Wednesday, 20 June 2012

being human - a day for Tibet

It's simple : Saturday 23rd February, 2013 : a day for Tibet.
organise your own unique, brilliant, small yet beautiful event. 
By uniting everyone in one 24 hour period we will send a message to the media, politicians & business of the level of global support for the Dalai Lama.
You organise your own local event: a gig, screening, art exhibition, talk, workshop, dance, meditation, fashion, philosophy, buddhist, literary, science, digital or comedy event, it’s up to you!
Follow your passion & do what you love with as much intelligence & integrity as possible.
beinghuman is working with The Music Managers Forum & Featured Artist Coalition. But remember this isn’t about the big names, we need you! Not only will we show our support for Tibet but we will also create a global network of DIY artists, creatives & ethical human beings who, inspired by the Dalai Lama, want to work together for a fairer world for the creative & cultural industries. We will help you connect, share skills & help each to create brilliant events.
You choose to keep any money you raise for yourself, or give it away, again it’s totally up to you!
To get started simply become a member here, tell us your passion & skills, then create an event or get involved with an existing event, or just simply show your support by joining us on Facebook or Twitter or e mail info@beinghuman.com to sign up to our newsletter

Two Tibetans self-immolate calling for Tibet’s independence

Phayul[Wednesday, June 20, 2012 17:28]
Ngawang Norphel and Tenzin Khedup raise Tibetan national flags as flames rise from their bodies. Zatoe, Keygudo June 20, 2012.
Ngawang Norphel and Tenzin Khedup raise Tibetan national flags as flames rise from their bodies. Zatoe, Keygudo June 20, 2012.
 In reports coming out of Tibet, two young Tibetans set themselves on fire today in Zatoe town of Keygudo, Kham, eastern Tibet calling for Tibet’s independence and long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Ngawang Norphel, 22 and Tenzin Khedup, 24, set themselves ablaze at about 3.30 pm (local time).

Both of them were carrying Tibetan national flags in their hands at the time of their self-immolation protest.

Tenzin Khedup passed away in his fiery protest while the condition and whereabouts of Ngawang Norphel is not yet known.

Confirming the reports, Jamyang Soepa, a member of the standing committee of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile said that the two young Tibetans set themselves ablaze calling for Tibet’ independence.

“Ngawang Norphel and Tenzin Khedup called for independence and freedom in Tibet and the long-life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama before setting themselves on fire,” Soepa said citing sources.

In images received by exile Tibetans, huge flames and black smoke could be seen bellowing up from their bodies, lying on the road next to parked cars and motorbikes.

In a 7-second video clip of their self-immolation protest, Ngawang Norphel and Tenzin Khedup could be seen standing next to each other and raising the ‘banned in Tibet’ Tibetan National just before fire envelopes their bodies. While one of them immediately falls down on the ground, the second self-immolator trips and then stands up to run for a few metres before falling down.

According to reports, Tenzin Khedup is from Tridu in Keygudo. His parents are Legdup and Kyizom. Ngawang Norphel is believed to be from Ngaba, the region which remains the nerve centre of the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

Earlier this year, on February 8, Sonam Rabyang, a monk in his late thirties from the La Monastery in Tridu, set himself ablaze on the main road of La Township, Tridu County, Keygudo. Sonam Rabyang’s condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

With Tenzin Khedup and Ngawang Norphel’s self-immolation protests today, as many as 42 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009, demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama meets Suu Kyi on her birthday

Phayul[Wednesday, June 20, 2012 14:19]
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Aung San Suu Kyi in London, England, on June 19, 2012. (Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL)
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Aung San Suu Kyi in London, England, on June 19, 2012. (Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL)
 Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama met Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday in London on the latter’s 67th birthday.

This was the first time that the two Nobel Peace Laureates were meeting.

Speaking to Phayul, Tenzin Taklha, secretary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that the meeting took place in London yesterday evening.

Details of the meeting have not yet been made public.

Suu Kyi, who is currently on a five-nation European tour, delivered her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on June 16, more than two decades after receiving the honour.

She was jailed in 1990, soon after leading her pro-democracy party to victory and spent much of the past 24 years under house arrest.

The Dalai Lama had often in the past campaigned for Suu Kyi’s release with other fellow Nobel laureates.

Soon after she was freed in late 2010, the Tibetan spiritual leader, in a message, welcomed her release.

“I welcome the release of fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and extend my appreciation to the military regime in Burma. I extend my full support and solidarity to the movement for democracy in Burma and take this opportunity to appeal to freedom-loving people all over the world to support such non-violent movements,” the Dalai Lama said.

His Holiness is currently on a 15-day tour of England, Scotland, and Italy.

The Tibetan leader is scheduled to visit Westminister today and address British parliamentarians.

Friday, 15 June 2012

Breaking: Tibetan dies in self-immolation protest

Phayul[Friday, June 15, 2012 12:43]
Hundreds of Tibetans are seen paying their respect to Tamding Thar after his body was released by Chinese authorities on June 15, 2012. (Phayul photo/Ghangri)
Hundreds of Tibetans are seen paying their respect to Tamding Thar after his body was released by Chinese authorities on June 15, 2012. (Phayul photo/Ghangri)
DHARAMSHALA, June 15: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, Tamding Thar, a Tibetan in his 50s, set himself on fire in Amdo Chentsa region of Tibet in an apparent protest against the Chinese government today at around 6:30 am (local time).

Tamding Thar passed away in his fiery protest.

Speaking to Phayul, Ghangri, a monk in south India confirmed the reports.

“We spoke with our sources in the region and they have told us that Tamding Thar is sadly no more,” Ghangri said.

There are also reports of a massive build up of security in the region and the site of Tamding Thar’s fiery protest has been virtually locked down.

“The people we spoke to right now confirmed that Chinese troops are arriving in large numbers in the region,” Ghangri said. “They asked us not to call for some time.”

An hour or so back Woeser, the Tibetan blogger based in Beijing, tweeted that Tamding Thar carried out his fiery protest in front of the local Chinese police station in Chentsa.

Soon after his protest, Chinese security officials doused the flames and forcibly took Tamding Thar away.

According to the Dharamshala based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, following the immolation protest, hundreds of Tibetans gathered in front of the Chinese administration office in the region, demanding the return of Tamding Thar’s body to his family.

Hundreds of Tibetans are seen joining a march carrying the body of Tamding Thar in Chentsa, Amdo on June 15, 2012. (Phayul photo/Ghangri)
Hundreds of Tibetans are seen joining a march carrying the body of Tamding Thar in Chentsa, Amdo on June 15, 2012. (Phayul photo/Ghangri)
“Chinese authorities told the Tibetans gathered there that they will return the body at around 11 am (local time). At around 12 noon (local time), the authorities released the body to the local Tibetans,” TCHRD said in a release today. “The body was then carried to a remote nomadic area in Chentsa County.”

The release added that Tamding Thar belonged to a nomadic family in Lowa village, Chentsathang Township, Chentsa County in Malho. Few years ago Tamding Thar and his family were moved to the county due to the 'nomad relocation' policy of the Chinese government, according to source.

China’s official news agency Xinhua has also confirmed today’s fiery protest without revealing the identity of the self-immolator. The report quoted local authorities as saying that “the person’s identity and cause of the death were under investigation.”

40 Tibetans have set their bodies on fire since 2009 demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.

Monday, 11 June 2012

Tibet a living tradition


Ugyen Choephell, Bristol artist (thangka painter) and musician has set up an exhibition in London to commemorate the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the UK

'Tibet in London - journey to the forbidden land' is an exploration into the Art of contemplation.
18 - 24 June 2012, SMA Centre, Kensington, W8 4HN
The exhibition recreates the West Gate Stupa to Lhasa, which stands before the Potala palace - one personal aim is to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to visit; a symbolic return to Tibet - but also to give everyone a taste of tibet, a sense of pilgrimage and a journey all can make.

You might also like to join in the prayer flag messages exhibit - you can create a flag which will join the exhibition - but you can also create a virtual flag online right now
We hope to take the flags to fly in Tibet later.

Should this project inspire you, Ugyen is looking for sponsors to help the stupa take shape, sponsor a mani wheel or prayer flag strings for the dharchen installation. Your support will make a huge difference to help bring this exhibition to life, full details can be found here 

Please feel free to forward this onto anyone you know who might be interested

best wishes
Bath District Tibet Support Group

'Keep Tibet Alive!'

China struggles to contain rising ghost of Tiananmen massacre

(TibetanReview.net, Jun05, 2012) The ghost of the Tiananmen Square massacre of Jun 3-4, 1989 was back to haunt the Chinese leadership which detained hundreds of activists in capital Beijing ahead of the event’s 23rd anniversary. The detentions, reported by the AFP Jun 3, came as the US called on Beijing to release all those who had been jailed over the 1989 protest movement and as Beijing’s mayor at that time said in a book of interviews with him published in Hong Kong that the Tiananmen Square movement could have been resolved without bloodshed.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters were shot and killed by soldiers during the suppression of the 1989 protest which called for accountable governance and an end to official corruption.

Apart from known human rights and democracy activists, petitioners from across the country seeking to be heard by the leadership in Beijing were the primary targets of the repression.  "They brought in a lot of buses and were rounding up petitioners at the Beijing South rail station on Saturday (Jun 3) night," AFP quoted Zhou Jinxia, a petitioner from northeast China's Liaoning province, as saying.

"There were between 600 to 1,000 petitioners from all over China. We were processed, we had to register and then they started sending people back to their home towns," she was quoted as saying.

China still considers the June 4 demonstrations a "counter-revolutionary rebellion" and has refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing or consider compensation for those killed, despite persistent demands by many, including the Tiananmen Mothers, a group formed by families of the massacre victims who themselves continue to face official repression.

Beijing has, in fact, rendered any public discussion of the movement or the massacre off-limits, insisting that the matter had long been resolved and cannot be reopened. However, despite the heightened security, numerous public events have been held around the nation to commemorate the "Tiananmen massacre" and to demand democratic reforms, said the AFP report. They included a meeting of more than 80 rights campaigners in a Beijing square on Jun 2, with the participants carrying banners and shouting slogans calling for a reassessment of the 1989 protests. "We shouted 'down with corruption', and 'protect our rights'," Wang Yongfeng, a Shanghai activist, who attended the protest, was quoted as saying.

A similar protest was reported to have occurred in a park in southeast China's Guiyang city the week before, with police subsequently taking into custody at least four of the organisers of the event.

In numerous other cases, known rights activists were warned or harassed to prevent them from commemorating the massacre in any manner. It cited rights activists and lawyers as saying police had contacted them and warned against participating in activities marking the crackdown. It cited veteran Beijing dissident Hu Jia as saying on his microblog that, as in previous years on the Tiananmen anniversary, police had stepped up security around the homes of numerous political activists and social critics. It also cited another rights defender, Yu Xiaomei from eastern Jiangsu province, as saying she had been followed by three men when she left her home on Jun 4.

Disgraced 1989 Beijing mayor denies role in massacre
In another development, China failed to stop the publication in Hong Kong of a book of interviews with the then mayor of Beijing Mr Chen Xitong who called the Tiananmen bloodshed "a tragedy that could have been avoided and should have been avoided. ... Nobody should have died if it had been handled properly."  But in 1989, Chen gave a lengthy report that, for 23 years, has formed the bedrock of the Communist Party's justification for the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters. He described the street demonstrations by millions of people in Beijing and other Chinese cities as a Western-backed conspiracy orchestrated by a "tiny handful of people". He hailed the crackdown as "correct" and unavoidable.

But now, at the age of 81, battling cancer and fighting to salvage his reputation after a corruption conviction and loss of his Politburo seat in 1995, Chen has disowned that report. He has insisted that he played no role in composing his Jun 1989 report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and had merely read out — "without changing a single punctuation mark" — a script prepared for him by unnamed "Party center" officials.

The Chinese Premier of the time, Mr Li Peng, known as the "Butcher of Beijing," has said in a diary of his defence of his role in the 1989 massacre, that Chen had been appointed the "chief commander" of the Beijing Martial Law Command Center in preparation of the military attack on Tiananmen. But now Chen has denied this. "I know nothing about this role I supposedly played," he was quoted as saying.

On his part, Li has, in his diary – pirate editions of which had been published in Hong Kong, expressed no remorse over the Tiananmen killings. However, he has defended his actions as those of a dutiful official who simply obeyed orders from the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, who took all major decisions in China until his death in 1997.
An AP commentary Jun 3 said the gulf between public rhetoric and private reality also adds to pressure on the party to "rehabilitate" the student-led protest movement that is still officially classified as a "counterrevolutionary rebellion." It also cited Chen as suggesting that although officials have banned public discussion of the Tiananmen trauma, they often talk about it among themselves.

Friday, 1 June 2012

Tibet ‘raised’ at EU-China dialogue

Phayul[Friday, June 01, 2012 13:36]
DHARAMSHALA, June 1: The European Union has raised concerns over the rights of the Tibetan people with the People’s Republic of China at the recently concluded EU-China Human Rights Dialogue on May 29 in Brussels.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the EU said that the European side raised a number of issues of concern within China, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, notably Tibetans, Uighurs and Christians.

The statement said that the 31st round of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue “allowed a wide-ranging and frank exchange of views on human rights between the two sides.”

“Under the general topic of criminal punishment and deprivation of liberty, China and the EU discussed issues such as residential surveillance and arrest, house arrest, treatment of petitioners, detention in prisons and solitary confinement.”

In the statement, EU reiterated its wish to continue holding the dialogue twice each year, and also expressed disappointment that China had not agreed to a second session of the dialogue in 2010 and 2011.

In 2010, China, furious over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, had cancelled the dialogue which are held twice a year. Last year also China had called off the meeting in December at the last minute.

Although the EU-China Human Rights Dialogues have been going on since 1995, human rights groups have criticised Europe’s lack of forcefulness on human rights, claiming that the dialogues allow China to give the appearance of engagement while effectively marginalising the issue.

Human Rights Watch has said that the dialogues look “great on paper” but lacks “transparency.”

“There are no benchmarks and no opportunities for public input or oversight,” the NGO’s rapporteur on China, Phelim Kine, has been quoted as saying by the EUobserver. “The talks are used as a public relations exercise that allow the EU to isolate human rights issues from other top-level negotiations.”

The global right group has been pressing EU to set “clear and public benchmarks” for progress on human rights in China.

"From the Chinese government's perspective, these human rights dialogues are a means to limit and isolate any discussion about its dismal human rights record at relatively low diplomatic levels," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The EU has gone along with the script, largely treating the dialogues as business-as-usual talk shops, despite the Chinese government's escalating crackdowns, detentions, and disappearances of activists."

Thousands attend Rikyo’s funeral

Phayul[Thursday, May 31, 2012 21:24]
DHARAMSHALA, May 31: Rikyo, the mother of three, who set herself ablaze yesterday in Zamthang, eastern Tibet was given a grand funeral ceremony by local Tibetans at around 11 pm (local time) later that day.

Although, the area near the Jonang Zamthang Gonchen monastery, the place of the funeral, was under heavy Chinese security surveillance, thousands of Tibetans gathered to pay their last respects.

The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration, in a release today, said that the local Tibetans had to carry out Rikyo’s cremation in haste as the Chinese authorities had threatened to take the body into their custody.

“The cremation was carried out near the monastery at around 11:00 pm last night,” CTA said. “Over 5,000 local Tibetans, including monks of Zamthang Monastery, gathered at the funeral.”

According to sources, the gathered Tibetans prayed till 3 in the morning under inclement weather.

The mother of three young children, all under the age of ten, Rikyo torched herself to death in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet on Wednesday at around 3 pm (local time), near the Jonang Zamthang Gonchen monastery in Zamthang (Ch: Rangtang) county, in the distraught Ngaba region, the nerve centre of the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

The Tibetan Women’s Association, in a release today grieved Rikyo’s death and noted that six Tibetan women have set themselves on fire in the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet, including two mothers.

“TWA pays tribute to Rikyo’s sacrifice and deem her act as the ultimate form of non-violent protest,” the release said.

Since 2009, 38 Tibetans have set their bodies on fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.

Rikyo’s self-immolation, the fourth in Zamthang alone, came just three days after two young Tibetan men set themselves on fire in heart of Tibet’s capital Lhasa.

School students shave heads, Sit on fast for Tibet

Phayul[Thursday, May 31, 2012 15:14]
By Tendar Tsering

Students from the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Suja sits a 12-hour hunger strike in Dharamshala, India, May 31, 2012. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
Students from the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Suja sits a 12-hour hunger strike in Dharamshala, India, May 31, 2012. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
DHARAMSHALA, May 31: As the human rights crisis in Tibet shows no sign of improvement, 160 Tibetan school students today began a 12-hour hunger strike in the Tibetan exile headquarters of Dharamshala.

The students also shaved their heads in protest against China’s repressive policies in Tibet.

The students from the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Suja, said they were organising this campaign on their own initiative, coinciding with the school summer break.

“With this campaign of shaving our heads and sitting on fast, we want to show our solidarity and support with the plight of people inside Tibet,” Kunchok Rinchen, one of the students at the fast said.

Following the day-long fast, the school students will also hold a painting exhibition at the same venue, near the Tsug-la Khang, the main temple.

“All the students who are participating in the painting exhibition are from Tibet and have the first hand experience of living under Chinese occupation and repression,” one of the main organisers said.

“Not all feelings can be expressed in words, sometimes, feelings are expressed best through paintings,” the student added.

On Sunday, the students will also hold a candle light vigil at the same venue, followed by a night-long prayer vigil at the main temple. Monday, June 3 is the 15th day of the Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa, considered as the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana.

The ongoing fiery wave of self-immolations in Tibet has witnessed 38 Tibetans set their bodies on fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.

In the latest incidents of self-immolations, two young Tibetans had set themselves on fire in front of the Jokhang temple in the heart of the Lhasa, Tibet’s capital on Sunday. Three days later, a mother of three young children, passed away in her self-immolation protest in Zamthang eastern Tibet.

Mother of three torches self to death


Phayul[Wednesday, May 30, 2012 23:02]
DHARAMSHALA, May 30: A mother of three young children has torched herself to death in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet, today.

Rikyo, 33, set herself on fire near the Jonang Zamthang Gonchen monastery in Zamthang (Ch: Rangtang) county, in the distraught Ngaba region, the nerve centre of the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

Speaking to Phayul, Tsangyang Gyatso, an exile Tibetan who has close contacts in the region said that Rikyo passed away at the site of her self-immolation protest.

“Rikyo set herself on fire at around 3 pm (local time) today close to the Jonang Monastery, protesting against Chinese rule,” Gyatso said. “She passed away at the site of her protest.”

Rikyo’s body is currently being kept at the Jonang Monastery, although Chinese security personnel have reportedly demanded the body to be removed.

Rikyo is survived by her husband and three children, the eldest, a 9-year old son and two daughters aged 7 and 5.

The ongoing fiery wave of self-immolations in Tibet has witnessed 38 Tibetans set their bodies on fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet. Today’s self-immolation protest comes just three days after two young Tibetan men set themselves on fire in heart of Tibet’s capital Lhasa.

Rikyo’s self-immolation was the fourth in Zamthang alone.

In April, two cousins, Choephag Kyab and Sonam, both in their early 20s, passed away after they set themselves on fire near a local Chinese government office. In an audio messagerecorded before their protest, Choephag Kyab and Sonam recount the suffering of the Tibetan people due to the lack of fundamental human rights and the forced occupation and repression of Tibet by China.

“So, for the restoration of freedom in Tibet and world peace, both of us in sound mind, are setting ourselves on fire,” Choephag Kyab and Sonam stated. “The Tibetan people’s suffering due to denial of freedom is far greater that the tragedy of setting our bodies on fire.”

In a recent interview to a media crew of the Taiwan based Next TV, Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama had said that the People Republic of China’s “totalitarian, blind, unrealistic” policies in Tibet are responsible for the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

“This problem (self-immolations) has been started by the totalitarian, blind, unrealistic policies,” the Tibetan leader said. “So, the people who created these policies must think seriously.”

Mass vigil in Dharamshala


Phayul[Tuesday, May 29, 2012 13:09]
By Tendar Tsering

Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monk holds a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the mass vigil Dharamshala, India, May 28, 2012. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal
Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monk holds a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the mass vigil Dharamshala, India, May 28, 2012. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal
DHARAMSHALA, May 29: As the fiery wave of self-immolation continues to spread inside Tibet, the Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration in a release yesterday evening expressed grave concern over the ongoing critical situation inside Tibet.

Two Tibetans had set themselves on fire in front of the historic Jokhang Temple in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Sunday in an apparent protest against the Chinese government.

One of them has been identified as 19-year-old Dorjee Tseten, while the other, a 25-year old male, is believed to be his friend and a colleague at a restaurant where they both worked.

Dorjee Tseten is feared dead.

The CTA in its release said that “several convoys” of Chinese security forces immediately arrived and the scene and “swiftly cleared” all traces of the incident.

“The situation in Lhasa remains tense with the deployment of huge number of police and para-military forces in the area,” CTA noted.

The exile Tibetan administration renewed its call for China to open Tibet to international observers and the press.

“No matter how the Chinese government attempts to present the cycle of self-immolations to the international community, such explanation will be met with deep scepticism so long as access to Tibetan areas, particularly where self-immolations took place, is denied to impartial observers such as members of the press, and representatives of international bodies such as the United Nations,” Dicki Chhoyang, Minister of the Department of Information and International Relations said.

Candle light vigil

Exiled Tibetans and supporters gathered at the Upper TCV School’s football ground for a mass vigil, Dharamshala, India, May 28, 2012 (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
Exiled Tibetans and supporters gathered at the Upper TCV School’s football ground for a mass vigil, Dharamshala, India, May 28, 2012 (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
Thousands of Tibetans and supporters gathered at the Upper Tibetan Children’s Village School’s football ground yesterday evening for a mass vigil in solidarity with the ongoing self-immolations inside Tibet.

Speaking at the candle light vigil, organised by the Dharamshala regional chapters of the youth congress and women’s association, Tsewang Rigzin, the President of the largest pro-independence group in exile, condemned the Chinese government for its repressive policies in Tibet.

“The will, the wishes and the slogans of all Tibetans are same and united. All Tibetans long for the return of the Dalai Lama and restoration of Tibet’s independence,” Rigzin said.

The major Tibetan settlements in the south Indian state of Karnataka are also carrying out prayer services today for the two self-immolators.

Since 2009, thirty seven Tibetans have set themselves on fire demanding the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.