Dalai Lama Honors Activists

By Marianna Levyash-Talk Radio News

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, arrived at the Light of Truth Awards Wednesday to honor and present awards to activists Julia Taft and Wang Lixioung.

The International Campaign for Tibet recognizes and salutes individuals or institutions that have contributed to the needs of Tibet.

The late Julia Taft was praised for her active involvement in Tibetian issues and in playing a crucial role for Tibetian human rights.

Wang Lixioung, who bravely risked himself and defied China to help organize the petition "Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibetian Situation", in which more than 300 Chinese signed. All of these signatures represent people in the Republic of China that wanted to support Tibet and mark the Chinese policies in Tibet as "mistakes".

The Dalai Lama was quoted as saying "I always say our supporters are not pro-Tibetan but pro-justice, pro-nonviolence."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and actor Richard Gere also participated in the ceremony.