Tibet's Struggle For Freedom.
June 17th 2008 10:57
If this blog were coming from China, not northern India, you would not be reading it; I would be in a lock-up, my camera destroyed and the people I am about to write about would all have been shot. For today I attended a pro-Tibet rally, with marchers protesting against the Lhasa leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay. ‘No Torch In Tibet’ appeared to be the general consensus. Over 100 Tibetan, Indians and Westerners took to the streets. You would not see this sight in China.
But, I have found the one place in the area, it seems, where Tibetans are allowed to march for freedom and equality without the risk of death. McCleod Ganj, 4kms out of Dharamsala in Western Himachal Pradash, is a little (former) Tibet in such a big, big India.
The majority of citizens are Tibetan, either born in India and never having seen their homeland, or refugees who have fled Chinese-occupied Tibet, kept here due to the Chinese law that exiled Tibetans may never return to their home. But what has been created here, in the small mountain town of exiles (including the Dalai Lama) is truly heart warming. It’s a community bound together by a common ideal; taking control of one’s destiny.
The Students For A Free Tibet office is always abuzz with supporters and reporters, and half the backpackers here are toting a ‘Team Tibet’ tracksuit jacket. The restaurants raise money for Tibetan NGOs, monks run around with brightly coloured umbrellas and Tibetan prayer flags dot the rugged mountain scenery. Every day petitions are being signed and anti-China posters are being pasted to walls. The people of this little town are making a difference. Or they would be if the Western media covered the events that occurred here.
But, I have found the one place in the area, it seems, where Tibetans are allowed to march for freedom and equality without the risk of death. McCleod Ganj, 4kms out of Dharamsala in Western Himachal Pradash, is a little (former) Tibet in such a big, big India.
The Students For A Free Tibet office is always abuzz with supporters and reporters, and half the backpackers here are toting a ‘Team Tibet’ tracksuit jacket. The restaurants raise money for Tibetan NGOs, monks run around with brightly coloured umbrellas and Tibetan prayer flags dot the rugged mountain scenery. Every day petitions are being signed and anti-China posters are being pasted to walls. The people of this little town are making a difference. Or they would be if the Western media covered the events that occurred here.
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