SOUTH AFRICA, speech by Mr. Renato Palmi, founder Tibet Society of South Africa at a public talk.
Mention Tibet, and in our minds we conjure up thoughts of a country full of mysticism, a unique culture and way of life so unknown to the West. Today, the truth is that 53 years of the illegal occupation and subsequent colonisation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China have eroded Tibet’s unique culture.
Inside occupied Tibet the Tibetan people have no rights. They have no freedom of expression, no freedom of religion, photos of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan flag or anything that reflects Tibetan Nationalism are banned by the Chinese authorities.
Since 1959, when His Holiness, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India and into exile he and his government in-exile (which interestingly is still not recognised by the United Nations) have tried to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet Question.
In 1988, the Dalai Lama made a statement calling for genuine autonomy for Tibet, short of full independence. This statement demonstrated the willingness of the Tibetans in finding an amicable solution for Tibet. Unfortunately the Chinese government still claims that the Dalai Lama is calling for independence and continue to brand him as a “splittist.”
Many Tibetan observers are not convinced that the Chinese government is being genuine in wanting to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet Question. The Chinese continue to imprison Tibetans mostly monks or nuns. Four months after the first visit by the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy to China, the Chinese authorities, ignoring international objections, executed a Tibetan. In April this year a Tibetan monk is due to be executed. Are these the actions of a government sincerely desirous of genuine dialogue with the Tibetans?
It is a sad reflection on the moral state of the world that the one and only peaceful, non-violent liberation struggle, that being the Tibetans’ cry for freedom, is totally brushed aside by most global leaders and barely conveyed to the world’s public through mainstream international media. Analysts conclude that economic agendas are more important than the rescue from extinction of an entire peace-loving nation. Ignoring the consequences for the ethnic people of Tibet, multinationals relentlessly seek trade with the PRC, both in China and Tibet, and China’s economic strength and bully tactics ensure that Tibet and the rights of Tibetans are crushed underfoot in the endless quest for profits (in the guise of so-called “progress”).
Sadly, our own government, which was founded on the ideal of a rights-based, free society, has so far, in all its multifaceted dealings with China, ignored the issue of Tibet. This I call “selective foreign policy”.
I take this opportunity to make public that even one of the world’s most respected men, Mr. Nelson Mandela, to whom I recently wrote asking if he would consider adding his voice to the call for a Free Tibet, responded in the negative, saying that his schedule would not accommodate fulfilling such a request.
It is, therefore, up to us, collectively and independently, to keep awareness of the tragic truth about Tibet alive and growing here in South Africa. Each and everyone of us can do something in support of this. Take action for the sake of six million voiceless Tibetans. If we do not, there will not be six million for whom we can plead.
I end with the words of a Tibetan youth: ” The Tibetan people need you, they need your energies, they need your hope and your freedom to ensure they are not forgotten”.
Written and presented by
Renato Palmi
Tibet Society of South Africa
January 29, 2004
