As the Olympics loom in the near future, China has drawn the eyes of the world to their treatment of the people of Tibet. The peaceful anniversary protest of a 1959 Tibetan uprising drew a bloody response from the Chinese government killing an estimated 130 Tibetans and spreading a global shockwave of the cultural genocide currently going on there.
After thousands of Tibet’s monasteries had been destroyed, its monks tortured, murdered or forced into exile, along with the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government began setting up shop and converting a once peaceful, beautiful land into a modern Chinese vision of commercial occupation and commerce void of any of its Tibetan heritage. Beijing’s ethnic cleansing of Tibet and its violent crackdown in the face of hosting the Olympic games has summoned international criticism and rightfully so.
The Chinese press, along with its leaders have lambasted the Dalai Lama as a “Jackal with a human face and the heart of a beast” and a “Devil”. Really? Strong words to describe the 1989 winner of The Nobel Peace prize who after 49 years of living in exile and watching his people and beliefs desecrated still only asks for a peaceful resolve and autonomy for Tibetans. The Chinese government has assured the world that the Olympic torch will pass through the heart of Tibet as testament to their successful accomplishments in hosting the Olympic games, which In my mind mirrors that of the 1936
Olympic games hosted by the Nazi party that were arguably profound in spreading Hitler’s public relations and Nazi propaganda. We, as well as the many of the other nations of the world that champion for human rights should apply pressure to the Chinese government in addressing its treatment of Tibetans, if not an outright boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics altogether.
Please get involved by visiting the (ICT) International Campaign For Tibet’s website at: http://www.savetibet.org
