student. Following a campaign led by the Grampian Tibet Support Group
the framed photo has since been restored to its original location. The
pressure to remove the photograph had come from a Chinese scholar (one
of 334 Chinese students at the University) who had felt offended at the
presence of the Dalai Lama's image at the university. Prior to the
reinstallation, a university spokeswoman claimed that "the university
respects the Dalai Lama's position as the head of state and spiritual
leader of the Tibetan people" but that the university had a duty to
"show consideration to all members of its student and staff community
from all cultural backgrounds". Coincidentally, the University of Aberdeen in recent weeks has given its seal of approval to the creation of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research. The Centre, with 3 teaching staff and 8 research staff, will include input from other Scottish universities, run graduate-level courses on Himalayan studies and conduct research on various aspects of the region. It is envisaged that, once established, the Dalai Lama's portrait may be rehoused in this department as an appropriate location for the image of the Tibetan spiritual leader.
We at TSGG would like to give our support to Aberdeen Uni in taking this very positive step in disseminating knowledge about the Himalayan region, and hope that the Centre will help to dispel some of the misunderstandings about the nature of that region and its people which many Chinese students seem to have.