commemoration in June 2014, (Left to right) Tenzin Dhadon Sharling, Member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile; Lukar Jam, Executive member of the Gu Chu Sum Movement of Tibet; Tenzin Jigme, President of the
Tibetan Youth Congress; and Dorjee Tseten,
Students for a Free Tibet Asia Director. Their talk was followed by the documentary ‘
The Tank Man' and a call for the release of
Liu Xiabo, prominent Chinese democracy activist and
Uyghur Economist
Ilham TohtiThe Chinese authorities arrested him in March 1993, together with his friends Tsegon Gyal and
Namloyak, on his return to Tibet after studying for a year in India in a Tibetan school in exile. Unable to lead a normal life due to constant harassment, he decided to flee from Tibet, but was arrested on his way to exile in
Dhingri County,
Shigatse Prefecture. After more than a year of detention in Shigatse Nyari and Seitru prisons in the
Tibet Autonomous Region, the
Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment on accusations of "counter-revolutionary activities", "separatist activities" and of being the animator of "crimes against revolution." Mr. Lugar Jam was from Tsolho Dragkartri district where he was a businessman prior to his arrest. He was later detained in Terlengkha at the
Public Security Bureau Detention Center. Tortured during his detention, he was released on 28 April 1995 for medical reasons after he fell seriously ill and weighing only 30 kg. He left Tibet after recovering from his illness and arrived in Dharamsala, India on 17 November 1997. He worked in the research and analysis wing of the Ministry of Security of the Central Tibetan Administration under the leadership of the
14th Dalai Lama until 5 March 2005. He later became President of Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet, an organization dedicated to the welfare of former political prisoners in Dharamsala, India. He is also a writer and a poet. He was a candidate in the 2016 race for Tibetan Prime Minister and was the only candidate to openly support Tibetan independence and received the endorsement of the US non-profit
Tibetan National Congress, a Tibetan political party advocating the independence of Tibet. Lukar Jam was eliminated in the first round of the election similar to a primary. He was opposed to two other candidates Penpa Tsering and
Harvard Law School graduate
Lobsang Sangay who was elected. In February 2017, he wrote a poem in honor of
Professor Elliot Sperling who was known for his support of
Tibetan national independence. == See also ==