“We have a moral debt to the Dalai Lama”, says Lithuanian MEP/ENG

2013. szeptember 13./CTA/TibetPress

http://tibet.net/2013/09/13/we-have-a-moral-debt-to-the-dalai-lama-says-lithuanian-mep/



His Holiness the Dalai Lama saying farewell to the Mayor of Vilnius Arturas Zuokas and his wife at the end of the second day of His Holiness’s three day visit to Vilnius, Lithuania on September 12, 2013.

DHARAMSHALA: A Lithuanian member of the European Parliament on Wednesday said Lithuanians have a moral debt to the Dalai Lama and described the Tibetan spiritual leader as a global symbol of non-violence.

“We have a moral debt to the Dalai Lama. He is a global symbol of non-violence,” said Leonidas Donskis, the Lithuanian MEP was quoted saying by AFP news agency. Mr Leonadis Donskia is a champion of human rights and civil liberties in Lithuania. The European Commission awarded him the title of the Ambassador for Tolerance and Diversity in Lithuania in 2004.

Earlier this June, a month before Lithuania took over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, Mr Donskis said that Tibet today is a test for our conscience and compassion. The statement came amid tragic self-immolations by Tibetans to protest against the continued occupation and repression of Tibet by the Chinese government.

“Tibet today is a test for our conscience and compassion and that Lithuanians are especially able to understand the scope of the Tibetan tragedy well. It is a tragedy that today the people of Tibet have to give up their lives to get attention from the international community. Unfortunately, it is the highest and the most terrible price,” Mr Donskis said at a panel discussion on Tibet in Vilinus on 14 June. The panel discussion on ‘Tibet – the present and the perspectives for the future’ was organised on the occasion of Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay’s first visit to Lithuania after he took over the political leadership from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Sikyong shared with Lithuanians about experiences about living in exile, the Tibetan people’s commitment to non-violence and democracy towards resolving the issue of Tibet.

Mr Donskis said China has to re-evaluate their policies regarding Tibet. “I believe that the moment when China, in an effort to stay influential, will have to acknowledge Tibet, is coming. One day China will become a more democratic and humane country due to Tibet,” he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is on a three-day visit to Lithuania, during which he meets Lithuanian president, members of Parliament and give public talk on global peace and happiness.

Earlier Wednesday, human rights activists handed Lithuanian president a petition with 6,000 signatures calling on her to raise the Tibet issue on the EU agenda.

In October 1991, a little more than a year after Lithuania regained its independence from the occupation of Soviet republic, His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the country and told the Lithuanian people that their role as an inspirational force has not ended with their success of its struggle for freedom.