When the Dalai Lama visited Columbia in 2005, as a guest speaker in the World Leaders Forum, his message was clear—action must be taken to preserve the unique biodiversity of Tibet. Celebrating the recent creation of a new Chair in Modern Tibet Studies at Columbia, the Dalai Lama chose to highlight the important relationship between global warming and Tibetan culture. More recently, the webzine Grist has published a thought provoking expose, by Erica Gies, on Tibet's new railway.
"By most Tibetan and long-term expatriate accounts, it's not the train per se that will have the most environmental or cultural impact. Rather, it's what the train conveys. Since July, the train has brought thousands of people into Lhasa's Liwu station every day, most of them Han Chinese. When I detrained at the brand-new station after two days aboard, it was instantly clear to me that China has great plans for rail in Tibet."
Public response to this article has been strong. Readers have posted several interesting comments. Click here to read the article and post your own thoughts. Streaming video of the Dalai Lama's speech is also online here. See also "Buddhism in the Digital Age."
Reading the Dalai Lama's comments, I can't help but think if he just wants peace or maybe want the whole Tibet for themselves.
Reality is Tibet is largely under China. And the better thing to fight for now are rights and lives of the the Tibetan people and not to possess the Tibetan territory again. At least, not for now.
http://buhaypetiks.com
Posted by: Buhay Petiks | Monday, June 23, 2008 at 05:16 AM