Exiled Tibetan monks attend a human rights conference in Dharamshala

Dharamshala, Sept 5 : Exiled Tibetan monks, living in India and neighbouring countries, have gathered here to take part in a human rights conference.

Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a Tibetan NGO, has organised seven days workshop exclusively for monks and nuns of India, Nepal and Bhutan to make them aware about the principles of democracy and human rights.

The organizers feel that this is necessary for the Buddhists monks and nuns as they are mostly tied up in the work of the monasteries or with the Buddhist studies.

"We have to teach the monks how to practice the human rights also, because mostly these monks stay in monasteries and they practice Buddhism. They don't get much time to know about system of democracy, the principles and all these things that's why we are specially focusing on monks and nuns," said Lobsang, Program coordinator, TCHRD.

This is for the first time that such an effort has been initiated by the exiled Tibetans. About 72 Buddhists including 12 nuns are participating in this workshop.

Encouraged by the enthusiasm of the monks, the organisers plan another workshop on the same lines in Bangalore soon.

According to reports, monks have been spearheading the struggle against the Chinese rule in Tibet. Several monks are alleged to have been killed by the Chinese troops during the riots in Tibetan capital Lhasa in March this year.

ANI