On April 25, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will speak to thousands of students at UC Berkeley. While I am mildly jealous ““ why can’t you come to UCLA, Holiness? ““ I am happy for all those students with whom he will inspire with his strength as an icon of compassionate leadership. As the Dalai Lama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and hero to many around the world, I was shocked and indignant to learn that he was unfairly rejected from a peace conference in South Africa.
Last month, the South African government revoked the Dalai Lama’s invitation to a peace conference and denied him his visa, barring him from even entering the country, let alone the conference. Later cancelled, the world’s first peace conference, which was to be held in Johannesburg, would have promoted discussion on the power of soccer in fighting racism and generating peace. It would have been a platform building up to the 2010 World Cup, which South Africa is hosting.
Why did the South African government reject a Nobel Peace Prize winner from a peace conference? A government spokesman, Thabo Masebe, explained that allowing the Dalai Lama to attend “would not be within South Africa’s best interests.” He told Reuters news agency that the Dalai Lama’s participation would distract attention from the World Cup.
What Masebe didn’t state outright is that South Africa is under very intense pressure from China ““ one of its largest, most important trading partners. A spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile, Thubten Samphel, told Agence France-Presse: “the Chinese government … (feels the Dalai Lama’s) presence attracts media attention to the deplorable human rights conditions in Tibet.”
Sure, the South African government wished to avoid endangering Chinese investments and trading relations in South Africa. However, this particular situation is extremely ironic given South Africa’s own fight against apartheid and human rights abuse in the 1990s.
The nature of this conference harshly conflicts with the behavior of its host country. Refusing the Dalai Lama’s visit and the plight of the Tibetan people tarnishes South Africa’s own practice of democracy.
The peace conference was later cancelled only because of pressure and condemnation from the international community. Fellow Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and F.W. de Klerk, along with the
Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize Committee, withdrew from the conference in protest. Expressing his dismay to local authorities, Tutu said, “We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure; I feel deeply distressed and ashamed.”
I, too, was distressed, but am now heartened by most of the world’s reactions of indignation and disappointment.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as the manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one who has attained enlightenment but has chosen to reincarnate to serve the perpetually suffering humanity.
The Dalai Lama was propelled onto the world radar in 1959, when Chinese forces invaded Tibet and forced the Dalai Lama, then 16 years old, to flee his homeland. Exiled in Dharamsala, India, he continued his duties as the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. His message of universal responsibility, love, compassion and kindness earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, much to China’s dismay.
China still views him as a dangerous separatist and refuses to engage in serious negotiations about the state of Tibet with him. His Holiness, however, desires only more autonomy for Tibet, not absolute independence.
I will always remember the day I heard the Dalai Lama speak at a youth conference at UC Irvine in 2004.
He came sporting a blue-and-gold UCI visor, traditional Tibetan robes, and a kind, playful smile. His warm, peaceful nature radiated so powerfully that it seemed to wash over the entire auditorium of 5,000 students.
During the dialogue on ethics and responsibility, His Holiness spoke on incorporating compassion into our daily lives and of the potential of compassion to positively affect all of humanity. His very presence and his teachings, delivered in a light-hearted manner, left me profoundly affected, with an earnest desire to be more selfless.
At the conference, the Dalai Lama said, “Educational institutions have the important responsibility of nurturing students and developing, through compassion, students’ inner values necessary for forming a caring society.” His words still resonate with me to this day.
Let’s hope that the Dalai Lama will continue to inspire youths around the world so that when they become global leaders, they will have the willingness to promote understanding and mutual respect for one another ““ the willingness China and South Africa currently lack.
Inspired by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama? Then e-mail Do at ndo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.