[Philadelphia, PA] – On May 21, 2008 US-Tibet Committee (USTC), Tibetan Association of Philadelphia and Tibet supporters held the Philadelphia leg of the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay. The Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay is a parallel torch relay to the Olympic Torch relay. While Tibet is excluded from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tibetans and Tibet supporters have organized their own relay to bring awareness to the public of Tibet’s struggle for freedom and justice.
The Tibetan Freedom Torch lighting ceremony began at noon outside Philadelphia’s City Hall. It was then escorted by large group of people waving Tibetan national flags to Independence Mall, which is in front of the hall where the American colonies declared their independence from the British Empire in 1776.
At Independence Mall, a prayer ceremony for those who had died in the Sichuan-Tibet earthquake was held. Several speakers then talked about the recent protests in Tibet and the harsh reprisals by the Chinese Government. The Olympic Games are supposed to stand for peace and harmony but the host of 2008 Olympics, China, is brutally stamping out religious and political freedom in Tibet. Four months after the Tibetan protests began, Tibet remains sealed off from foreign journalists and tourists and Tibetan monks and nuns are being forced to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama. China has failed to live up to its own promises of improving human rights in the run up to the Olympics and is in violation of numerous international human rights laws.
Among the speakers at the rally outside Independence Hall were Jeff Granett, MD (USTC), Tsering Jurme, Tsering Wangdi (Tibetan Association of Philadelphia), Kalaya’an Mendoza (Students for a Free Tibet), Wangchuk Shakabpa (USTC), Floyd Platton (Tibetan Buddhist Center), and Ven. Lobsang Samten (Tibetan Buddhist Center). Special guest speaker Tenzin Sangpo, a former political prisoner, also gave a stirring and emotional speech about the need to pressure China to end human rights abuses in Tibet.
A group of Tibetans from New York City had also driven down that day to attend the relay in Philadelphia.
Pictures from the Philadelphia Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay can be viewed at www.ustibetcommittee.org.