Free Tibet

China invaded Tibet in 1949. Over 1.2 million Tibetans have died, and the cultural genocide continues 60 years later. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 along with 80,000 other Tibetans. The Tibet Museum in the main temple complex of Dharamsala has appropriately named its main exhibit "A Long Look Homeward" and uses the above image.

One can argue that the Free Tibet movement reached its peak in the west during the 1990's when Richard Gere brought the issues to light as well as with the Seven Years in Tibet movie. In Dharamsala, it's a common sight to see westerners walking around wearing Free Tibet clothing- it's the commercialization of a revolution.


The Tibetan community has been established in India now for 50 years... that's 2 generations that may only know India and not been to Tibet. So has the Tibetan community in India "forgotten" the cultural genocide in China? Not a chance.

Every single store front has Free Tibet protest posters displayed. Peaceful protests are common, especially with the Olympics being held in China very shortly. Here are a collection of them below, set to a song sung by Dorjee Tsering that I recorded in Dharamsala. I do not know the meaning of the song, but the emotional intensity of his voice speaks for itself... if you listen carefully, you can hear the Tibetan children in the audience respond.
A Primal Song-




The youngest political prisoner, the 8 year old Panchen Lama...

Prayers on a prayer flag...



With the Olympics nearing in China, there is renewed worldwide interest in Tibet. Not all Tibetans agree with the Dalai Lama's call to find a peaceful solution (1,2). I'm not too sure I would agree with the reporter's conclusion at the end of the second article, that China has much to fear from an angry younger Tibetan generation. I think the Dalai Lama's quote is the most telling... "With what are we going to fight them? Are we 6 million Tibetans going to confront the army of 1.2 billion people? How?" Indeed.