By Julia Jironkina
Moscow, March 28 – A rare event for a downtown Moscow – the Russian authorities said “yes” to the request of the local Tibet supporters and followers of Buddhism to hold a protest against a new holiday in Tibet which China calls “Serf emancipation day”.
An ugly occasion could not have passed unnoticed among the Russian Buddhists who have been following news from Tibet on a daily basis, and they used this opportunity to express their solidarity to the Tibetan people.
Colorful Tibetan flags were a surprising view for the hundreds street-walkers in the main Tverskaya Street, and the sounds of long monastic trumpets (dunchen) – used as a sign of concern for the destinies of Tibetan monks in Tibet – attracted everybody’s attention.
The address of Kashag issued earlier that on day was read as well as the recent letter by Nobel Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu who asked celebrities and general public to raise their voices in support of the Dalai Lama and human rights. The Russian Tibet supporters of all walks of life added their signatures to the letter as well as their best wishes to the Tibetan people requesting them to carry on with their peaceful struggle, never give up and take the collapse of totatalitarian system in Russia as a sign of hope.
“If just a few years back I dared to say the Communist regime would collapse in this country, I would be definitely put into prison”, said one of the participants. “However, this is exactly what happened here, in Russia”.
But certain topics are still being tabooed in Russia up to these days and Tibet is one of the issues that the Russian government finds too sensitive because of their close relations with China. Adequate media reports are scarce, but the recent Russian media tours organized by the Head Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche helped to increase public awareness. A new Russian documentary “Sunrise/Sunset. Dalai Lama the 14th” filmed in Dharamsala in December 2006 was well received in several Russian cities and contributed to a better understanding of the global ideas of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
