First of all, on behalf of all us assembled here, I would like to pay deepest respect to our leader and Nobel Peace laureate His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I am very happy to see so many of you here today. I want to say thank you to all of you for coming out together on the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day in Toronto. I have been told a short while ago that a busload of Tibetans from Belleville has joined us here today. I want to say thank you to them also.
We are united today to remember and show our respect to those many thousands of Tibetans who were massacred in Tibet on this day in 1959. We are united today to remember and show our respect to those several hundred thousands of Tibetans who were imprisoned, tortured and killed during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. We are united in strength today to remember and show our respect to those 109 Tibetans inside and outside Tibet who have set themselves alive on fire shouting words of freedom and return of H.H. the Dalai Lama. We are united today to mourn the loss of lives of 94 Tibetans who have died through self-‐immolations since 2009. We are united here to tell the world that we need their support to make China respect the basic human rights and fundamentals rights of Tibetans in Tibet.
This day on March 10, 1959, we Tibetans rose against the rule of Communist China in Tibet. The struggle that we started in 1959, to seek freedom for our country, continues till today. Our struggle for freedom has taken 54 long years so far. This struggle may take several more years. Yet, more than ever, I am more confident today that we will win freedom sooner than expected. Tibetans inside Tibet are more determined to seek freedom. Tibetans inside Tibet are more committed to find strong but non-‐violent means to resist China’s policy of blatant racial assimilation through the destruction of our language, our culture and our religion. Tibetans inside Tibet are not afraid of going to jail, and, they are not afraid of being killed by death sentence through unfair and absurd trials. There is no way that a nation as determined as we Tibetans today can be kept without freedom for long. Tibet to be free is the only destiny of the Tibetans. We will free Tibet one day.
Since 2009, 107 Tibetans have burnt themselves alive. 94 of them have died as a result. Fate of several others are not known yet. We are saddened by the loss of their precious lives. Those who have survived have irreparable body damages. We are sad that we cannot do anything to be with them and do something to lessen their pains. These sacrifices were made because to live as a normal human being in Tibet has become impossible. The shame of humiliation; the pain of racial discrimination; the fear of mysterious arrest, unjustified imprisonment and merciless torture, have made life worthless to live in Tibet. Yet Tibetans inside Tibet has not given up hope. They have decided to take control of their destiny. They have in reality started a resistance movement in Tibet. They have started a non-‐violent struggle for freedom. We Tibetans, who are lucky to be outside Tibet, have an important role to play. In very street you walk, in every work place you do your job, in every restaurant that we meet other people -‐ be the voice of those who have died in Tibet and tell every where that Tibetans are dying for freedom; and request them that their respective governments should not allow China to make human life worthless in Tibet.
Communist China want to change us completely so that nothing about Tibet stays alive on this earth. Our culture is being destroyed in a systematic way so that Tibetans become faceless. Tibetan as a language is being diluted and dismantled slowly so that Tibet as a race and as nation becomes extinct from this earth. We must not to let China succeed in its game plan to destroy Tibet as a distinct race and to destroy Tibet as unique culture. Although this is a big challenge, we can overcome this challenge if we are determined; this determination will come if we stay united; this unity will come if we develop a greater sense of respect and affection in spite of our minor differences; this sense of respect and affection will grow if we are forward looking. We must accept change and must modernize in our thinking, and remove some of the weaknesses in our culture that has held us back for so many centuries.
The future of every nation depends upon its younger generation. The strength and future of our freedom struggle also depends on our children and on these young boys and girls in front of us. Persons of impeccable character, persons who can stand for their principles and persons who can develop visionary path can only carry the responsibility of our freedom struggle best. Education is the key to be able to develop these values. Therefore, we as parents today must invest wisely in our younger generation. This 54th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising in Toronto must inspire us to compete and challenge ourselves as to who can provide the best education and upbringing to our children; as to which child goes to University of Toronto or Harvard University with full scholarship to study science and mathematics. This is the only way we can fight back China. If we compete ourselves to buy the biggest house and the most expensive cars only, the future of your children and the future of Tibet will be always in the hands of others. I want to remind these young boys and girls here that the future of Tibet is in your hand. Our enemy is strong and powerful now. You must make yourselves powerful too. I am making a strong appeal to your parents today. Please, you must also cooperate your parents to succeed in making you the best citizen of Tibet and Canada.
China is strong and powerful today. China is also changing today. The unprecedented economic forces unleashed by Communist Party of China will force China to change sooner than later. We have to be ready for the change. We have to be ready to seize the opportunity. Therefore, let us stay united, let us stay determined, let us be confident and have faith in our common spirit. I am confident that we will free Tibet.
With these words I want thank all of you. I want to thank Canada and City of Toronto for giving us the opportunity to live in freedom and for allowing us to campaign freely for the freedom of Tibetans. I want to thank our supporters, former Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Wanye Marston, Peggy Nash, Cheri Dinivo, Elizabeth May, Kevin Dao and his friend from Federation for A Democratic China, and Walter Jersky from CFT. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Bhod Gyal lo.
Kunsang Tanzin
President, Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario