Tibetan urged to record their own holocaust stories

(TibetanReview.net, Apr 04, 2009) — The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Mr Lodi Gyari has, on Mar 31, urged Tibetans across the world, including in Tibet, who had suffered under Chinese rule in the 50 years to record their experiences. He has clarified that the purpose of this would not be to fuel resentment but to “help the Chinese people understand our true history and to know that we are justified in our hopes for a future Tibet."

Mr Gyari was speaking at the opening of an exhibit on prison labour camps in Tibet organized by the Laogai Research Foundation, whose executive director Mr Harry Wu had documented the vast network of labour camps in China and Tibet. He equated the purpose of the Laogai Museum, set up in Washington, DC, by Mr Wu and where the exhibit was held, to the Holocaust Museum: to remember and to expose the ugly truths so that they do not recur. "The Tibetan people can learn to forgive, but we must not forget," Gyari was quoted as saying.

Mr Gyari urged the Tibetan youth, in particular, to learn about their family experiences from their parents and relatives. "This is a part of the legacy our Tibetan children have inherited, and it is the moral responsibility of every Tibetan family to know their history and to collect evidence of the events that have shaped their lives," the International Campaign for Tibet (Washington, DC) quoted Mr Gyari as saying.

The exhibit’s opening at the Laogai Museum marked the 50th year of the Dalai Lama’s exile in India. "Laogai in Tibet" has been produced in collaboration with the International Campaign for Tibet and will run until May 30.

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Last updated on Apr 04, 2009 14:26:06

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