Protests in Tibet

shashank.aggarwal

Have not read a lot of posts here, however just wanted to say that in Delhi as well, Tibetans are getting lot of moral support from the normal public..

Last week, I was driving on the ring road in South Delhi and saw 5-6 bikes, the riders were carrying tibetan flags and had a banner that said something like 'Tibet Freedom Rally", they were not honking or doing anything, just riding peacefully, however all the drivers on the road, they gave them way and no one tried to overtake them out of respect (I assume)..saw lot of people waving from their cars, giving thumbs up signs and cheering them up...

__________________
Travelogue - Around India
Random Reviews

dzibead

Yeah, I knew that - it's from that blog/other website - my quote thing got screwed up when i didn't include the URL.


It really didn't feel like that at all "on the ground" - but maybe that's because all the cops had gone to where the torch was ... which was where the protesters and even the supporters and other spectators were not. I did see a whole bunch of cops on bicycles at one point, but they didn't seem particularly threatening. When things were breaking up at the end of the day, I walked past about 30 cops lounging around, sitting at the outdoor tables in the plaza in the area where the main ceremonies and protests were set. All they were missing was coffee and donuts. I wish I'd taken a picture: "Your tax dollars at work." Also sitting around in the same area were a lot of glum looking Chinese folks - no, the day didn't turn out quite as they had hoped.

Edited to add: I found a video of Majora Carter, the torch-bearer who pulled out a Tibetan flag: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object...MNDS102IIM.DTL

Dilliwala

Won't be caged, so won't run with torch

Well, whadyu know - 3 days after confirming she wud run, Kiran Bedi has pulled out as well.

Excerpts:

"NEW DELHI: After soccer star Bhaichung Bhutia, it's Kiran Bedi who has refused to run with the Olympic torch here on April 17. If Bhutia endorsed the cause of the Tibetans against the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa, the high-profile former IPS officer has reservations about the "highly suffocating" security around the event.

"I cannot run in a cage," Bedi told TOI. "The security measures will reduce the torch run into mere tokenism and formality." But what about safety of the Olympic torch in view of Tibetan protests disrupting the relay in various parts of the world?

"I understand we need security. But being a democratic country, we ought not to suppress democratic ways. Let them (Tibetans) demonstrate on one side and let the relay happen too," she said. "I am for a balance. Run the torch with a sense of participative space and manage dissent (Tibetan protests) without snuffing it out."

Bedi's outburst came a day before a Chinese team arrives here to take a look at overall arrangements."

Nick-H

Good for her!

Seems a very well-balanced statement.

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Shiver me Timbers

In all this publicity over Tibet, it's worth remembering that the entire population, whether Han or Uighur or Tibetan or Mongol, is suffering under this regime. There are many democratic Han Chinese lingering in Chinese prisons, or persecuted to silence or exile.

Here's an interesting post giving a wider picture of the situation in China, and the British governments lack of concern....

Beijing Olympics: Democracy is still the issue

__________________
Europe to India Overland / Andaman's Tips / Pakistan Tips / Flickr Photos / IM Photos

edwardseco

Not a great video but..

edwardseco

(the torch bearer..)

Nick-H

Today's New Indian Express carries a front-page, close-up photo of a boot crushing a blood-stained Tibetan monk's head, with the caption This what life under China is like

...It goes on to explain that the photograph is from a street drama enacted by Kolkata Tibetans.

Makes a pretty powerful statement.

ind_pal

Here is my interpretation of some of the phrases;


Its an internal matter:- We will do what we like even if it means innocent people will get killed. We lay claim to all territories if we like the look of them.


Your country is ignoring Chinese sensitivities:- Don't allow any form of peaceful protests in your country.


This could harm our countries relations:- You may be able to do this now but when we become much stronger then we have the right to do whatever we want to your country.


Can't think of any more at the moment.

Munivar

China says "please curb peaceful protests because it is hurting our sensitivities".

After all China has set glorious examples of this themselves.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6706887.stm

__________________
Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kaelir !!!

machadinha

More left vs. right and somewhere in the middle stuff:

I came across this by Michael Parenti, the article seems to have been doing the rounds on the web. I don't think it will make many people happy here, and I don't necessarily agree with his take (or even his general outlook); then again if I overcome my own gut reaction to some of his apparent pro-China'ism, he's actually more nuanced than that. I thought his conclusion rather interesting, apparently calling for more socialism, not less of it: Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth (note: updated and expanded version, January 2007; i.e., written before current events.)

The piece receives an eloquent and scathing critique here: A Lie Repeated - The Far Left’s Flawed History of Tibet, by Joshua Michael Schrei. I certainly agree with the latter's criticism of the choice of source material used.

Anyway, the two together make for interesting reading, for those so inclined. See what you make of it, you can scour the web for other controversies surrounding it.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Shiver me Timbers

Thanks Mach, that second link doesn't seem to be working for me, so here it is again.....

rajiveanand

For how many people is the new HuHu Platter's catchphrase "the Dalai Clique" REALLY getting on their nerves?

R.

__________________
www.rajiveanand.com

rajiveanand

Dear Nick,

Do you have a link to that picture? I could use it!

R.

Nick-H

Try here. For some reason it won't let me select yesterday's paper*, but you want the edition for Sat 12 April. Try tomorrow!

*There's a calendar tool, top of the page on the right.