National Democratic Party of Tibet celebrates founding day in Dharamsala

The National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT), the primary political party of the Tibetan government-in-exile, celebrated its 20th founding anniversary at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) here on Wednesday.

The party was founded on September 2, 1994, under the guidance of his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

To mark the anniversary, the party organised a special event, which saw the presence of former Tibetan prime minister in-exile Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the members of parliament-in-exile and the members of various Tibetan non-governmental organisations.

The president of NDPT, Gelek Jamyang, while adddressing the gathering, said that the party has been fighting for a free Tibet for a long time.

"In the last 20 years, we served the Tibetan community to promote the democracy and we organised lots of campaign for free Tibet. And we also campaigned for the Prime Minister and the members of parliament. So in 20 years, we served Tibetan community at a large scale," he said.

When asked about the hopes for the future of Tibet, Jamyang said, "We hope for free Tibet. So, we will return to our country as soon as possible."

To keep the freedom struggle alive among Tibetans, especially among the younger generation, whom the Dalai Lama has called 'the seeds of future Tibet', NDPT organises political activities of primary importance.

In pursuit of this goal, NDPT hosts talks, seminars and other programs in schools and universities to motivate and aware the students. The party also organises various activities aimed at informing and reminding the world leaders about China's crimes against humanity and the atrocities it commits against Tibetans.

Dharamsala has been the global headquarters of Tibetan exiles since 1959.