I was taking to some friend about Tibet last night when the subject of self immolations happening in the UK came up. The fact that over 20 Tibetan monks/nuns have taken this action in Tibet over the last year has hardly penetrated the western media. Why is that? Is it because the western media requires immediate images to create the news and mobile phone footage a week later is not good enough?
What if a Tibetan Monk self immolated in the middle of Oxford street London on a Saturday afternoon? There would be over 100 video images in HD being circulated on the net within minutes even before the emergency services have arrived. All news organisations would have it as a headline and top politicians would be required to provide a comment.
Fortunately the oppressive conditions that have produced these immolations in Tibetan areas of China do not exist in the UK. We have democratic processes, separation of powers and the rule of law in the UK. Tibet has non of these and the only options for religious practitioners are to do what the Communist Party says, denounce the Dalai Lama as a 'splittist' and undertake patriotic re-education.
What if a Tibetan Monk self immolated in the middle of Oxford street London on a Saturday afternoon? There would be over 100 video images in HD being circulated on the net within minutes even before the emergency services have arrived. All news organisations would have it as a headline and top politicians would be required to provide a comment.
Fortunately the oppressive conditions that have produced these immolations in Tibetan areas of China do not exist in the UK. We have democratic processes, separation of powers and the rule of law in the UK. Tibet has non of these and the only options for religious practitioners are to do what the Communist Party says, denounce the Dalai Lama as a 'splittist' and undertake patriotic re-education.
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