About Us

Tibetan Review 

Tibetan Review is an editorially independent monthly publication in English of news and views and other informative and stimulating features. It is not funded by any government, nor is it affiliated or related to any interest group. It is more than anything else a readers’ magazine founded in 1967 and currently based in Delhi, India.

From its founding role as a source of news about the Tibetan issue and the situation in occupied Tibet, Tibetan Review has evolved to embraced additional responsibilities. Especially, it is an open and vibrant democratic forum for the discussion of the Tibetan issue and related governmental, social, community and all other Tibet-relevant subjects. All persons with interest in any aspect of Tibet are welcome – in fact, encouraged – to make contributions. It is a forum that brings together all Tibetans and Tibet supporters worldwide on a common platform and enables them to share their thoughts and information.

Tibetan Review news stories are analytical, with the facts meticulously verified and details well researched. As a result they are credible, objective, balanced and as complete news stories on the concerned subjects and issues as they can be. These frequently cannot be said of the mostly wire news stories available on the internet, which are mostly written to beat close deadlines and with little opportunity for cross-verification of facts and background circumstances. Tibetan Review regularly carries articles, columns, and other informative features that are written by the best qualified persons in the fields.

Tibetan Review is run by a tiny but committed team with minimal of service facilities and no social security benefits.

Background and mission
The first issue of the first ever periodical in English on Tibet was the April-May 1967 edition of The Voice of Tibet, edited by Mr. Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari from Darjeeling. He was the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy based in Washington, DC from 1990-2012. Lodi continued the monthly publication until the issue of December 1967, which was edited by Mr. Tenzin Ngawang Takla. Mr. Takla changed the magazine’s name to its current one of Tibetan Review from the edition of January 1968. He edited the magazine till the end of 1971.

From January 1972, Tibetan Review was edited by Mr. Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, with Mr Tamdin D. Gyalpo as the Executive Editor. Professor Dawa T. Norbu took over from them from the edition of June 1972, remaining its editor till the issue of September 1976, when he left for the USA to pursue his Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley.

Mr. Tsering Wangyal took charge of Tibetan Review from the issue of October 1976 and remained its editor the longest by far, having left the publication after the September 1996 issue. From the editions of May to December 1986 in between, Mr. Lhasang Tsering took charge of the magazine as Acting Editor, when Mr. Wangyal went to the USA to pursue an internship offered by the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship. Mr. Wangyal was succeeded by the current editor, Mr Pema Thinley, who took over Tibetan Review towards the end of August 1996.

The magazine was initially started as a private initiative; but because of financial difficulties it was taken over by the exile Tibetan government in 1971, while continuing to enjoy editorial independent. But over the years many in the exile Tibetan community saw government funding of an editorially independent publication to be an anomaly and Tibetan Review, though popular, became a subject of criticisms on numerous occasions, especially in the exile Tibetan parliament. The present editor eventually oversaw the change of the publication’s status back to a non-government funded one from the issue of April 1999.

Editorial independence is vital in any democracy and Tibetan Review has played a significant role in the process thus far. The kind of coverage and contents, as well as the forum, provided by Tibetan Review plays a pivotal role not just in moving forward the exile Tibetan democracy but also for facilitating the inculcation of more informed views in those in the wider world who perceive the Tibet issue one way or the other.

While our online publication will provide periodic updates on significant Tibetan related developments, the print version will remain the mainstay for numerous reasons, including the fact that many readers either do not use, or lack access to, the internet. Besides, Tibetan Review is designed to have values well beyond immediate informative needs, to be an important archival resource for current and future researchers on Tibet related matters.

Tibetan Review needs all the support and help it can get to continue and adapt its work to the current challenging situation and in the internet age of today. Please contact us if you are willing to contribute to our success in this mission.