one in their flesh-and-bone feeling of fraternity. That they have not lost this sense of fraternity could be seen to have been proved and reinforced during the recent earthquake devastation. It has also been proved even more emphatically that there has been no loss of the sense of loyalty among us. Tibetan people living in Tibet in the three traditional provinces of Domey, U-Tsang and Kham made great sacrifices in accordance with their personal capacities to make donations for providing relief and humanitarian aid. As regards those living in exile, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other authoritative religious leaders belonging to all the traditions, irrespective of their sectarian affiliations, have led religious prayer services with the participation of the monastic communities, the Central Tibetan Administration, as well as the Tibetan public and organizations in keeping with traditions that are uniquely Tibetan for the victims of the earthquake. To put it all in a nutshell, through these and other activities, Tibetan belonging to all the three traditional provinces of Tibet, whether they are living in Tibet or in exile, have come together as one to present exemplary unity and solidarity. While not directly related to politics as such, these activities which displayed the power of selflessness, enthusiasm, sacrifice, and unity, have been a great source of encouragement and pride to the Tibetan people in Tibet and in exile. Many leaders and Tibet Support Groups in the international community at that time issued letters and other messages of condolences and solidarity over the devastating earthquake in Tibet. To all of them, we wish to take the opportunity provided by this occasion to express our gratitude.
The main reason why the issue of Tibet has received continuous support from so many countries is because the supreme commitments, noble deeds, avowed kindness and so forth of His Holiness the Dalai Lama have won appreciation and admiration from so many people across the world. These have led to him being bestowed with a multitude of honours which included the Nobel Peace Prize. Viewing these in hindsight, it has become obvious that the struggle of the Tibetan people is one for a just cause, and a non-violent one at that, which has become evident to everyone across the world with utmost clarity. The work to raise awareness across the world about the absence of any freedom to the Tibetans living in Tibet under Chinese rule has been a relentless effort. In order that this endeavour remains on track until the attainment of its ultimate goal, members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile have met with members of both the houses of the Indian parliament in New Delhi to solicit their support on the issue of Tibet. Likewise, members or the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile have been able to tour countries in Europe to carry out appreciatively large-scale lobbying efforts on the Sino-Tibetan conflict.
This year will see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the utmost leader of the Tibetan people, attaining 90 years of age. Plans are underway both officially and by the Tibetan civil society to mark this occasion with grand celebrations with a year-long series of events. In keeping with these plans for ushering in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s nonagenarian years, preparations have been underway led also by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile to honour him for his gift of democracy to the Tibetan people and his accomplishments in democratising the Tibetan society.
Very rapid political changes are taking place in the world of today. We the Tibetans living in exile should not fail in grasping whatever especially rare, good opportunities they present when they are seen to be beneficial to Tibet and the Tibetan people. For this purpose, it has become great importance that the Tibetan people direct their efforts with selflessness and utmost exertion of abilities towards the achievement of the common good of all, including the attainment of our fundamental aim for Tibet. For the past more than six decades, the people and government of India, the United Sates of America, Europe, and a number of other countries as well as individuals and organizations across the world have extended support and assistance towards the Tibetan cause. To all of them we say Thank You!
In conclusion, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile wishes with prayers that His Holiness the Dalai Lama may live for a hundred aeons, that all his noble wishes may be seen fulfilled with spontaneity, and that the just cause of Tibet may be seen to prevail in all speediness so that the sunshine of happiness in which Tibetans in Tibet and those in exile shall be reunited will be realized.
The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
10 March 2025
* In case of any discrepancy between this English translation and its Tibetan original, the latter should be considered as authoritative and final for all purposes.
