The 30th Anniversary of Noble peace Prize to H.H. the Dalai Lama in Norway

The 30^th Anniversary of Noble peace Prize to H H the Dalai Lama was celebrated by Norwegian Tibet Committee on 12^th December 2019 at the Litteraturhuset, Oslo.

The event was commenced with the welcome speech by Namgyal Tsomo Svenningsen, Chairperson of the Norwegian Tibet Committee followed by the dance performance by children from Tibetan community of Norway.

Screening of a film from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony that took place on 10th December 1989 produced by the Meridian Trust was the highlight of the evening as many from the 1989 ceremony were present among the audience. For many, it was nostalgic moment to see many familiar faces from 30 years ago.

The guest of honour, Bishop Emeritus Gunnar Stålsett, member of the Nobel Committee in 1989, who had delivered a very touching speech at the Nobel Lecture in 1989, gave a very inspirational account of his encounters with H H the Dalai Lama and read the personal message sent to the Norwegian Tibet Committee for the occasion by H H the Dalai Lama.

Later, Ms. Chungdak Koren, former representative of H H the Dalai Lama gave a wonderful & humorous speech of her experiences from the 1989 ceremony. She was one of the key persons in both founding the Norwegian Tibet Committee and as well during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 1989. During the break, a huge cake for the occasion was served.

The second part of the celebration started with a powerful talk by the leader of the Youth Group of the Norwegian Tibet Committee, Ms. Anna Deskyi Erichsen. She talked about future of Tibet seen through the eyes of the youth, comparing similarities of climate crisis and the solution of Tibet. 

The panel that consisted of Prof. Per Kvaerne, Prof. Robert Barnett and Prof. Ole Henrik Magga was moderated by the Deputy Chair of the Norwegian Tibet Committee, Ms. Merethe Lind Jodalen. It was an interesting panel discussion where we saw different views and perspectives of the speakers. The speakers not only shared their experiences during Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, but also shared their opinions and concerns about the future of Tibet and Tibetans.

The present political, religious and environmental issues were also discussed. Questions regarding the views on the issues of Tibetans, Uighurs, now the people of Hong Kong and particularly the silence of Norway were raised during the panel session.

Prof. Ole Henrik Magga who, in 1989 was the President of the Sami Parliament and had invited H. H. the Dalai Lama to Tromsø shared with us precious memories from his many meetings with HH the Dalai Lama along with a very personal “joke” for Tibet on the occasion.

After the Questions – Answer session the concluding vote of thanks was given by Ms. Merethe Lind Jodalen, Deputy Chairperson of the Norwegian Tibet Committee followed by singing of same Tibetan song sung by the same group of people who actually had sung it during the prize ceremony in 1989. Dinner was served at the end of the event.