From: Rangzen@aol.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 14:58:31 -0400
To: TSG-L@vm1.mcgill.ca
cc: pr.bruxelles@agora.stm.it
Subject: Fasting for Gendhun Choekyi Nyima
The Radical Party recently posted a message about organizing a three day fast (Sept 30, Oct 1, & Oct 2) in support of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima & Wei Jingsheng. These dates were selected to commerate Mahatma Gandhi on the important date of Oct 2. The idea for the fast came from the Party in collaboration with the India Tibet Friendship Society Association & Professor Samdhong Rinpoche. The major goal of the fast is to demand the release of
7-year old Gendhun Choekyi Nyima (The Panchen Lama) & the Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng. The fast would start on the evening of Sept 29th, with press conferences at the beginning & end of the activity. Ideally, the start & conclusion of the fast & the press conferences would occur in front of our gov't offices or PRC offices.
The International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM) will participate in this fast & we strongly invite all other Tibet supporters to do the same. As most of you are well aware, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the youngest political prisoner in the world, has been missing & not seen since May 1995. Since his disappearance, The PRC has continuously changed its statement about knowing his whereabouts. In the last few weeks, The PRC has now claimed that Gendhun Choekyi Nyima is SAFE & with his family in the Tibetan community. Their denial then admittance & recent denial again about knowing where this 7-year old child is located, raises very serious questions about the real Panchen Lama's safety. Even with the efforts of Amnesty Int'l, Human Rights Watch, & many world governments, all we have of this precious, special, important Lama is ONE PICTURE taken right before his abduction! We must actively & aggressively advocate for his release, & the release of his family members & others involved in his discovery.
The Radical Party & ITIM would like to know the Tibet Support Groups & individuals who will be fasting. If you intend to support the fast, please provide us with the information that follows.
I (we) have the intention to fast during:
( ) 1 day
( ) 2 days
( ) 3 days
I (we) will fast:
( ) September 30th
( ) October 1st
( ) October 2nd
Our fast will take place at:
Name
Complete address
Country
Telephone & Fax
E-mail
Profession/function
Organization
Declaration (optional)
(Your declaration will be distributed on the multilingual telematic system Agora - telnet Agora).
Send your information to:
Radical Party
Rue Belliard 97-113, Rem 508
1047 Brussels (Belgium)
Phone: +32-2-230.42.21
Fax: +32-2-230.36.70
E-mail: pr.bruxelles@agora.stm.it
International Tibet Independence Movement
PO Box 194
Fishers, Indiana 46038 USA
Phone: 317-579-9015
Fax: 317-579-0914
E-Mail: Rangzen@aol.com
I welcome your comments on how we can further coordinate our support for this fast. Thank you for considering this urgent activity.
Po-Rangzen
Larry Gerstein
Director, International Tibet Independence Movement
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The statement that follows describes some of the philosophy & strategies of the fast. This statement was forwarded by the Radical Party.
NONVIOLENCE FASTING DIALOGUE
The fasting dialogue is one of the possible forms of nonviolent struggle. It characterizes itself by the choice of aims that can be reached in short term, but inserting itself in a larger and more general perspective in medium and long term. It is also based on the research and the valorization of interlocutors to whom we ask not to correspond to the demands that we would have formulated, but to behave in a coherent way with the standpoint assumed by the authority they represent. In other words, the fasting dialogue is nothing else than a recall to the respect of an engagement, to the assumption of a responsibility. The fasting starts at the moment when a person stops absorbing food and finishes when he starts to eat again. The duration of the fasting can be pre-determined or not. During the fasting, one can assume up to 300-400 calories a day (the equivalent of three cups of tea with a small spoon of sugar). The fasting takes place without having profound implications on daily life. More particularly, the f
aster continues to work in a normal way, trying evidently to use the maximum of his free time to organize, with other fasters, whenever it is possible, public activities: manifestations, preparations and distribution of information material on the nonviolent initiative in progress.
