In January 2006, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama gave his 31st Kalachakra empowerment at an important Buddhists holy place called Amarvati, in Andra Pradesh, in South India. There were over 100,000 devotees who came to receive the teaching. There were Tibetans living inside and outside Tibet, from the Himalayan regions, and the Buddhists coming from all corners of the world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama not only preached Kalachakra empowerment, but also talked about how to preserve peaceful and respectful characteristic of the Tibetan people and made the strong statement to discontinue immediately the meaningless and unwise widespread fashion among Tibetans to wear dresses which were widely bordered by wildlife skins of tigers, leopards, and otters in Tibet.
During the Kalachakra empowerment, some NGOs organized public awareness campaign on endangered wildlife and environmental issues. Especially, with support from Environmental International Agency (EIA), Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), and The Fund for the Tiger, Khawa Karpo Tibet Culture Centre organized a huge program called HELP STOP THE SLAUGHTER, DO NOT BUY OR WEAR SKINS. In order to raise the general public awareness of the program, people were provided detailed oral and written explanations along with colored posters and colored big size photo exhibition. Also, we distributed hundreds of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s speech on Audio Tapes, documentaries films, thousands of colorful leaflets with wildlife information to the devotees of the Kalachakra teaching and especially to the Tibetan new-comers from Tibet and many leaflets, Audio tapes, videos and posters reached in Tibet.
During the Kalachakra teaching, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave a serious speech on the Tibetans who wear dresses which made up of the endangered wildlife skins such as tiger, leopard, and otter and urged them to stop wearing such clothing. Repeated speech were given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and continuous programs launched by the NGOs in the exiled Tibetans community were widely broadcasted by the different radio stations and it had a strong impact on the Tibetans inside Tibet. Therefore, many people in Kham and Amdo region of Tibet burned tigers, leopards, otters, and foxes skins with or without obstruction from the Chinese government. The program of burning skins of the endangered wildlife was started in Tibet just after few days of the speech given by H.H the Dalai Lama and campaigns from the NGOs.
Tibetans in Tibet didn’t exactly know why the existing current fashion and habit of wearing wildlife skins and endangering existence of the wildlife. After His Holiness the Dalai Lama several request and informative speeches on the misuse of wildlife skins, many Tibetans in Tibet destroyed their expensive clothing made from the wildlife skins, which has cost them several thousands Chinese currency. Many Tibetans forsake their expensive dresses even though the Chinese authority placed strong restrictions and Tibetan people showed their strength to protect the endangered animals disregarding the Chinese authority.
Utilization of large quantities of tiger’s and leopard’s skins in Tibet has broken the National and International law of Wildlife Protections. Tibetans use of such dresses has not benefited them but has caused much harm to the Tibetan people in so many ways. Presently, the Chinese government against the destruction of the dresses made from the wildlife skins in Tibet. Beside this, The Chinese government has detained many Tibetans who involved in the destruction of such dresses. There are incidents where the Chinese authority paid the Qinghai TV Presenter in Amdo province to wear the dress made from wildlife skins during their TV presentations. Nowadays, all the Tibetans in Tibet consider wearing wildlife skin is a shameful and a bad deed. This is all because of the speech of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other awareness activities being carried out. Therefore, it is a great hope from all of us that the wildlife skin should never be used again. So Wildlife Protection Society of India continues to organize Wildlife Awareness Campaign For Tibetan for the wildlife protection by organizing campaigns in collaboration with Khawa Karpo Tibet Culture Centre with financial assistance from Sacharuna Foundation. Our first public wildlife Awareness Campaign was organized by workshop presentation and movie show at main Temple’s ground at Dharamsala on 21 September. There were more than 500 publics and distributed the leaflets and posters.
In last three months, we have been organized wildlife Awareness Campaign in North India based Tibetan community in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, in total, there are 13 Tibetan settlements, 15 schools and 11 monasteries included two nunneries. The Campaign organizes workshop like presentation, movies show, distributing colored leaflets and posters included information and photos about Tibetan Antelope or Chirus and skin burning campaigns in Tibet. We have been distributed leaflets 12700 copies. People really interested and support the campaign very much and especially local leaders, monastery’s head lamas and school’s administrators were supporting the campaigns strongly. Dignitaries and officials of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile had also supported our initiative, and issued supporting letters. We have planned to continues the same campaign organize in all the Tibetan settlements, schools and monasteries. We hope to bring awareness about wildlife to them well, it’s very effective campaign, and it seems that many people admired it.
Wildlife Protection Society of India based in New Delhi
Website: www.wpsi-india.org
Khawa Karpo Tibet Culture Centre based at Dharamsala H.P
Website: www.khawakarpo.org
For more information contact us on this email: ngawang.raj@gmail.com
