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Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
Edinburgh, September 13 – The European leg of “Flame of Truth Relay” which began on 2nd September 2012 from Barcelona city, Spain, (1) took a last minute detour to Scotland in Edinburgh on September 13, 2012. At the invitation of David Lloyd Hudson, UK Ambassador for the United Nations for a Free Tibet (UNFFT) and the Tibetan Community in Scotland (TCS) based in Edinburgh, Ven. Thubten Wanchen, Tibetan Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile from Europe, escorted the torch of the “Flame of Truth” to Scotland. Chithue Wanchen was greatly welcomed by Mr Hudson and members from the Tibetan Community in Scotland on their arrival at Edinburgh airport. (2)
Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
After a greet and talk meeting with students at Edinburgh University, Chithue Wangchen was welcomed by local Tibetans at a ceremony at Bristo Square Edinburgh. Wangchen called on the International society and the United Nations to ensure the basic aspirations of the Tibetan people inside occupied Tibet, saying, “I’m thrilled to meet with all involved at such short notice and grateful to all who made [his] visit possible.”
Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
For the past 60 years, Tibetans have been forced to witness their land and immense natural resources being looted; their rich and unique culture and language irreparably destroyed, their history erased and replaced by lies. “China must be held to the same standard of human rights protection and the same standard of common decency as any other country without blurring the measure expected of China on account of its economic, financial and trade power,” David Lloyd Hudson said. “The United Nations must discuss the issue of Tibet to avoid the continuing deterioration of the situation in Tibet.”
Following the welcome ceremony, the torch delegation accepted an invited to address the Scottish Parliament where he was met by a crowd of supporters including Amie Robertson and her team from the Edinburgh University Tibet Society. After a short talk, Chithue Wanchen la was warmly welcomed to the Parliament by facilitator Iain Thom, Secretary of the Cross-Party Party Group on Tibet, MSPs Linda Fabiani (Scottish National Party) and Willie Rennie (Scottish Liberal Democrat Party). Scottish National Party MSPs Christine Grahame and Roderick Campbell also made time to speak with Chithue Wanchen la during his tour of the Parliament.
Global “FLAME OF TRUTH” Visits Edinburgh
MSPs Linda Fabiani said, “It is an honour to have Wangchen la in Scotland and fully accept the appeal to keep on working for Tibet and the Tibet issues.”
In the evening, the torch delegation was invited as honorable guests during a dinner with Mr Hudson and members of the TCS. The entire team stayed overnight as guest of a Tibetan family in Edinburgh before flying to Manchester to reunite with the Flame of Truth tour car and carry on the next leg of their tour in Dublin the next morning.
Chithue Wanchen thanked the people for participating in this campaign and continued to call on all the people to use their voice to send a clear message on behalf of occupied Tibet. Wanchen’s visit helped to raised awareness in Scotland for the Tibetan Government-in-exile’s Global Flame of Truth Relay, appealing to the International Community and to the people of the world to learn more about the ongoing the issue of of human rights abuses and cultural genocide in Tibet; and to sign a petition that will be submitted simultaneously to the UN Headquarters in New York City, the Un Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the UN information office in New Delhi.
The Flame of Truth Relay petition demands (3):
• The United Nations must discuss the issue of Tibet based on the resolutions that it has passed in 1959, 1961 and 1965, and continuously make efforts to fulfill the substance of these resolutions;
• An independent international fact-finding delegations must immediately be sent to investigate the ongoing crisis in Tibet;
• The United Nations must take special responsibility to ensure that the basic aspirations of the Tibetans inside Tibet are fulfilled.
For online signature
