BY EVA CIRNU (Dharamsala) – Living in Dharamsala, we are often asked if we ‘meet the Dalai Lama’… No, we don’t. We are, however, fortunate enough to see him often. For example, whenever he travels we join the hundreds of people lining up along the streets of Dharamsala, waiting for him to bless them from…
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Illuminating human rights
BY SAMPHE LHALUNGPA (Ottawa): Your Worship, Mayor Watson, esteemed speakers and invitees, what an honor to be here today at this special ceremony to illuminate this monument, the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights. As a Canadian of Tibetan origin, it is a special honor to be here, speaking on behalf of the Canada-Tibet Committee and…
Read MoreDancing the Canada-China mining two-step in Tibet, Congo or Papua New Guinea
BY GABRIEL LAFITTE (rukor.org). When, in 2012, I wrote a book about mining in Tibet, it seemed China’s appetite for minerals was insatiable, having survived the great global recession of 2009 onwards with hardly a blip in demand. By then the global commodity boom had been rolling on nonstop for a decade and nothing, it…
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day: Time to engage the struggle for women’s rights inside Tibet
BY CAROLE SAMDUP (Montreal) – A few years ago while travelling by car across the Tibetan plateau, I was struck by the large number of brothels along the busy highways that brought supplies from China into Tibet. It was difficult at first to differentiate between the crumbling, graffiti-covered cement block structures that characterized the many…
Read MoreInternational Human Rights Day: Tibet, western democracies and the challenge of principled pragmatism
BY CAROLE SAMDUP (Montreal) – In 1950, the same year that His Holiness the Dalai Lama assumed political power at the age of fifteen, the United Nations proclaimed International Human Rights Day as an annual reminder that basic rights and freedoms are the common concern of all Governments and all peoples. Less than two weeks…
Read MoreCanada’s role in the economic development of Tibet
BY PETER HADEKEL (Montreal) – Despite high levels of investment and government expenditure in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Tibetans themselves are increasingly marginalized by development in their homeland. That’s the conclusion of new research by economist Andrew Fischer, associate professor of Development Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. Fischer…
Read MoreDharamsala Dispatch 6: Tibet Rhymes
BY EVA CIRNU (Dharamsala) – Tenzing Seungyi is a popular Tibetan hip-hop artist who lives in Austria. He looks and moves like many of the young performers his age. The crowd loves him, bounces around and sings along to his electrifying rhythms. He is a talented musician with a loyal following. But there is more…
Read MoreReport from Ladakh 2: Reflections on freedom
BY MATI BERNABEI (Leh, Ladakh) – It’s 3am in Leh on the morning of July 14, and I have just been awoken by the screams and cheers of what sounds like a huge crowd somewhere in the centre of town, the direction my open window is facing. Someone just scored in the World Cup soccer…
Read MoreConfronting China’s iron fist during my visit to Tibet
BY GAVIN KILTY (Devon, UK) – Having never been to Tibet before, I had built up a multitude of impressions of what it would be like. Some of those impressions were reinforced during my visit this summer while others were challenged by the actual experience of being there. One Chinese professor from Shanghai recently said,…
Read MoreReport from Ladakh: Dalai Lama inspires peace
By Mati Bernabei Ladakh (India) – July 2014: Deep blue skies, glacial fed rivers and streams, glistening snow-capped peaks, arid landscapes of dirt and rock interspersed with lush green river valleys and hillside oases nourished via intricate ancient networks of irrigation channels. Villages and towns across the region consist primarily of flat roofed houses separated…
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