By IANS,
Dharamsala : The National Civil Rights Museum in the US will confer the International Freedom Award on the Dalai Lama for his “steadfast commitment to protecting and defending the rights of oppressed people of Tibet and elsewhere in the world”.
The museum recognises the Dalai Lama’s contributions to world peace through the promotion of human values, inter-faith harmony and universal responsibility.
Museum Board chairman Benjamin L. Hooks described the Dalai Lama as a living example of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi who stood for non-violence.
“The Dalai Lama demonstrates life-long peaceful struggle against brutality and injustice. As the Tibetan people mark their 50th year in exile, the Dalai Lama’s struggle serves as an inspiration for social justice movements everywhere,” Hooks said.
According to Dharamsala-based Central Tibetan administration (CTA), the Dalai Lama will receive the award Sep 23 at The Peabody hotel in Memphis in the US.
The museum will also present the National Freedom Award to Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights champion Medgar Evers.
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of six million Tibetans, lives in this Indian hill town as the head of a government-in-exile. He fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.