July 6 marks World TIbet Day by Ula Muircastle
July 05, 2008
World Tibet Day is held on July, 6 birthday of the Dalai Lama.
Tibet, on the Himalayas plateau has long being associated with a meditating culture and Buddhist serenity, yet has also been in the news for the periodic fights and protests carried on by Tibetans against China's military occupation since 1951. Dalai Lama, the country's former ruler, has ever since led his government while in exile and has made efforts towards a peaceful solution for the country.
Until the present day the occasional talks between China ruling Communist Party and the Dalai Lama’s diplomatic representatives have produced no results, and Beijing continues to condemn Dalai Lama, not allowing his presence on Chinese territory. The Chinese rule has been accepted in the past by the Dalai Lama even though he seeks more autonomy for Tibetans, at the least for them to practice freely their religion.
March 10, 2008, marked the date of a new round of disturbances raised on Lhasa, and once again the protests turned violent and wrought worldwide media coverag. The fights against Chinese government ended in a bloody conflict with Chinese forces and led to the imposition of martial law.
The disturbances continue to threaten Chinese efforts to reveal a peaceful image to the rest of the world as Beijing prepares to play host to the Olympic Games in August.
Ever since the latest protests, Pro-Tibet groups have become more aware and found themselves overwhelmed with the growing number of volunteers and donations. About 200 new organizations for a Free Tibet have been started in the past six months, in places like Estonia, the Czech Republic and even in Second Life.
Free Tibet Group: Second Life Activism
After the Free Tibet Group was established in Second Life, the number of members has continuously grown. It aims to become an active human rights institution and a networked force operating across SL spreading news and awareness about the Tibetan conflict.
Umas Offcourse, one of the founders and owner of the Free Tibet SL group said, “the lack of knowledge and superficialty of people had grown on scary levels, so that’s why we decided to create this group to gather the largest number of members on this cause over SL.” We hoped at this point that at least if someone sees the tag Free Tibet, they wonder, ok free from what?”
The Free Tibet group represents the only awareness group on this cause in SL and has tried to gather efforts among “the land owners to sponsor events pro Tibetan cause” Offcourse added, “but even though all the sponsors react very well, all of them, no exception, stayed only with words.”
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