To mark the passing of fifty years of oppression since the uprising in
Lhasa, when Tibetans first grew weary of, and rebelled against
Communist dictatorship, Tibet Support Group Grampian held a number of
publicity events in Aberdeen.
Information and Petition Stall
On Saturday the 7th March 2009, we held a stall in St Nicholas Square,
Aberdeen. The focus of this event was the collections of signatures for
a petition to Scottish EuroMPs, asking the European Union to urge the
Chinese Government to allow an independent delegation into Tibet, and
free access to international journalists. It also calls upon EU member
states not to send/accept trade delegations with China until the
breaches of the UN Human Rights act in Tibet have been investigated and
remedied. Signatures for the petition were collected in
Edinburgh, Moray and Aberdeen.
Around mid-day the weather unfortunately changed to heavy rain, forcing
us to move the stall under shelter. Nevertheless we still managed to
attract some interest from umbrella-wielding passersby.After an hour or
so the rain let up and we were able to retake our position in the
square proper.
The petition gained a total of 332 signatures between this stall and the
Losar (Tibetan new year) event. Additionally we received £59.62
in unsolicited donations, which will go towards good causes.
University Debate
On Tuesday 10th, March, the Aberdeen University Debating Society held a
debate entiteld 'THIS HOUSE BELIEVES TIBET SHOULD BE FREE.‘ Some
interesting points were put by both For and Against camps.
Speaking in favour Martin Mills, Tibet specialist and co-director of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research, underlined
the fact that -whatever your political views on the Dalai
Lama's government, or on Maoist Communinsm- it has to be admitted that
Chinese management of Tibet's economy and infrastructure has been
less than successful. This is mainly owing to policies designed for the
fertile plains of lowland China being implemented in mountainous Tibet
with its poor soil and limited resources. For example the mass
planting of wheat (which is known to be an unsuitable crop for
high-altitude zones) led to very large numbers of deaths by starvation.
As Martin Mills underlined, the singularly unimaginative and inflexible
management of Tibet by Beijing is in itself a pressing reason to look
at alternatives. Other speakers focused on the human-righs
aspects of Beijing's rule, with the lack of understanding of Buddhism
by the Communists leading to friction and clashes of ideologies which
could have been avoided by way of a more sensitive approach.
Those speaking against the motion had, I feel, much more
difficult task, especially as a large part of the audience was made-up
of Tibetsupporters. They nevertheless did a remarkably good job. A key
point which they reiterated is that human-rights and religious freedoms
are a major item of concern thoughout China, not just in Tibet. This is
in fact very true, although their argument that this disproves the need
to make a 'special case' of Tibet is, I think, a tenuous one.
A Chinese student joined the debate to make the point that his
government had, in fact, done a great deal for Tibet, and that Tibetans
did in fact enjoy priveleges that ordinary Chinese people did not, for
example freedom from taxation. His point was eloquently made, and
it was interesting to hear the reasoned and informed views of a
Communist supporter on these matter. Even if we don't agree, it is
always important to understand the position held by the other
side in any matter.
The debate ran for some considerable time, and was both entertaining
and informative. Perhaps not surprisingly, the motion was carried by a
substantial majority.
Flag-Raising
On the same day, the 10th, we arranged for the Tibetan flag to be flown
from the Aberdeen Town House. It was a fairly windy day, and the
flag wrapped itself around the pole on a number of occasions. In
fact, it decided to do so just as our official photographer arrived,
making a photo at that time impossible. On other occasions it was seen
to be flying straight upwards from the horizontal flagpole, defying
gravity. Nevertheless, other TSGG members managed to catch some photos
at other times in the day when the flag was fully unfurled and
displaying its striking colours and design.
