Friends of Tibet
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Friends of Tibet is a global organisation whose aim is to highlight and support the struggle for an independent Tibet.
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[edit] History
Friends of Tibet (India) was started in 1999 in Mumbai as an email club to discuss the latest news from Tibet and from the exile community living in India and Nepal.
The website of the organisation: www.friendsoftibet.org was inaugurated by Venerable Yeshi Togden, president of Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet, an association of former political prisoners from Tibet on March 9, 1999 at Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Soon the focus of the organisation turned to the political issues of Tibet and its impact on India and the rest of the world. Today Friends of Tibet (India) has more than 3,800 members in India and 19 regional chapters. On its seventh anniversary in 2006, the organisation announced the launch of its international chapters - in Uruguay, Spain, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom and went ahead with forming 'Friends of Tibet: Global' - a global movement of Friends of Tibet chapters directly supporting the Tibetan people's struggle for independence.
The official mission statement of Friends of Tibet (Global): "Friends of Tibet is a global movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for independence."
[edit] Founder Members
Sethu Das (Founder President, India): Graduated from the MS University, Baroda with a Fine Arts Degree and went to Dharamshala for a casual visit. There he was moved by the stories of Chinese atrocities in Tibet related to him by Tibetan political prisoners. He founded the Friends of Tibet (India) in 1999 with one member. Today the organisation has 19 national and three international chapters - in Spain, Sri Lanka and Uruguay. Among other things, Sethu has the rare distinction of dropping out from the Industrial Design Centre of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), where thousands of the best designers in the country try desperately each year to get in. He has worked with The Economic Times, a business newspaper from Bombay for about nine years. In the year 2000, Sethu Das co-founded 'Design & People' with his brother. He is also the co-director of the Florida-based 'World Tibet Day Foundation' and a member of the 'International Committee to Bring the CCP to Justice'. He was an International Election Observer during the 5th Presidential Election in Sri Lanka in 2005. From being a graphic designer, to starting a socially-conscious design movement - Sethu is a man of varied tastes and talents. You won't however find him enjoying a bottle of Coca-Cola. (from [www.designandpeople.org])
Tenzin Tsundue (General Secretary, India): Tenzin Tsundue is a restless young Tibetan, who after graduating from Madras, South India, braved snowstorms and treacherous mountains, broke all rules and restrictions, crossed the Himalayas on foot and went into forbidden Tibet! The purpose? To see the situation under Chinese occupation for himself and find out if he could lend a hand or two in the freedom struggle. He was arrested by the Chinese border police, and after cooling his feet in prison in Lhasa for three months, was finally pushed back to India.
Born to a Tibetan refugee family who laboured on India's border roads around Manali, North India, during the chaotic era of Tibetan refugee resettlement in the early seventies. Tenzin Tsundue is a writer-activist, a rare blend in the Tibetan community in exile.
He published a book of poems 'Crossing The Border' with the money begged and borrowed from his classmates while studying in Mumbai. His literary skills won him the first-ever 'Outlook-Picador Award for Non-Fiction' in 2001. In this all-India essay contest Tsundue took first prize from 900 other entries. His writings have been published in International PEN, The Indian PEN, The Indian Literary Panorama, The Little Magazine, Outlook, The Times of India, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Better Photography, The Economic Times, Tehelka, Mid-Day (Mumbai), Afternoon (Mumbai), The Daily Star (Bangladesh), Today (Singapore), Tibetan Review, Tibetan Bulletin, Freedom First, Tibetan World, and Gandhi Marg. He represented Tibet in the Second South Asian Literary Conference in New Delhi in January 2005, which was organised by the premier Indian literary association, Sahitya Academy.
Tsundue joined Friends of Tibet (India) in 1999. Since then he's been working with the organisation as its general secretary. In January 2002 his profile peaked when he scaled scaffolding to the 14th floor of the Oberoi Towers in Mumbai to unfurl a Tibetan national flag and a banner which read "Free Tibet" down the hotel's facade. China's Premier Zhu Rongji was inside the hotel addressing a conference of Indian business tycoons. The world's media featured Tsundue's antics and Indian police officials reportedly congratulated him in prison for standing up for his rights. Recently, in April, he repeated a similar feat with a stunning protest that captured the imagination of the world. Single-handedly, he snatched the world media attention from the visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jia Bao in the south Indian city, Bangalore. (from [www.friendsoftibet.org])
[edit] Current activities
The organisation holds protests and rallies regularly in India, mainly to attract media attention to the issues of Tibet.
