Minnesota: Parliamentarian Tsewang Rigzin of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from North America addressed the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and World Human Rights Day on 10 December 2019 in Minnesota.
The celebration was attended by monks; Chief Guests Carolyn Laine, member of the Minnesota Senate; Chief Guest Eric Pratt, member of Minnesota Senate; Tsewang Rigzin, Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from North America; and the general public.
The 30th anniversary initiated with the singing of Tibetan national anthem led by students of the cultural center, observing a moment of silence in homage to the martyrs of Tibet, singing of Nobel Peace Prize Song (Noble Toeyang) and offering of traditional Tibetan scarves to the throne of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
In his address at the program, Parliamentarian Tsewang Rigzin advised Tibetans never to forget His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s kindness and blessing. At the same time, he reminded them to strive for the cause of Tibet and to protect and preserve Tibetan identity, language, and culture. He further spoke about the critical situation inside Tibet under the repressive policies of Communist Party of China like self-immolation of Tibetans, restriction on the display of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s portrait in Tibet, and the requirement for the Tibetan graduates applying for Chinese government jobs to criticize His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Parliamentarian Tsewang Rigzin urged the State Senators on the following three points. 1) Hoisting of the Tibetan national flag in Minnesota Parliament on the Tibetan National Uprising Day i.e. on 10 March to show solidarity to Tibetan cause. 2) Set up a Tibet support group consisting of Members of Minnesota legislature from cross-political parties. 3) Support for the buying new community hall for Tibetans living there.
Thereafter, in response, Chief Guest Carolyn Laine, member of the Minnesota Senate in her address, assured her continued support for Tibet’s issue and for the new community hall. While Chief Guest Eric Pratt, member of Minnesota Senate expressed his solidarity to the critical situation of Tibet and spoke on the importance of culture protection. They later provided a copy of the resolution adopted by Minnesota State Legislature honoring Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche.
The celebration concluded with the screening of the movie called ‘The Dalai Lama-Scientist’, after the presentation of vibrant cultural performances by the students of the cultural center and the general public.
