Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 10: Veteran Tibetan activist Jamyang Tenzin, who completed his 7th and final solo cycling rally on November 20, has now embarked on a 90-day nationwide bike rally from Dharamshala’s Tsuglagkhang temple on Wednesday. The launch coincided with the 36th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is joined on this journey by Lodoe Palden, former President of the Bir Regional Tibetan Youth Congress.
The rally is dedicated to celebrating the 90th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, as the exile community marks 2025 the ‘Year of Compassion’ to honour the nonagenarian leader’s message of compassion, non-violence, and universal responsibility.
The two activists, both former Special Frontier Force (SFF) veterans, said they plan to conclude the rally in New Delhi on March 10, a significant date for Tibetans worldwide as it marks Tibetan National Uprising Day, commemorating the 1959 peaceful protest in Lhasa against Chinese colonial rule. Through this initiative, they expressed hope to inspire Tibetan youth to actively participate in and strengthen the ongoing Tibetan freedom movement.
“This campaign stands as a patriotic and selfless initiative to defend truth, protect Tibet’s cultural identity, and strengthen the longstanding Indo-Tibet bond,” the two activists in their 60s stated in a press statement.
The nationwide rally will also draw attention to China’s systemic assimilation policies in Tibet, including the placement of over one million Tibetan children in state-run colonial boarding schools where many, as young as four or five, are forcibly separated from their families, a practice aimed at eroding Tibetan identity.
The campaign will further call on the Indian government and the people of India to recognise Tibet’s historical independence and to acknowledge that India shares its border with Tibet, not China. The activists argue that “a free and independent Tibet would naturally resolve current border tensions and restore the traditional Indo-Tibetan boundary.”
At the same time, the two activists will express their profound gratitude to the Indian government and the people of India for providing refuge to Tibetans for over six decades, enabling them to rebuild their lives with dignity. They noted that India’s support allowed Tibetans to establish settlements, schools, institutions, and a functioning democratic government-in-exile dedicated to preserving their culture, language, and religious heritage.
