Golden seal honour for Dalai Lama for leading Tibetan democracy

Tuesday, August 10, 201

IANS
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Aug 9 -- Tibetans living in exile in India will honour the Dalai Lama with a golden seal next month for leading the Tibetan democratic system in exile.

'It would be a big day for us and we are celebrating it in a big way at Bylakuppe (in Karnataka). We would felicitate His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, for his years-long selfless service and also present a golden seal to him,' Penpa Tsering, speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, told IANS.

The golden seal will be given to the Dalai Lama at a public function at the biggest Tibetan settlement in India, Bylakuppe near Mysore, September 2.

The Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India with thousands of other Tibetans for the last over five decades, had fled Tibet in 1959 when Chinese forces entered and took over Lhasa city.

Since then, the Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the Tibetan government-in-exile is based in the hill town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

Talking about other preparations, Tsering said: 'It would be an around half-day long function. Besides normal prayers, there would be many other ceremonies and speeches. We have invited around 20 MPs from 10-12 countries to participate in this event. We are expecting around 25,000 people, from all across the world, to come to Bylakuppe to attend this historic event.'

Tibetans will celebrate 50 years of democratic tradition in their adopted land next month. It will be preceded by a meeting of the Tibetan leadership Aug 26-31 to review the work done in the last five decades and to discuss the future and welfare of exiled Tibetans in settlements across India and globally.