Jigme Norbu, nephew of the Dalai Lama, killed during “Walk for Tibet”

Jigme Norbu, nephew of the Dalai Lama, was killed on Monday evening in Palm Coast, Florida after being struck by a car. The 45-year-old Bloomington, Indiana resident was in Florida for a 300-mile “Walk for Tibet,” which was scheduled to end in West Palm Beach. On the walk, he carried a sign which read “FOR WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND TIBETAN INDEPENDENCE.”

Jigme Norbu’s father, Thubten Jigme Norbu, a former professor of Tibetan and religious studies at Indiana University, Bloomington and once a curator of Tibetan artifacts at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, was a co-founder of the International Tibet Independence Movement and began “freedom walks” to highlight the Tibetan cause. He passed away on September 5, 2008.

The Capital Area Tibetan Association (CATA) held a prayer service for Jigme Norbu at ICT”s Washington office on Tuesday evening.

Jigme Norbu leaves behind a wife and three children. ICT sent condolences to the family.