Dharamshala: Dr Tenzin Dorjee, Commissioner of US Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF) visited the Tibetan Parliamentary Secretariat on 11 January and met with Speaker, Deputy Speaker and standing committee members.
Speaker, Deputy Speaker and standing committee members of TPiE hosted the Chair of US Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF), Dr Tenzin Dorjee in standing committee hall, where Deputy Speaker Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok greeted him and introduced the members of the standing committee.
In his introductory remarks, Speaker Pema Jungney expressed that it is a matter of pride and happiness for a Tibetan to be elected as the Commissioner of USCIRF and thanked him for the meeting.
Speaker also said that Dr Tenzin Dorjee, being a Tibetan have special responsibility concerning religious freedom in Tibet. He appreciated Commissioner’s efforts regarding Panchen Lama’s incarnation and other Tibet issues. Speaker requested Dr Tenzin Dorjee to further raise the issue of China’s crackdown on religious freedom in Tibet.
Dr Tenzin Dorjee had studied at Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD), Mcleod Ganj and as a gratitude to the founder of IBT and his teacher late Ven Geshe Lobsang Gyatso, he volunteered to teach research methods at College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah(CHTS) during his college vacation.
In the meeting, Dr Tenzin Dorjee thanked Speaker, Deputy Speaker and other standing committee members for taking time from their busy schedule.
He explained that as a commissioner of US Commission on International Religious Freedom, his main responsibility is to work for international religious freedom but as a Tibetan, he has special responsibility concerning Tibet’s religious freedom and he will take every opportunity to work for religious freedom in Tibet.
Dr Tenzin Dorjee also explained their project called “Prisoner of conscience(POC)” which adopts a prisoner from countries which does not have religious freedom(Country of Particular Concern(CPC)). In Tibet, Panchen Lama’s case and many others are similar to this, he takes special care and holds multiple campaigns regarding Panchen Lama’s issue.
He also talked about Tom Lantos Human Rights commision, where he went to testify and talked about Larung Gar, Panchen Lama and future reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalia Lama which was supported by Jim McGovern.
He also spoke about the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, for which he and many others have striven to make it into law and Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA). Finally, Speaker presented a souvenir of honour to Dr Tenizn Dorjee.
The meeting concluded with a tour of the Tibetan Parliament hall.
