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A B O U T F R I E N D S O F T I B E T
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Friends of Tibet Global Sites:
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Founded by Sethu Das in Bombay in 1999 with just one member, Friends of Tibet (India) started its activities as an email club - informing people about the latest from the Chinese-occupied Tibet and from the Tibetan community in exile in India. 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 3,900 members in India and 19 regional chapters and six international chapters.
On its seventh anniversary in 2006, the organisation announced the launch of its international chapters - in Uruguay, Spain, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and United Kingdom and went ahead with forming 'Friends of Tibet: Global' - a global network of Friends of Tibet chapters directly supporting the Tibetan people's struggle for independence. Friends of Tibet survives entirely on donations from its individual members and supporters and never accept funding from governments or funding-agencies to ensure its political and financial independence. The official mission statement of Friends of Tibet is: "Friends of Tibet is a people's 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."
Dear friends:
Friends of Tibet (India) made a humble beginning in 1999 from Bombay with a handful of people supporting Tibet's independence, and by launching a single-page website hosted with a free site - http://www.anglefire.com/in/friendsoftibet/. It started as an Email Club with the purpose of informing people about the latest from Chinese-occupied Tibet.
It did not take much time for Friends of Tibet to become the most active Tibet Support Group in India. Our task was to create awareness among the people about the suffering of the Tibetan people and their struggle for independence at a time when the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, the one and only legitimate government of the Tibetan people, abandoned the demand for independence.
In a short span, thousands of people became Friends of Tibet members. The organisation managed to create a strong network of campaigners across the country and once again made Tibet a matter of debate. Tibet resurfaced - in schools, colleges, poetry circles, among writers, journalists, cartoonists, and even among the communists in the country. India too became a difficult destination for the visiting Chinese dignitaries. Even after eight years of existence, Friends of Tibet has no office, no salaried grass-root activists and no bank balance. The organisation survives entirely occasional donations from its individual members and supporters and never accepts funds from governments or funding-agencies to ensure its political and financial independence. At Friends of Tibet, we believe that true activism is all about altruism.
Friends of Tibet work for Tibetan independence because the clear wish of the people inside Tibet, who continue to suffer and to die for freedom - is for independence. As an organisation we shall continue to oppose China's ultimate design - the eradication of Tibet as a separate country, its history, culture and language. For us, this struggle is neither about winning nor losing but about being true to our beliefs and having the courage to stand up for the oppressed.
(Sethu Das, Founder)
sethu.das@friendsoftibet.org
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I have been watching with a sense of sadistic pleasure the rituals as India and China try to molest each other during their border debates. While they solemnly pretend to be solving border issues with utmost seriousness, they both know that without first solving the status of Tibet, no lasting solution is possible. But as a diplomacy and PR exercise, the dragon and the tiger have been - uncomfortably - trying to smile at each other. As a schoolkid I first participated in a Tibet protest rally in Kullu when I was in the fifth standard. We shouted "Tibbat ki azaadi, bharat ki suraksha", but in the busy Indian streets, bystanders watched us merely for the spectacle of Tibetans on parade, not giving any attention to what we were saying. It hasn't changed much even today with the Indian masses. When news of the PLA's invasion of Tibet reached India in 1950, Indian leaders expressed outrage and people marched down the streets in Bombay in protest. That was then the prevalent spirit against foreign invasion and injustice, having recently won her independence.
Those marchers were one type of Tibet supporters in India. Around the same time another brand of Tibet supporters were born - the patriotic Indians who saw the danger to India from the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet. This lot were mainly the educated ones. They supported Tibet keeping India's interests in mind. This trend grew steadily ever since. Today the sub-continent has more than 150 Tibet Support Groups. They mainly create awareness about Tibet through grassroots education and also by lobbying public representatives to take up the issue of Tibet at the national international levels.
If we look more deeply, I think this happened mainly because we have failed to convince India the viability of our freedom struggle. Most of our efforts to explain our situation have been going to the west. After 45 years of protests and asylum in India, the Indian government was still not convinced of the possibility of free Tibet. India once again decided not to invest political expediency in us. But this does not mean India has given up on Tibet. Never. India can't afford to do that due to her own interests. Besides the border, there are many other geo-political and cultural considerations that guide India's interest in a free Tibet. It was our own decision to seek "Genuine Autonomy" for our homeland without striving to separate Tibet from China that has left little political choice for India. When we ourselves go about announcing that we do not seek independence for Tibet, how can India help us? India won't do anything that would make China her permanent neighbour. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most sincere and dedicated Indian friends of Tibet. And I have felt the power of that spiritual bonding. This is the source of my conviction that finally the declaration of Tibetan independence will arise from this land.
(Tenzin Tsundue, General Secretary)
tenzin.tsundue@friendsoftibet.org
1999 Friends of Tibet (India) National Committee members with HH the XIV Dalai Lama. (From Left): Lobsang Tsering, Tenzin Tsundue, Prashant Varma, Sethu Das, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Purnima Phansalkar, Harsh Piramal and Reshma Piramal.
2004 Friends of Tibet (India) National Committee members with HH the XIV Dalai Lama during the Friends of Tibet National Meet at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
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Friends of Tibet, PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050, India.
Friends of Tibet is a people's 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.
