By Tenzin Pema Chashar

Bangalore, Aug 30 – Tibetans in Bangalore on Saturday joined thousands of Tibetans and Tibet supporters worldwide by observing a 12-hour long fast and prayer service aimed at resolving the current crisis in their homeland.

As part of the prayer service, which was presided over by monks from the Lama Gyudpa Monastery, Hunsur, and in a move to promote inter-religious harmony, the South Zone Solidarity Committee also invited representatives from other religions to perform their rites and prayers and made offerings to places of worship in the city.

Mr. Kunga Dorjee, Chief Representative of the Dalai Lama, addressed the nearly 200 Tibetans gathered at the T.C.V. Tibetan Youth Hostel auditorium, and read the official statement issued by the Cabinet.

Speaking about the aims of the fast and prayer service, Mr. Dorjee said the primary aim was to purify the negative actions of all beings, particularly that of the Tibetan and Chinese people, and to accumulate and multiply collective good karma.

The Tibetan students, sweater sellers and others residing in the city gathered to pray for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for world peace as well as for those Tibetans who died or face severe oppression in the aftermath of the March protests in Tibet.

Two Hindu priests performed their rites and prayers before the Tibetans gathered, while a Christian nun and father spoke about the Christian way of life. Representatives of both religions involved the Tibetans gathered in their prayers for a swift resolution to the Tibetan crisis.

The fast and prayer service, which was observed from 8 am to 8 pm IST, is part of the global campaign initiated by the seven-member Tibetan Solidarity Committee.

The Tibetan Solidarity Committee, an emergency body constituted by the Cabinet and Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, was formed primarily to lead the exile movement in unity, to resolve the crisis that had sprung up in Tibet after the Chinese government reacted with a violent crackdown to Tibetan unrest that broke out across Tibet since March this year.