Gyalo Thondup, brother of Dalai Lama and major voice for Tibetan freedom, dies at 97

Gyalo Thondup, the second-eldest brother of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, has died at age 97 in his home at Kalimpong, Northern India. He served not only as an advisor to His Holiness, but as the Tibetan government-in-exile’s Prime Minister in 1991 and Minister for Security (1993 to 1996), and was considered a major force in the fight for Tibetan freedom.

Described as “a titanic figure in the history of modern Tibet” by Radio Free Asia in its death announcement, Thondup was advisor and “unofficial envoy” for His Holiness, and a persuasive advocate for maintaining and upholding Tibet’s traditional culture and self-governance, contributing to the passing of related UN resolutions, and meeting with Deng Xiaoping and other Chinese government officials in the hopes of securing Tibet’s independence — though such discussions have remained stalled since in 2010.

Born in 1928 in Tibet’s Amdo province, Gyalo Thondup would relocate with his family after his brother Tenzin Gyatso was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. He would in time travel throughout Asia and the United States; it was, as RFA notes, “while he was away from home that the People’s Liberation Army marched into Tibet […] Thondup took primary responsibility for liaising with the Indian government, including with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders. He has said his role in his brother’s successful escape may have been the greatest legacy of his long life.”

RFA shares a story Thondup told in his memoir, The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong, about being approached by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to train Tibetans to defend themselves against the Chinese:

“The CIA was prepared to train some of the freedom fighters as radio operators and guerrilla warriors,” Thondup writes. “[U.S. Admiral] John Hoskins wanted me to introduce him to some of the Tibetan fighters. I was happy to oblige.” He indeed did end up training a couple hundred Tibetans at a “secret location in Colorado,” some of whom were airdropped into Tibet to coordinate the Dalai Lama’s asylum.

His Holiness led a prayer session for his brother at an Indian monastery on Sunday, February 9, and writes, recalling him, “He was a good man who did his best for the Tibetan cause. I pray that he will take a good rebirth as a Tibetan again and that he will be able to serve the Tibetan administration that is a combination of spirituality and politics once more.”