Dalai Lama represents Tibetan people’s spirit of resiliency, says Pelosi

Washington, March 9

The Dalai Lama represents the spirit of resiliency of the Tibetan people, a top American Congresswoman has said.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, said 2019 marked 60 years since the Dalai Lama was forced into exile in India.

While Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a separatist who seeks to split Tibet from China, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate says he only seeks greater rights for Tibetans, including religious freedom and autonomy.

Since he fled Tibet in 1959 to escape from the Chinese occupation, the Tibetan spiritual leader has been keeping China on tenterhooks about his successor.

Pelosi said that guided by Tibetans’ untiring voices, Congress would continue to take actions until all Tibetans could live in peace, hope and prosperity.

She said “60 years ago, the people of Tibet rose up against the Chinese government’s systemic repression and brutal attacks to defend their lives and liberty”.

“Each March 10th, Americans remember their bravery and determined spirit of those who fought and gave their lives, and the US recommits to securing the promise of human rights and religious freedom for the people of Tibet,” Pelosi said.

“Over the decades, the Dalai Lama has come to represent the spirit of resiliency of the Tibetan people and his transcendent message of hope continues to inspire all freedom-loving people to champion the aspirations of Tibetan men, women and children, and their right to speak their language, teach their culture and practise their religion in peace,” she said.

In a statement, Pelosi said that on this important anniversary, the United States must renew the unbreakable bonds of friendship between the Tibetan people and the US.

Members of Congress are committed to building on the recent passage of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act which advanced a future where all Tibetans are free to practise their faith and customs, and held Chinese officials accountable for their campaign of fear and cultural repression, she added. PTI