| 
Chinese
concrete is present in the remotest of towns
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"The
situation is that whether intentionally or unintentionally
a sort of cultural genocide is happening in Tibet. And if
losing
independence is acceptable, on the contrary losing one's culture,
accepting the destruction of our spirituality, of Tibetan
Buddhism, is
unthinkable" The Dalai Lama |
| The
Chinese began to force assimilation of the Tibetan culture
into mainstream communist Chinese society by moving Chinese
into Tibet, destroying monasteries, and setting up a public
school system in which Tibetan children would learn Chinese
propaganda, language and culture. This cultural genocide has
dramatically changed Tibet. Today there are more Chinese living
in Tibet than Tibetans, the number of monks and nuns has been
dramatically reduced, and Tibetan children are growing up
knowing little of their culture.
The
word "genocide" must be used with care. Our world
and our century have seen countless abominable massacres,
and it is easy to slip into the use of the word to denote
such atrocities. We should, however, restrict it to those
crimes before high heaven which are truly designated by
it. If we do so, and if we consider only the last sixty
years, there are four such mass murders which can justifiably
carry the terrible brand. They are: the Jewish Holocaust,
the Stalin Terror, the bloodthirst of Pol Pot and the Khmer
Rouge, and what was done to the people and culture of Tibet
during the miserable lust for death and torture unleashed
by the mad Mao Tse-tung under the name of "The Cultural
Revolution".
- Bernard Levin, The Times, September 7, 1990 (Introductory
Quote From Mary Craig's, Tears of Blood: A Cry of Tibet)
Part
of The Tibet Exhibit
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