On Mon. Nov. 10, Tibetan activist Michelle Bos-Lun spoke as part of the Saul O. Sidore Lecture series. Her discussion marked the end of the Fall 2008 Lectures.
Bos-Lun has been a Tibetan activist for over eight years and has organized many different programs across the United States that educates American youth about the problems occurring between Tibet and China.
According to Bos-Lun, “The trouble began in Tibet when the Chinese Communist Party took power in October of 1949 and has grown more intense over the past 60 years.” Bos-Lun discussed how the Chinese Government came into Tibet to take advantage of its rich resources and to make it a part of “the motherland”.
The army of the Communist Party of China, known as “The People’s Liberation Army” began taking away the Tibetan people’s human rights such as their religious freedom, a very important aspect of their life. Even when the Dalai Lama, the highest person in the Tibetan religion, tried to negotiate peacefully with the Chinese Government, the government lied to him and refused to cooperate.
The Dalai Lama, praised as the “god of compassion in human form,” stressed the importance of staying peaceful and not using violence against the Chinese, even when they had threatened his life. On Mar. 10, 1959, the Dalai Lama left Tibet in order to escape Chinese oppression. Mar. 10 is now a Tibetan holiday known as “Tibetan Uprising Day.” Every year on that day, many people are arrested for attempting to celebrate, another communist law in China. Bos-Lun also informed the audience of other Chinese laws against the Tibetan people. In China, many Tibetans are victims imprisonment due to Chinese laws enacted specifically against them. A Tibetan person can be sent to prison for owning a picture of the Dalai Lama or even speaking publicly of him.
Bos-Lun spoke of how the Chinese Government controls all the news that Americans see about the struggle. Since China will not allow foreign journalists, the only way Western countries find out the about the situation is through the communist government’s perspective. This leads to bias reporting The reported deaths that are seen in American news are always the Chinese people who were killed, This portrays the Tibetans as the aggressors. Often times, reports of Tibetan deaths are overlooked. It is estimated that about 1.2 million Tibetans have died from starvation and torture since the communist government took over.
Michele Bos-Lun was brought to PSU as the third part of the “Saul O Sidore Lecture Series” which is entitled “Activism for the 21st Century.” Her lecture, “The Tibetan People and Their Ongoing Struggle”, was the final portion of the Fall 2008 edition. Beginning at 7p.m., the one-hour lecture was followed by a question and answer session between Bos-Lun and anyone who wanted to participate in the audience.
While Bos-Lun may want to go back to China some day, it may be impossible, “I was able to in 2003, but I’ve opened my big mouth a lot since then.” Bos-Lun continued to encourage all the people in attendance, students and visitors, to begin showing support for the cause of the Tibetan people. Any kind of help you can give, even writing a letter can help.
Bos-Lun left the lecture with some final words of wisdom “If you can make a difference in one person’s life, that’s a good start.”