Tenzin dorjee biography of michael
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Small Acts of Resistance
In April 2007, Tenzin Dorjee ’03 and four friends hiked to the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet. Like the serious climbers around them, they were about to embark on a risky mission. But instead of scaling the world’s tallest peak, the group planned to provoke the Chinese government bygd calling for Tibetan independence.
Dorjee, whose parents are from Tibet, and his four companions, all Americans, unfurled a banner that said "One World. One Dream. Free Tibet 2008," a reference to the official "One World. One Dream" slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The protest was streamed online.
Courtesy Tenzin Dorjee
Chinese authorities reacted swiftly. The activists were detained within 20 minutes, Dorjee says, then jailed for three days, deprived of sleep, and continuously interrogated. The government forced them to sign an apology for the stunt, then expelled them from the country.
“The news was made, and the whole world was watching,” says Dorjee,
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Dasho Tenzin Dorji, the recipient of Druk Thuksey medal and one of Bhutan’s foremost historians, passed away at his residence in Thimphu yesterday.
He was 85 years old.
Dasho Tenzin Dorji wrote about a dozen books on Bhutanese history and culture, and was the primary source of information for Michael Aris’ works.
His most famous work was Gyalwai Jungrab Selwai Droenme- a comprehensive history of eastern Bhutan.
Joining the civil service as a clerk in Trashigang Dzong, he rose to the rank of Nyerchhen and Dzongda.
After Dasho was transferred to Thimphu, he served as Tshigong and then as the Auditor General of Bhutan. He retired as the Chairman of the Antiques Department, a forerunner of the Special Commission for Cultural Affairs, in 1986.
He received the Red Scarf from the Third Druk gyalpo, and the Druk Thuksey in 1974 from the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
Dasho Tenzin Dorji was also famed for his works on Bhutanese astrology.