Last week I recommended an article in email to the students of AC. It was from Wikinews, a freely editable news resource (which is run by the same Wikimedia Foundation which runs Wikipedia). The article was in fact an interview with Tashi Wangdi, a senior Tibetan officer, presently the representative of the Dalai Lama in America. In the interview many topics are covered about the Tibet, a small country which is called by many the roof of the world.
What do we know about Tibet? Very, very little. In my article I do not try to give a general picture of this country, you can find every information on the Internet.
I strongly believe that Tibet is one of the countries which are ignored by the international community for economic reason. The USA and our developed countries would never help to Tibet, they do not want to go against China, the next potential superpower with which they must have a good relationship. For me it seems that the international community only interferes in conflicts when it is for their immediate interest.
We ignore the fact that Tibet has been occupied and brutally oppressed by the People’s Republic of China since 1950. We ignore the fact that they violate human rights and they do it again and again. When finally the States did something and awarded its Congressional Gold Medal to the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama the Chinese army repressed the Tibetans gathering at home to celebrate their leader receiving this high award. And where is the reaction of the international community?
As students we can not do much directly. Of course we can participate in Students for Free Tibet and express our protest in other ways but it does not seem very efficient to me. But what we can do is to get as much information about the situation as possible through such free resources as Wikinews and to pass other people as much as possible. Possible ways are for example just telling about this to people in your home countries or to develop a better article in the Wikipedias in your own language. But above all: use your freedom to speak, write and discuss openly such issues! It is not possible for everyone.