Tibetan Activist Concludes His 123-Day Himalayan Walk To Spread Awareness About China’s 'Border Activities’
Tenzin Tsundue says common people in Himalayan border regions have little awareness about 'China’s expansionist policies'. He tells ABP Live he wants to undertake a walk in other parts of India too.
New Delhi: Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue has just completed a 20,000-kilometre walk through four states and one union territory in the Himalayas in India. His 123-day ‘Walking the Himalayas’ aimed to create awareness about the “growing Chinese security threats on India”.
A Tibetan freedom movement activist for more than 25 years now, Tsundue is also a writer and lives in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. He won the ‘Outlook-Picador Award for Non-Fiction’ in 2001.
Tsundue says his 2021 walk made him realise how the people in the Himalayas are shocked and worried after the Galwan valley clash of 2020 in Ladakh between the armies of India and China — one of the worst in 45 years, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Still, “common people in the border regions have little to no awareness about China’s expansionist policies, and its current activities in the borders”, reads the statement he issued after completing the journey.
Tsundue’s Walk With Film Projector, Soundbox, Bedsheet-Screen
From Leh, Kargil, Zanskar to Haldwani, Nathula, and Spiti, Tsundue has travelled through various villages and towns of Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to spread awareness about the “70 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet and its impact on Indian Himalayas”.
During his journey, he screened the film, ‘Escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet’, using a projector, a soundbox, and a bedsheet screen that he carried with him.
The 80-minute film by Rangrez Films was screened at least 80 times, Tsundue says.
He also recorded his journey on video, in a bid to document the people, places, and history that he witnessed along the 20,000-km stretch.
According to him, the journey enabled him to connect with the Himalayan Indians on the issues of language, culture, and customs.
Tsundue reached Delhi on Wednesday at the end of his 123-day journey.
Speaking to ABP Live, he said he wants to reach other parts of India too.
“I am looking forward to spreading awareness about Chinese expansionist propaganda and the Tibet Freedom Movement in the other corners of the country, like the South, because this is an issue that concerns the entire India and not just one region,” Tsundue said over the phone.
Tenzin Tsundue — Writer, Poet, Activist
Born into a Tibetan refugee family, Tsundue is known for his activist acts for which he has been detained at least 16 times, according to reports. He has written three books of poetry, essays, and stories on Tibetan refugees.
In 2002, Tsundue started sporting a red bandana as a sign of resistance and had taken a pledge that he won't take it off “until Tibet is free”.
He represented Tibet in the Sahitya Akademi’s Second South Asian Literary Conference held in New Delhi in January 2005, during Poetry Africa in Durban in 2005, and at Jaipur Literature Festival in 2010.
In his conversation with ABP Live, Tsundue also talked about a literary development he witnessed in the Himalayan region. “The youth usually move to towns and cities and have developed the cafe reading norms there. Such practices are frequent in Ladakh, Nainital, and Haldwani from where new poets are emerging in the literary scene."
During his journey, Tsundue organised creative writing workshops and poetry reading to connect the youth to contemporary issues.
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