jan 7th
the tibetans are the jews of our time, the most oppressed group.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Friends of Tibet (INDIA) < support@friendsoftibet.org>
Date: Jan 5, 2006 6:14 PM
Subject: * News Release (January 6, 2006) *
To: undisclosed-recipients
News Release (January 6, 2006)
What was lost in 1992 the historic Shakabpa passport from Tibetan community has
now been recovered, bringing pride and honour to the Tibetan people. In a
recently concluded public donation drive, more than 850 Tibetans pooled
together money to pay for the purchase of their historic passport which stands
as proof of Tibet's independent status recognised by other countries in 1948.
This historic Shakabpa passport was issued by the then Government of
Independent Tibet in 1947 to Finance Secretary Tsepong Wangchuk Dedhen Shakabpa
who was leading a trade delegation to China, the United States and Britain. On
this passport, visa and transit visa were issued by countries like the United
Sates, Britain, India, France, Italy, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Today this document remains to stand as an important proof of independent
status of Tibet legally recognised by other countries before China's invasion
of Tibet in 1949.
However, this document got lost from the Tibetan community in 1992 and there
were rumours that it had been sold to antique dealers and reached into the
hands of Chinese government officials. After 13 years of mystery and search,
Friends of Tibet (India) located it with an antique dealer in Nepal, and later
bought it for an amount of US$10,000 with money borrowed from a monastery in
Nepal.
Tibetans from all around the world donated overwhelmingly in this donation
drive to purchase the document. The donation drive was initiated by Friends of
Tibet (India) and was led by General Secretary of our organisation Tenzin
Tsundue who went on a whirlwind tour of India and Nepal covering Tibetan
refugee camps and Indian towns. Starting from Kathmnadu, Shillong, Dimapur,
Kohima, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Ravangla, Salugara, Calcutta, Ranchi,
Tatanagar, Dhanbad, Asansol, Bodh Gaya, Patna, Allahabad, Lucknow, Kanpur,
Aligarh, Agra, Jaipur, Ajmer and wound up in Udaipur.
The target of five lakh rupees has been achieved and no now more donations are
being accepted. About his forty-day long tour in India and Nepal Tsundue said:
"Where ever I went, it was so encouraging to see how Tibetans were most
forthcoming with their contributions that very quickly we collected all the
money needed. Personally it is inspiring to see how one symbolic article could
infuse so much spirit and unite us for the cause of Tibet". Tsundue went to 27
different Tibetan refugee camps, towns and cities where he conducted meetings
and collected donations.
In an attempt to make it purely a Tibetan effort and donations were collected
only from Tibetans and all offers of donation from non-Tibetans have been
declined. More than 850 Tibetans took part in the donation drive, some of the
contribution ranging from Rs 5 to one lakh from an individual.
Friends of Tibet (India) took responsibility in recovering the document and had
submitted it to the leader of the Tibetans - His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Now
to complete the work, we initiated the donation drive to pay for the purchase
of historic document, a national property of the Tibetans. Friends of Tibet
(India) holds no authority or ownership whatsoever on the article. The document
is now a property of the Tibetan people and we are happy to have played a small
role in recovering it and return it to where it belongs.
In the process of recovering it, Kongpo Bhu Dhondup and Geshe Pema Dorjee
played significant roles and we praise their hardwork. We would like to thank
Bodong Pema Choeding Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal who did lend us the money to
pay for the purchase of Shakabpa passport in the nick of time as an advance on
our behalf. We want to thank all individuals and organisations that contributed
in various forms in this long process of donation drive and helped us make it
successful.
The passport will be a part of an exhibition we are organising called "Story of
a Nation: Independent, Occupied and Exiled Tibet".
Sethu Das
(President, Friends of Tibet: INDIA)
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Friends of Tibet (INDIA), PO Box: 16674, Bombay 400050
Tel: +91(22) 26409612 Mobile: +91 9418079832 / 9388465953
Email: support@friendsoftibet.org Web: www.friendsoftibet.org
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