BBC World Interviews Tenzin Sonam & Ritu about The Sun Behind the Clouds

Watch this fantastic interview with Tenzin Sonam & Ritu on BBC World about the making of The Sun Behind the Clouds and the future of the Tibet movement. The interview also includes a clip from the film of Lhadon speaking.

The film premieres in the N.Y. tomorrow, Wednesday, March 31st. Tix are still available but going fast – buy yours now!

CNN: Buddha’s Warriors

CNN’s Special Investigations Unit has made a news documentary called “Buddha’s Warriors” about the international Tibetan independence movement. SFT’s own Lhadon Tethong is featured, along with our friend Tenzin Tsundue. The documentary is narrated by Christiane Amanpour, who has also posted a blog entry on CNN on the back story of the piece and how she came to tell this story about the Tibetan struggle for freedom. Amanpour has also blogged about the new generation of Tibetan monks and their push for independence for Tibet. The crux of the coverage is the role the return march to Tibet played in driving energy and attention in the Tibetan exile community towards the Olympics and in support of independence.  Both of Amanpour’s blog posts are worth a read, not so much because they present new information that readers of Tibet Will Be Free won’t be familiar with, but because Amanpour’s coverage and commentary represent some of the most mainstream, honest reporting on the contemporary Tibetan independence movement I can recall seeing in recent years.

FINDING THE LOST HORIZON: Update from the March to Tibet

“When the clouds part, you can see Tibet on the horizon,” said Ven. Ngawang Woeber.

He dipped his face in the river at Baanspatan, and joked that monks don’t need to use soap because they have renounced vanity. A couple of hours later, Ven. Woeber was arrested. A former political prisoner, he is the president of Gu Chu Sum, one of the five organizations coordinating the historic March to Tibet, which started in Dharamsala on March 10th. Along with him, five other leaders of the march were also arrested on Tuesday and formally jailed yesterday afternoon in Haridwar Jail. The other detainees are Tsewang Rigzin, President of Tibetan Youth Congress; B Tsering, President of Tibetan Women’s Association, Chime Youngdroung, President of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, Tenzin Choeying, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India, and Lobsang Yeshi, Coordinator of the March to Tibet.

The last few days have been tense and painful for the marchers. Hours after the arrest of the march leaders on Tuesday, the police confiscated their trucks and intensified the restriction on movement to and from the site, effectively cutting the marchers off from food and other supplies. The marchers are now considering the possibility of eating only one meal a day so that they can hold the ground for a little longer.

The day before yesterday, nearly one thousand police marched to the marchers’ camp and blocked the entrance. Sensing the likelihood of arrest, the marchers sprung into action, staging a Gandhian style sit-in while chanting prayers and singing the Tibetan national anthem. After a stalemate that lasted about an hour, the police retreated. Yesterday, the same thing happened again. Today, more buses and trucks brought more police reinforcements including a bus full of policewomen.

In the evenings, the atmosphere grows light again. Most Tibetan monks and nuns seem to have an uncanny ability to remain calm and happy even under great pressure. Or may be it’s because most of these marchers are actually Tibetans raised in Tibet who came to India in their late adolescence or early adulthood, and the problems they have faced so far on this march are nothing compared to what they had experienced growing up under Chinese rule in Tibet.

Most marchers and volunteers get to take a little breather in the evening, but one person never stops. Lobsang Army, so called because of his past stint in the military, is busy stitching shoe after shoe under a small blue tent. He is the march’s unofficial shoemaker. When he was in the army he had taken a shoe repair class – a skill he had forgotten and had to relearn once he realized that walking twenty kilometers a day was rough on people’s shoes. Lobsang has so far repaired about 200 shoes.

There is little doubt that the police will eventually arrest them, but the fact remains that no one can stop these marchers. “The police may arrest us today, but we will continue the march tomorrow,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a leading youth activist, who has lost much weight since I saw him last. “I heard that people have set off from parts of India to join us. We can’t wait to see them. The more people we have with us, the stronger our message to Tibetans inside Tibet, to China and to the world – we are committed to return and will never give up our struggle for freedom and justice.”

As the Chinese authorities work overtime to ensure a smooth Olympics, and attempt to hide the reality of their rule in Tibet behind a wall of silence and deceit, the movement of this group of unarmed men and women threatens Beijing’s massive propaganda exercise. They are a nonviolent force dedicated to their people, their nation and the truth. They refuse to be silenced at a time when China’s long arm of oppression and manipulation stretches around the world. Their journey north – towards the border across which so many Tibetans have crossed in search of freedom – demonstrates their commitment.

As the stand-off continues, marchers are calling for Tibetans from throughout India to join them in spirit and in person. And they are appealing for support from people around the world who value freedom, justice and peace. Visit www.tibetanuprising.org to follow news about the March. Send a message of encouragement to the marchers. Tell your friends and family about it. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. And keep the marchers in your prayers.

–dispatch from SFT’s Tendor, writing from Nainital, Uttaranchal, India

Biography of Marcher: Pema Tashi

Pema Tashi is not a Tibetan, but he decided to march with the Tibetan monks that he has spent the last eight years with at Sera Monastery in Karnataka. “I have lived in a Tibetan community for a long time and have always viewed Tibetans as compassionate people and this motivated me to join the march.”

Pema grew up in a Buddhist family of vegetable farmers in Arunachal Pradesh. He delighted his parents when he decided to take the vows of a monk. In 2000, Pema joined Sera Monastery in Karanataka in the South of India because of their reputation of providing excellent education.

When the five NGOs announced the six month March to Tibet, Pema knew right away that he would join. He said, “Since I made up my mind to go on this march, I am fearless.” On March 13^th, Pema was arrested at Dehra in the Kangra Valley with the 100 other Core Marchers and spent ten days in judicial custody with his comrades. Once freed, he joined the second wave of marchers who continued the march from where Pema’s group was arrested. “If I am able to cross into Tibet, I would love to stay there for two months to examine the place and then my dream is fulfilled.”

Day 35 Update from the March

After participating in the three days of protests organized by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee, the marchers were given a day to rest.

The following are some photographs from the marcher’s past 3 days in New Delhi.

Third Day of Protests in Delhi

The three day mass activity organized in Delhi came to a promising conclusion this evening with the participants from north Indian Tibetan communities returning back to their respective places pledging to reinvigorate the movement initiated by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee.

the slogans of ‘Long live Dalai Lama’ and ‘Stop killing in Tibet’ as the endless line of humanity paved its way through the busy streets of Delhi to reach Jantar Mantar. The marchers also took part in the march. (more…)

Third Day of Protests in Delhi

The three day mass activity organized in Delhi came to a promising conclusion this evening with the participants from north Indian Tibetan communities returning back to their respective places pledging to reinvigorate the movement initiated by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee.

the slogans of ‘Long live Dalai Lama’ and ‘Stop killing in Tibet’ as the endless line of humanity paved its way through the busy streets of Delhi to reach Jantar Mantar. The marchers also took part in the march. (more…)

Tibetans end Dharamsala-Delhi march – and begin protest plans

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Declaring that they would somehow bypass security and demonstrate against the Beijing Olympics torch relay in the Indian capital, 200 Tibetans Wednesday ended their month long march from Dharamsala to Delhi. The gurdwara near northeast Delhi’s Majnu ka Tilla, where the Tibetan refugee colony is, wore a different look with the marchers setting up camp. Monks, dressed in their maroon robes, dotted the entire place, crowded with rucksacks, sleeping mats and photographs of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetans.

The ‘March to Tibet’, which saw 30 women among the 200 protestors took one month to complete the journey from Dharamsala - the Himalayan abode for the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile - to New Delhi. (more…)