Tibetan monks celebrate Human Rights Day

By Kirsten Clancy

Speaking in Tibetan, Geshela Lobzang Samdup told his life story through a translator.

He was born in Tibet but escaped nearly 26 years ago after the Chinese conquest. He left behind family and friends, fleeing alone without telling a soul.

“He couldn’t tell anybody. There are spies everywhere,” the translator, Tsondu Nambargyal Kikhangparra said.

Kikhangparra and Samdup are both Tibetans living as refugees at the Drepung Gomang monastery in South India. Though Samdup fled to the refugee camp, Kikhangparra was born there.

Some of the monks do not know their parents or the rest of their family.

“I can’t look at a family tree and pick out my relatives,” Kikhangparra said.

The Drepung Gomang monks are touring the United States for a year. They marched from the Singletary Center for the Arts to the W. T. Young Library Wednesday in honor of Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sadie Criswell, an American participant in the march, said she has been interested in human rights since her husband discovered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the Internet. While all 192 countries in the United Nations agreed to the act, many still disregard it, Criswell said.

“We are mostly sheltered in the U.S. We have human rights violations, but they are not as widespread,” Criswell said.

While many students participated in the march for extra credit, they did not miss the importance of the issue.

“It is too rare you find students willing to take time out of studying for exams to do something worthwhile,” said Eric Ruppel, a German and economics junior.

Kikhangparra explained those living in Tibet are not allowed to speak Tibetan or practice their religion and customs. Nomads in Tibet who had no other skills were unable to get jobs because applications are in Chinese.

Tibet was not the only cause supported during the march.

Janice Sevre-Duszynska held a sign asking for the ordination of female Roman Catholic priests. She was ordained August 9 but the Vatican does not promote the ordination of women.

“The original sin is sexism,” Sevre-Duszynska said. “Women need the Gospels interpreted for them.”

Participants watched “Iron Jawed Angels,” a movie about the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, after the march.

Whatever their personal cause or history, participants came together, candles burning, for human rights.

“Human rights is precious,” Kikhangparra said. “It is key to the Constitution of the United States and other countries.”