By Amira Jensen
Jan Ligarde began volunteering with Tibetan exiles in the early 1990s.
“I think if one person, just one, is being abused in injustice, we should stand up for that one person,” she said.
Ligarde, who is a member of the Justice Ministry at St. Austin’s Catholic Church near campus, said she drove Tibetans relocated from India to English-teaching classes as they assimilated into new surroundings. Now, she and other members displayed their continuing support for Tibetan freedom from Chinese occupation at a candlelight vigil on Wednesday at Threadgill’s restaurant in South Austin.
“I think these meetings are very important in sending a message that we are aware and watching,” Ligarde said.
The candlelight vigil was hosted by the Tibetan Buddhist group Dharmata Sangha of Austin. The location was changed to Threadgills from Austin City Hall under the threat of a rainstorm. Speakers took the stage inside and shared stories, letters and thoughts about Tibetans’ human rights. Local musicians such as Rosie Flores, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock sang of peace, and the Rev. Jim Rigby of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church prayed “for all those in the world who suffer.”
“The vigil [was] to raise awareness and to do it from the heart,” said Dharmata Sangha member, Kunzang Roester. “We believe the greatest way to expand your heart is to reach out to other beings.”
Attention to political unsettlement in Tibet has risen as the 2008 Olympic torch relays its way toward Beijing. A candlelight vigil also took place in San Francisco on Wednesday as the torch made its only U.S. stop in the bay area. Paris and London previously held similar rallies as the torch passed through the cities earlier this week. Protests and campaigns will continue to rise as the 2008 China Olympics approach in August. The issue has reached presidential debate. Both Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton currently encourage boycotting the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing.
So does Ligarde and other Austinites. Other organizations, such as the nonprofit Students for a Free Tibet, are considering boycotting the Olympics as a viable expression of opposition to China’s treatment of Tibet. Students for a Free Tibet has launched a campaign titled “One World, One Dream: Free Tibet,” which is taken from China’s Olympic slogan of “One World, One Dream.”
“We’re very against the passing of the torch in Tibet because it’s just propaganda,” said 20-year-old Vanessa Hutcheson. “China’s trying to pretend that everything’s okay.”
Hutcheson leads the southwest U.S. chapter of Students for a Free Tibet and attended the vigil and has been a practicing Buddhist for the past two years. She said that books she read when becoming interested in Buddhism were often prefaced with the situation in Tibet. She later joined Students for a Free Tibet because she felt they were most active in their support for Tibetan autonomy.
“If you try to keep silent, it’s not going to get better,” Hutcheson said. “We’re committed to nonviolence, but we’re not against causing trouble.”
Students for a Free Tibet have had fellow activists detained by Chinese authorities after hanging a banner on the Great Wall that displayed their Olympic campaign slogan. Hutcheson also supports a U.S. boycott of Chinese goods and other efforts to negatively affect China’s economy.
“The economic campaign is most important,” Hutcheson said. “It’s really a chance for success. We need to get them where it hurts – in the pocket.”
