On Tuesday, March 10, the Tibetan flag was raised to fly for seven days outside the Council Chambers in Katoomba to commemorate Tibet's 61st National Uprising Day. The council has resolved to do so every year.
Event organiser, Kalsang Samzin, said to the gathering of about a hundred people: "Let us feel the fresh air, we are free in a free country. It is a great opportunity to raise this flag freely. We are very grateful to council for the opportunity. In Tibet we would be put in jail for doing this."
Ms Samzin said the uprising in 1959 was because "the Chinese government have taken from us our land, language, beliefs, way of life, everything that matters to us".
The Tibetan uprising was brutally suppressed by the Chinese army and the Dalai Lama forced to flee Tibet.
Ms Samzin said the crackdown and daily abuses inside Tibet were intensifying.
"We cannot let it happen anymore. We need your support. This is human rights issues that can happen anywhere now.
"Our struggle has taken 61 years and the fighting spirit for free Tibet has never broken. We will continue to fight for Free Tibet."
Greens Cr Kerry Brown spoke on behalf of herself and the Mayor, Mark Greenhill, thanking the 70 Tibetans in the Blue Mountains for the opportunity to share their culture and cause.
She said: "You have suffered in similar ways to Australia's first peoples. We support you and welcome Tibetans into the Blue Mountains community - a refugee welcome zone."
Liberal Cr Kevin Schreiber and Labor Cr Mick Fell also warmly welcomed Tibetan people and culture in Mountains life.
Three days earlier, a large crowd gathered in the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre for a 'Taste of Tibet' organised by North Katoomba resident Kunchok Gyaltsen and sponsored by Bendigo Bank.
The day of Tibetan music, poetry, dance, film, and the creation of a sand mandala was opened by Victor Peralta of Gallery One88.
Tibetan Government-in-Exile Ambassador Kyinzom Dhongdue, Susan Templeman MP, Susie Van Opdorp on behalf of Trish Doyle MP and Cr Kerry Brown addressed the gathering.
Singers Aunty Jacinta Tobin and Kunchok Gyaltsen gave the first ever Darug-Tibetan performance.
Mr Gyaltsen, who organised "Taste of Tibet" with Helen Patrin and plans to make it an annual festival said: "It was a day to share our culture with our community here. We are very happy that people enjoyed it."
