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Dalai Lama greets Tibetans and supporters on Losar

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

The Dalai Lama speaks at Tsugla Khang temple in Mcleod Ganj, India, on the first day of Losar, Tibetan New Year, of Male Iron Tiger year of 2137, 14 February 2010. He said that considering the tense situation in Tibet the Tibetan government-in-exile is not celebrating the holiday in the usual grand way. Only the puja part of the holiday is observed in order to remeber the sufferings of the Tibetans in Tibet.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India

Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, the Dalai Lama, greeted Tibetans and their supporters on Sunday, the first day of their new year which they celebrate as Losar. This lunar year is the year of the Iron Tiger of 2137.

He led a puja session, Tsetor, on the rooftop of Tsugla Khang temple in Mcleod Ganj, attended by the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche. Other ministers, members of the exile parliament, other staff members, the abbot and the monks of Namgyal monastery and other guests also attended.

Addressing an over-crowded Tsugla Khang court yard, the Dalai Lama said that Tibetans inside Tibet have called for no Losar celebrations due to the repressive situation in Tibet.

Accordingly the Tibetan government-in-exile forbade all celebratory activities such dance, music, feasts or lighting firecrackers for their staff members to stand in solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet. Other Tibetans then joined in to skip the celebration of the holiday. Only puja sessions were held.

“The real owner of Tibet is the Tibetans inside Tibet,” said the Dalai Lama.

He said those Tibetans who are in exile live in freedom, and expressed his concern over the Tibetans who live under repression in Tibet.

The decision for not celebrating Losar was in remembrance of the suffering of people inside Tibet, the Dalai Lama said Sunday.

“We are not celebrating the Losar [the Tibetan New Year] in a very grand way. We are only performing the religious ceremonies. I offer my Losar gretings to all the Tibetans inside and outside Tibet and also to people of the Himalayan regions, and to all the supporters of Tibet,” the Dalai Lama said.

Tibetans also called off Losar celebrations last year after some of the biggest uprisings in Tibet starting in March 2008 left more than 200 dead, hundreds imprisoned and thousands still missing.

Students for a Free Tibet raised Tibetan flags on the occasion in a campaign “Raise Our Flag” to express renewed commitment and solidarity towards the Tibetan movement.

Tibetan Women’s Association collected signatures on ‘I Love Tibet’ postcards, which will be sent through priority mail to the US President Barack Obama, calling upon him to take concrete action to facilitate for the resolution of the Tibetan issue.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday. China has urged Washington to cancel the meeting, saying it could further strain China-US relations.

Copyright © 2010 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun