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Nobel laureates support Tibetan cause

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

Jody Williams reads the declaration supporting the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people’s quest for autonomy, signed by seven other Nobel laureates, in Dharamshala, India, 27 October 2009. Nobel laureates Mairead Maguire (center) and Shirin Ebadi (not seen in the picture) participated in the ceremony. Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche is seated second from left in the back row.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India

Eight Nobel peace laureates expressed their support for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people in their quest for a “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet, during a ceremony in Dharamshala to honour them.

Nobel peace laureates Jody Williams of the US, Shirin Ebadi of Iran and Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland said in a declaration that for 50 years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have waged a peaceful struggle to preserve their ancient culture, religion, language, and identity.

“As the issue of Tibet remains tragically unresolved and Tibetans continue to endure harsh and repressive conditions in Tibet, we, as Nobel Peace Laureates, wish to express our grave concern about the survival of Tibetan identity and offer our support to His Holiness for his non-violent efforts to attain meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people.”

“We urge the Chinese government to take immediate and constructive steps to resolve the status of Tibet and end the oppressive policies that continue to marginalise and impoverish Tibetans in their own land,” say the Nobel laureates.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Adolfo Perez Equivel, Betty Williams and Wangari Maathai have also signed the statement.

The three Nobel laureates are in Dharamshala to participate in the Peace Jam, an international education programme for young people to interact with Nobel Peace Laureates, at the Tibetan Children’s Village School. It was the fourth such conference held in Asia, all at this same venue.

The Dalai Lama urged youth to take responsibility to make the 21st century a century of peace.

He said more than 200 million people have been killed in the last century in conflicts. “The 20th century was a century of bloodshed. The future of this century is in the hands of today’s youth.”

In her speech Jody Williams said, “Countries that are said to be great leaders are failing now. [On] the issue of human rights in my own country, the United States, the new leadership is bowing down to China. It is not the right thing to me.”

“Leadership is not just economic power, materialism and military. Leadership is support for humanity and human rights.”

Shirin Ebadi of Iran said, “A real government is in the hearts, not in the power of guns. Our Iranian government have survived by working through use of brute [force] and guns.”

Speaking of US President Barack Obama’s stand on human rights, Ebadi said, “I am very angry the way he acted with regard to China, and adopted silence.”

“President Obama is only thinking of [the] nuclear programme of Iran and he neglects the fact that human rights is being trampled upon.”

“And he forgot how unjustly Aung San Suu Kyi is put under house arrest for many years. First of all, he seems to have forgotten that it is China that is behind all these events.”

Copyright © 2009 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun