Chimi Lhamo background music by Phurbu

Chumi Lhamo, a stateless Tibetan born in South India, talks about the struggles faced by Tibetans. She discusses the oppression by the Chinese government, which aims to erase Tibetan culture, way of life, and language. She mentions the imprisonment for holding the Tibetan national flag, the disappearance of His Holiness the Tenzin Lama, and the displacement caused by mega-developments. She highlights the forced assimilation of Tibetan children, the self-immolation protests, and the intimidation faced by Tibetans living abroad. She calls for international support to stand against the Chinese government and fight for a free Tibet. Home. Where is home for one that has never seen their own beautiful country, and in my case, Tibet. Bishbele everyone, my name is Chumi Lhamo, and I was born stateless in South India. Yearning my whole life for a place that I call home, but I've never seen. But also, fight every single day to someday return home. In my community, we often say, every Tibetan born after 1959 is born an activist. That's because, when there's a colonial regime out there in the world that is actively on a global expansionist mission, attempting to eradicate every aspect of our Tibetan identity, our existence, just our mere existence becomes resistance. In Tibet, simply holding this flag, the Tibetan national flag, results in imprisonment. Devotion and faith in Tibetan Buddhism, our literature, our music, our band. During this Tibetan New Year, Jejumsoji was arrested for singing a song while simply referring to Tibetans as birds stuck in a cage. His whereabouts? Still unknown to this day. Just like His Holiness the Tenzin Lama, who in two days will have been missing for 29 years. That's longer than I've been born. The attack is on one, our culture, two, our way of life, and three, our language. You see, culture is often referred to the way of life of an entire society. It's the collective programming of the mind, making us unique humans. It's what dignifies us and gives meaning to our lives. And that is exactly what the Chinese government is hell-bent on eradicating. Two, our way of life, which is deeply intertwined with our environment, but is being ravished by the Chinese government with mega-developments, like the dam that they built in Deghe Kham, displacing tens of thousands of our local community who have ancestral branches of knowledge that have allowed them to take care and be the compassionate stewards of one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world. The same ecosystem that serves as a water source for over 1.4 billion people in the downstream countries. The very environment that, as I speak, where the Chinese government is stealing lithium, gold, copper, and rare earths, producing high-end tech consumer products that are sold to more than 180 countries in this world. Three, language. Just a few years ago, Tibet Action Institute released a report where 800,000 Tibetan children between the ages of 6 and 18 are being forced into colonial boarding schools. But you know what? They're hiding something else. There's a hidden policy where children even 4 and 5-year-olds are being stolen from their families, which Dr. Jello, an educational sociologist, spoke last year on this stage about with first-hand research where he saw his own grandnieces no longer being able to speak in their mother tongue within just three months. With these insidious tactics of the Chinese government, I am reminded that the last generation that saw a free Tibet is passing away. Our stories and the newer generations are being psychologically modified to become like Chinese. And as Mother's Day just passed, I remember talking to my mother, telling her, thank you and I love you, but for the million Tibetan children inside Tibet, they are separated from their mothers. They are awaiting the action of this international community. You see, every aspect of our Tibetan identity is under attack because the Chinese government has realized that the violence, the oppression, the social and economic discrimination, the cultural and religious oppression, the environmental destruction, the re-education camp, the forced displacement, the torture of political prisoners, all of that does not work on us. Has not worked because our people, my people back home inside Tibet, continue to rise. Until today, over 160 Tibetans have self-immolated themselves. The act of burning oneself on fire, not harming anyone else but themselves, calling for two things. One, the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his rightful place inside Tibet and two, freedom. With billions of dollars invested by the Chinese government, their oppression goes beyond borders of Tibet to control and infiltrate our society, to intimidate us, to sell their narrative, silence our calls for freedom. And I got that stark reminder in 2019 when I ran to become my student union university's president. There was a petition signed by over 11,000 people saying I didn't deserve to run because of my Tibetan spirit. I was subjected to flurry of thousands of threats, death threats, rape threats against me, my family members. I was constantly under daily surveillance. Students on my own campus were sent on missions to follow me, take pictures, follow me into the water. Still to this day, one moment that I remember is getting personal messages that said, your mom is dead. I remember having to call my mother at random times to make sure that she was okay without scaring her. Two years later in 2021 in Greece during the Olympic torch ceremony, simply being Tibetan in the streets of Greece made my friends subjected to unreasonable detainment under the direction of Chinese operators that were undercover giving instructions to Greek police. Just recently in 2023 during the APEC summit in San Francisco, USA, three young people and I unfurled a 30-feet banner on the fourth floor of a parking lot that was opposite to the hotel that Xi Jinping was in. Suddenly, while we were holding our banner, we felt a pulse on our wrists. Suddenly, our weight started to shift over the railings. They tried to pull us down from the fourth floor parking lot. Soon after letting go, we were attacked by 15 men who marched as a unit on American soil and stole our banner. Be it in Canada, San Francisco, Greece, we, the voices of dissent, are subjected to this violence because of the complacency and the inaction of the international community. From 2014, where students were denied to bring the right to Tibetan flag into their Canadian universities because of Confucius Institute, to now, local police getting directors to stay silent, or, in the case of just a few days ago in Hungary, during the last leg of the Europe trip of dictator Xi Jinping, where the Chinese police were not just there giving directions, they were given authority by the Hungarian government to patrol Hungarian streets. So, for us, even in exile, no matter where we are, they deploy to silence us. Given exactly this context, our international community, this international community, must not, cannot be silent. This silence is not golden when it results in emboldening a regime like the Chinese government. Economic ties as the excuse while you, democratic countries, actively choose to shake the bloody hands of the Chinese government also result and mean that you have blood on your hands. What is truly golden and noble, as we say in Tibetan, for precious jewel, is the voice of unity. It's the work of our youth activists at Students for Free Tibet and everywhere around the world, where despite not being allowed to bring this flag just days ago in Paris, we unfurled a 10 meter banner that read, Free Tibet, Dictator Xi Jinping, your time is up right in front of this motorcade. With the spirits of my ancestors, the resistance of Tibetans inside Tibet, thousands of young Tibetans around the world, we are constantly reminded of our duty and responsibility, not just as Tibetans, but as global citizens, to fight for a world that is free for everyone. The rise of autocracies today is because of their intricate connections. They share secrets with each other, tactics from the genocidal playbook. So, it's ever more crucial that we are also working together, the human rights activists, defenders, supporters, allies, and democratic governments. We must also continue to rise, work together, because we, when the people are united, will never be defeated. And rather than being complicit and benefiting at the cost of Tibet, I ask you, the members of the international community, to stand with us. Say the words, Free Tibet. Make moves. Act on the calls that are ignored by the Chinese government just one year ago when experts called for the abolishment of the coercive residential schools in Tibet, pushed for unfettered access to Tibet for independent investigations. And soon, someday, very soon, I can't wait to invite you all to join my people and I in a free Tibet. We shall host you with a warm welcome, Tibetan greeting, by touching our foreheads, eating samba, and enjoying our tea, not with sugar, but actually with butter and salt. Thank you. Hergele, Free Tibet. And if I may, as I said, every Tibetan was born an activist, so when I say free, I want to hear you say Tibet. Can I hear that? Free! Oh, that was weak. Come on, folks. Let's do this together. Free Tibet! Free Tibet! Free Tibet! Free Tibet!