Brief Biography of Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SIKYONG DR LOBSANG SANGAY Dr Lobsang Sangay was born and grew up in a Tibetan settlement near Darjeeling, where he attended the Central School for Tibetans. He completed his B.A. (Honors) and LLB degrees from Delhi University. In 1992, he was elected as the youngest executive member of the Tibetan Youth Congress. In 1996, as a Fulbright Scholar, he obtained a Master’s Degree and in 2004, Doctor of Juridical Science from Harvard Law School and his dissertation, Democracy in Distress: Is Exile Polity a Remedy? A Case Study of Tibet's Government-in-exile was awarded the Yong K. Kim’ 95 Prize. In 2005, he was appointed as a research fellow and promoted to senior fellow until early 2011. Dr Sangay is an expert on International Human Rights Law, Democratic Constitutionalism, and Conflict Resolution. He has spoken in hundreds of seminars around the world. He organised seven major conferences among Chinese, Tibetan, Indian and Western scholars including two unprecedented meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Chinese scholars in 2003 and 2009 at Harvard University. In 2007, he was selected as one of the twenty-four “Young Leaders of Asia” by the Asia Society and a delegate to the World Justice Forum in Vienna, Austria, where top legal experts and judges from around the world congregated. Since 2011, Dr Sangay has served as the Sikyong or the political leader of the Tibetan people. Academic publications: Tibet: Exiles' Journey, Journal of Democracy – Volume 14, Number 3, July 2003, pp. 119– 130 Lobsang Sangay, China in Tibet: Forty Years of Liberation or Occupation?, Harvard Asia Quarterly, Volume III, No. 3, 1999. Human rights and Buddhism: cultural relativism, individualism & universalism, Thesis (LL. M.), Harvard Law School, 1996, OCLC 43348085 Democracy in distress: is exile polity a remedy? : a case study of Tibet's government in exile, Thesis (S.J.D.), Harvard Law School, 2004, OCLC 62578261 A constitutional analysis of the secularization of the Tibetan diaspora : the role of the Dalai Lama, in Theology and the soul of the liberal state, ed. Leonard V Kaplan; Charles Lloyd Cohen, Lanham : Lexington Books, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7391-2617-2 .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Introduction: Theorizing the Secular in Tibetan Cultural Worlds Holly Gayley
Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Philosophy Faculty Publications Philosophy & Religious Studies 5-2016 Introduction: Theorizing the Secular in Tibetan Cultural Worlds Holly Gayley Nicole Willock Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/philosophy_fac_pubs Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Religion Commons Repository Citation Gayley, Holly and Willock, Nicole, "Introduction: Theorizing the Secular in Tibetan Cultural Worlds" (2016). Philosophy Faculty Publications. 33. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/philosophy_fac_pubs/33 Original Publication Citation Gayley, H., & Willock, N. (2016). Introduction | Theorizing the secular in tibetan cultural worlds. Himalaya, The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 36(1), 12-21. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy & Religious Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Introduction | Theorizing the Secular in Tibetan Cultural Worlds Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the contributors to this volume—Tsering Gonkatsang, Matthew King, Leigh Miller, Emmi Okada, Annabella Pitkin, Françoise Robin, Dominique Townsend—as well as the other original panelists—Janet Gyatso, Nancy Lin, and Tsering Shakya—on the panel, ‘The Secular in Tibet and Mongolia,’ at the Thirteenth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies in 2013. The presentations, questions, and comments by panelists and audience offered new perspectives, provided the fodder for further investigations into the secular in Tibetan cultural worlds, and paved the way for this special issue of HIMALAYA.
[Show full text]
Constructing the Secular: the Changing Relationship Between Religion and Politics in the Tibetan Exile Community
HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 36 Number 1 Article 12 May 2016 Constructing the Secular: The Changing Relationship Between Religion and Politics in the Tibetan Exile Community Emmi Okada University of Tokyo, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Okada, Emmi. 2016. Constructing the Secular: The Changing Relationship Between Religion and Politics in the Tibetan Exile Community. HIMALAYA 36(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol36/iss1/12 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Constructing the Secular: The Changing Relationship Between Religion and Politics in the Tibetan Exile Community Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the innumerable Tibetans in Dharamsala, India, without whose assistance the present research could not have been completed. She also wishes to acknowledge Professor David Gellner who supervised her MPhil thesis which formed the basis of this article, and the Tibetan Studies staff at the Oriental Institute at the University of Oxford,
[Show full text]
Human Rights and Tibet: Leading a Government-In- Exile
Human Rights and Tibet: Leading a Government-in- Exile CAMILO SANCHEZ: Good morning. Thank you all for being here. And welcome to a new year of human rights programming at UVA. And now, I know what you're thinking. February is almost over. Spring break is around the corner. And there is this guy still throwing out Happy New Year's wishes. Fair point, but you might not know that this weekend, this very weekend, the Tibetan community is celebrating Losar, a festival that marks the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar. So in spirit of embracing multiculturalism, the UVA human rights program is kicking off its year ignoring the Gregorian calendar and partially the academic calendar. So Dr. Sangay, I apologize for the last minute request, but you will have to tell us more about the Losar celebrations. Our human rights program at the University of Virginia School of Law is proud of its mission to intentionally bridge the worlds of research, policy, and human rights practice, while maintaining a focus on rigorous and scholarly inquiry. At the top of our interests is to increase our knowledge on how scholars, activists, governments, movements, and other actors understand, conceptualize, advocate for, critique, or even reject or ignore human rights. We want to expose our community to the tensions, contradictions, contingencies, roads not taken, and dilemmas that lie at the heart of the human rights enterprise. That's why we seek to bring to campus people that from different perspectives and backgrounds reflect not only on philosophical questions, such as what are human rights? What should they be? But also on other questions shaped by human rights practice, such as what do human rights do? Why do people use human rights? Why do communities use them instead of using other political or moral frameworks? And what are the effects, implications, and drawbacks of relying on human rights in political struggles? And we couldn't think of a better person to speak to these questions than our distinguished keynote speaker, Dr.
[Show full text]
The Chinese Communists Find Religion the Struggle for the Selection of the Next Dalai Lama
Policy Forum The Chinese Communists Find Religion The Struggle for the Selection of the Next Dalai Lama Anne Thurston Lhamo Thondup was just two years old when he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. The Great Thirteenth, as he is popularly known, had died in Lhasa in 1933 at the age of fifty-eight. The team charged with finding his new incarnation was composed of leading lamas from monasteries in Tibet, and some were eminent reincarnations themselves. Clues and omens unique to Tibetan Buddhism— some provided by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama himself—guided their search. The Dalai Lama had intimated that his reincarnation would be found in the east. Thus, when the head of the embalmed Great Thirteenth was discovered to have turned overnight from facing south to pointing northeast, the search team was certain which direction their journey should take. When the regent in charge of the search visited the sacred Lhamo Lhatso Lake and gazed into its deep blue waters, the characters for “Ah,” “Ka,” and “Ma” appeared, and he saw a hilltop monastery with a golden roof and an ordinary farmer’s house with strangely configured gutters. The “Ah” led the search team to the Amdo region of eastern Tibet, then governed by the Hui (Muslim) warlord Ma Bufang as Qinghai, as the region is known in Chinese. The “Ka” and the vision of a monastery led them to Amdo’s Kumbum monastery, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s leading seats of religious learning, built by the founder of the Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat, school of Buddhism to which all Dalai Lamas have belonged.
[Show full text]
News China Jan. 14.Cdr
VOL. XXVI No. 1 January 2014 Rs. 20.00 2014 is the Year of Horse in Chinese Zodiac Signs. Chinese Foreign Minister Mr.Wang Yi meets with Dr. S. Mr. Zhang Kunsheng, the Chinese Assistant Foreign Jaishankar, the outgoing Indian Ambassador to China Minister and Director-General of the Protocol Department and appreciates his contribution to promote China-India accepts the copy of credentials of Mr. Ashok K Kantha, relations on Dec.9, 2013 in Beijing. the new Indian Ambassador to China, on Jan.6, 2014 in Beijing. Mr. Wei Wei, the Chinese Ambassador to India, addresses Chinese Ambassador Mr. Wei Wei talks with in the inauguration of “Haat of India” held in Bhopal, the representatives of Chinese enterprises during the “Haat capital of Madhya Pradesh on Dec. 21,2013. Over 150 of India”. The Trade Fair provided many conveniences for representatives of various Chinese enterprises attended Chinese exhibitors, including complimentary booths, the three-day’s Trade Fair. free room and translation. The First Joint Study Group Meeting of Bangladesh- Customers and shop owners of China and India talk China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor was held in happily at Renqinggang market in Yadong County of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province of China from southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. With the Dec.18 to 19, 2013. Officials, experts, scholars and booming of China-India border trade the market posted a representatives of the four countries and international 23.3 percent rise in the year of 2013. organizations attended the meeting. Welcome to Yiwu An International Commodity Circulation Center! Crowned as ‘a sea of commodities and a has been a converging place of more than 4,000 paradise for shoppers’, Yiwu of China, which is distributing centers and general agents of located in Zhejiang province, boasts an famous enterprises from home and abroad, aggregate market floor area of 2.6 million including enterprises and merchants from square meters with 53,000 booths and 160,000 more than 40 countries such as USA, Japan, persons engaging in business.
[Show full text]
Why Am I Running for Sikyong?
Why am I running for Sikyong? Today, we Tibetans are at a significant crossroad in our history. While tremendous opportunities lie ahead to rebuild on the momentum of our achievements thus far, it is also time for us to collectively review and overcome some real challenges that can prove detrimental to our cause. This moment calls on all Tibetans to rise to the occasion to address today’s challenges, promote unity, work to achieve our common goal, and build the future of our nation and people. It is with this deep sense of calling, I am offering my candidacy for the post of Sikyong for 2021. I acknowledge with utmost humility that the role of Sikyong is extremely challenging. As the political leader of the Tibetan people, the role requires a balance of vision and execution, innovation and tradition, confidence and humility. With over thirty years of service to the Tibetan people, I sincerely believe that I can fulfill these expectations. In my various capacities with the Central Tibetan Administration, I have established a stellar reputation as a fiscal reformer, a coalition builder among leaders with different political viewpoints, and an advocate of inclusiveness. My extensive administrative and diplomatic skills and training will serve me well. Let me first share the three principles that will guide me if I am given the privilege of leading the Central Tibetan Administration: Truth, Harmony, and Inclusiveness. These tenets will not only serve as the pillars of our freedom movement, but also will provide the basis for my policymaking. Truth: If there is one thing that we have learned from the Coronavirus pandemic, it is that transparency, a hallmark feature of a democracy, fosters people’s trust in our government.
[Show full text]
An Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria an Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria
An Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria An Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria Illustration 1: Sikyong Dr.Lobsang Sangay, (Photo Credit: The Tibet Post International, www.thetibetpost.com) An Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria Front Page Photo Courtesy: Tibet Post International www.thetibetpost.com/ An Interview with Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria This is an exclusive interview of Dr.Lobsang Sangay by Arnav Anjaria. Dr. Lobsang Sangay is the democratically elected Sikyong (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government in Exile, officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration. Elections received massive support of the large Tibetan Diaspora spread across South Asia, North America, South East Asia and Europe. Tibetan Government in Exile was established in 1959 by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Thus with the announcement of the Dalai lama to appoint his political successor, Dr.Lobsang Sangay was democratically elected as the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration. He is the Sixth Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, earlier Sikyong was known as the Kalon Tripa. The interview was conducted in his office in Dharamsala in June 2011 by Arnav Anjaria. Q.) How do you see the Tibetan issue? Dr.Sangay.) There is one country two system in China and in Hong Kong. Then Why not Tibet? That’s the question. Because Hong Kong and Macau people are Han Chinese. But then the Chinese argument has been that Hong Kong has had a different business or commercial system under the British hence you recognize the difference. And gave them a different system.
[Show full text]
Testimony of Kaydor Aukatsang, Representative of His Holiness The
Testimony of Kaydor Aukatsang, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to North America, at the US Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on Tibet & China: Searching for a New Way Forward held on July 14, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Chairman: Thank you for inviting me to testify before your committee. The late Tom Lantos was a steadfast friend of the Tibetan people and a passionate visionary who prioritized the issue of Tibet and transformed it into an important concern for the United States Congress. I want to thank you, Co-Chairs McGovern and Pitts, in particular, for carrying on the work of the late Tom Lantos and for your strong commitment to the Tibetan issue. Your decision to hold this hearing clearly demonstrates your care and concern for Tibet and the Tibetan people. I also want to thank the esteemed members of the Commission for their support and participation. Mr. Chairman, I was by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s side during his recent visit to Dallas, Orange County and New York. The visit was organized to celebrate His Holiness’ 80th birthday. I’m pleased to inform you that His Holiness at 80 is still strong, active and tirelessly promoting his message of oneness of humanity, compassion, preservation of Tibet’s Buddhist culture and environment, and a world free of violence. On behalf of His Holiness and the Tibetan people, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the outpouring of support and positive messages that we received from members of Congress on His Holiness’ 80th birthday.
[Show full text]
TIBETAN Bulletin the Official Journal of the Central Tibetan Administration Volume 25 - Issue 1 January- February 2021
TIBETAN BulletiN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CENTRAL TIBETAN ADMINISTRATION VOLUME 25 - ISSUE 1 JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2021 News from Tibet and Exile Exile Tibetans Hold Preliminary Election for Sikyong and Members of 17th Tibetan Parliament ***** Feature His Holiness the Dalai Lama Holds Virtual Conversation with Mayors on Kind and Compassionate Leadership ***** Focus Central Tibetan Administration Strongly Rejects Chinese Government’s False Accusations www.tibet.net/en/tibbul www.tibet.net/en/tibbul News From Tibet and Exile 04 Exile Tibetans Hold Preliminary Election for 2021 Sikyong and TIBETAN Members of 17th Tibetan Parliament BulletiN Tibetan Bulletin is an official bi-monthly 05 A Tibetan Tour Guide Dies from Prison Injuries in Driru, Tibet journal of the Central Tibetan Administration. 06 China Sentenced a Tibetan to 13 years in 2013, News Emerges amid Clampdown 07 UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet Discusses Tibet at Virtual Meeting 08 Japanese Parliamentarians Reaffirm Support to Tibetans at General Meeting Signed articles or quotations do not 09 Czech Parliamentary Group for Tibet Reaffirms Continued Support necessarily reflect the views of the Central for Tibet on Tibetan Losar Tibetan Administration. Contributions are welcome and may be addressed to the editor, Tibetan Bulletin. Focus However the publisher regrets its inability 10 Sikyong Welcomes Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of US to return unused articles unless they are accompanied by a self-addressed envelope 11 Election Commission Declares Result of Preliminary Election of with adequate postage. Sikyong and Members of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Tibetan Bulletin is distributed free of charge. To subscribe please email the 14 China Warns Tibetan Internet Users of “Strike Hard” Campaign circulation manager or see back cover.
[Show full text]
Jan- Feb 2016
TIBETAN BULLETIN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CENTRAL TIBETAN ADMINISTRATION VOLUME 20 - ISSUE 1 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 FOCUS China: No End to Tibet Surveillance Program **** FEATURE Thousands Pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Recovery at Dharamshala **** WORLD PRESS Chinese Celebrities Warned Not to Mix with Exiled Tibetans : AP **** OBITUARY His Eminence Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche (1926 - 2015) www.tibet.net/en/tibbul Dr BP Singh, former of Governor of Sikkim and 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi with His Holiness the Dalai Lama before the ‘Celebrating His Holiness’ event in New Delhi, India on January 4, 2016. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/ OHHDL Artistes from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) presenting cultural performances during Losar - Tibetan new year ceremony - at Tsuglakhang on 9 February 2016. His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Tibetan school children on on the final afternoon of his visit to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on January 1, 2016. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL www.tibet.net/en/tibbul FOCUS 8. China: No End to Tibet Surveillance Program - Human Rights Watch 14. UN Human Rights Chief Deeply Concerned by China Clampdown on Lawyers and Activists TIBETAN BULLETIN Tibetan Bulletin is an official bi-monthly FEATURE journal of the Central Tibetan 16. Thousands Pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Recovery at Administration. Dharamshala 17. Tibetan New Year’s Greeting from His Holiness the Dalai Lama 18. His Holiness the Dalai Lama Addresses IAS Association in Bengaluru Signed articles or quotations do not 19. Indian Friends Host 80th Birthday Celebration for His Holiness the Dalai necessarily reflect the views of the Central Tibetan Administration.
[Show full text]
THE FUTURE of TIBET a RENEWED VISION CREATED at the FIVE-FIFTY FORUM in DHARAMSALA, INDIA Member Spotlight Hans Raum, ICT Partner for Tibet
INSIDE: • ICT Members in Dharamsala • Tibetan Heritage Sites • Recent Threats to Religion • New Books on Tibet WINTER 2017 THE FUTURE OF TIBET A RENEWED VISION CREATED AT THE FIVE-FIFTY FORUM IN DHARAMSALA, INDIA Member Spotlight Hans Raum, ICT Partner for Tibet In 1996, after trekking in the Himalayas up to Annapurna base camp, Hans Raum visited a Tibetan refugee settlement near Pokhara, Nepal. Hans says, “When I looked in the eyes of some of the refugees, I could sense they had endured a lot of suffering inflicted by the Chinese communists and that motivated me to join the International Campaign for Tibet.” After that life-changing trip, he was thrilled to have His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama twice visit Middlebury College, where Hans worked as a Research and Instruction Librarian. During his first visit, His Holiness spoke at a Spirit in Nature conference and impressed Hans as “a man of great compassion and clear thinking.” During the Dalai Lama’s second visit, Hans watched him bless a tree right outside his office window. Watching that tree grow through the years has been an inspiration for Hans. In October, Hans joined a group of ICT members traveling to Dharamsala, home of His Holiness (see page 5 for full story). He enjoyed walking the Kora, which circumnavigates His Holiness’ temple, and meeting the librarians at the Tibetan Works and Archives and the Tibetan Children’s Village School. The highlight of the trip was meeting the Dalai Lama. Going to Dharamsala was a wonderful opportunity for Hans to deepen his understanding of and appreciation for the people and culture of Tibet.
[Show full text]
New Tibetan Exile President Congratulated by US Leaders, Interviewed
New Tibetan exile president congratulated by US leaders, interviewed http://www.savetibet.org/new-tibetan-exile-president-congratulated-by-us-leaders-interviewed May 26, 2021 In just a few hours, Penpa Tsering will swear in as the new president, or sikyong, of the Central Tibetan Administration. The CTA provides democratic governance for Tibetan exiles around the world. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, will address the swearing-in ceremony virtually. Penpa won the election for sikyong last month after previously serving as speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and representative at the Office of Tibet in Washington, DC. The ceremony in Dharamsala, India will stream live at 12:25 am EDT on May 27, 9:25 pm PDT on May 26. Congratulations for Penpa—and expressions of support for the Tibetan exile community—have been rolling in from around the world. Earlier this month, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted: “The United States congratulates Penpa Tsering on his election as the Central Tibetan Administration's (CTA) next Sikyong. We look forward to working with him and the CTA to support the global Tibetan diaspora.” Penpa also received best wishes from the current sikyong, Lobsang Sangay, who delivered his farewell address today after 10 years as Tibetans’ exile political leader. In his remarks, Sangay discussed the growing belligerence of the Chinese government—which has illegally ruled Tibet for more than 60 years—as well as Tibetans’ success in gaining foreign support, including through the passage of the United States’ landmark Tibetan Policy and Support Act in 2020.
[Show full text]