Two Tibetan activists start a bike rally & will visit all Indian states for the next two months
Two Tibetan activists, Tsering Yeshi from Dehradun (Uttarakhand) and Chimmi Tamden from Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), on Tuesday started a bike rally from McLeodganj and will go all over India to get support and signatures on a petition demanding Bharat Ratna for Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th Dalai Lama.
Tibetan activists from various Tibetan NGOs and Indian supporters gathered in McLeodganj on Monday to welcome the campaign. Both the bikers will visit all Indian states for the next two months. They will get the signatures on a petition with an appeal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for consideration for the conferment of the prestigious Bharat Ratna award to the 14th Dalai Lama.
“I am here to start my campaign. My campaign is – I am writing an application to the Prime Minister of India, regarding the conferment of the Bharat Ratna award to the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. For that, I am riding all over India, visiting all the Tibetan settlements – right from Ladakh to Kanyakumari, from Arunachal to Gujarat,” said Tsering.
When asked about the motivation for the bike rally, he said, “The motivation comes from His Holiness itself. His Holiness contribution to not only Tibetan communities, but, to the whole world – for that I don’t have to explain anything and being my Guru. The Central Tibetan Administration has declared gratitude to His Holiness Dalai Lama for his contribution in all the fields.”
When he was preparing to start his bike rally with Chimmi, it started raining. He said that rains are a sign of good luck in the Tibetan community. “In Tibet, when we do something new and it rains then we consider it as good luck. So I think it’s not bad weather, rain is a good thing to happen. I don’t see any challenges, since I feel it’s really a very big task for me and being able to do it is my good luck,” he added.
Tsering said that he expects to finish the rally in 50-60 days.
