Gallo Tundup, the eldest son of the Dalai Lama and political operator of Tibet and Greater Region, has passed away, the Dalai Lama’s office confirmed in a statement. According to Tibetan media, he passed away on Sunday in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India. He was 97 years old.
“He was a good man who did his best for the Tibetan cause,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement. “I pray that he will again be able to make a good rebirth as a Tibetan, and that he will once again serve the Tibetan regime, a combination of spirituality and politics,” he said. .
Thondup, a prominent figure in Tibetan society and politics, is known as the second most influential person in the small Himalayan territory, and is by his brother Tenzin Gyasso, the 14th Dalai Lama and the head of Tibetan Buddhism. Only was eaten.
Together, the brothers defined a political era in Tibet. This is an increasingly isolated territory surrounded by the Himalayas, which have long fought against Chinese influence and rule. While the Dalai Lama was often more public and sought attention and praise from around the world, Tundup was seen as a modest geopolitical operator who was more comfortable and away from the spotlight.
For decades, Thondup defended the permission of his brothers who had been exiled since 1959 to return to the territory. He maintained an international leadership company, wanting to leverage a variety of stakeholders to serve Tibet’s independence.
One of six children born to a farmer in the Chinese town of Taxter, Thondup was a lifelong advisor and advocate for his younger brother. Sent abroad to study, he was one of his brothers who were not destined to be a religious life.
Freed from spiritual obligations, Thondup spent his life more aggressively on Tibetan autonomy than others.
Thondup settled in India in 1952 and was an early mediator when the Dalai Lama fled there after the 1959 Tibetan uprising violated China’s rule. Thondup later called his brother’s safe passageway one of his greatest accomplishments.
Thondup fostered some of the first official Tibetan contacts with Indian and American authorities in the 1950s and 1960s and sought their support. In the 1950s he supported the CIA with an unfortunate attempt to arm Tibetan separatists against the Communist Chinese government.
Thondup met with Chinese leaders regularly to mitigate China’s influence over Tibet. Even if the speeches have collapsed in recent years, he urged Tibetans to remain engaged.
“It is essential that Tibetans do not lose hope for us to sue our rights to the Chinese government,” Thondup said at a 2008 press conference. Activism and Tibetans struggle against China’s rule.
The Dalai Lama led a prayer service for his brother on Sunday, his office said.
After the service and reading, the Dalai Lama rose from his seat, salutes the photographs of his late brothers and returned to his living space, a statement from his office said.
Mujib Mashal contributed the report.
