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New York, NY (PRWEB) July 18, 2008 -- Approximately 500 Tibetan and Western Buddhists engaged in a peaceful demonstration today outside of Radio City Music Hall as the Dalai Lama gave his public talks. This group, the Western Shugden Society (WSS), say they are demonstrating to question the Dalai Lama's unexamined actions and wishing to be heard since the Dalai Lama has repeatedly refused requests for dialog. The demonstrators spent 6 hours chanting "Dalai Lama Give Religious Freedom" and "Dalai Lama Stop Lying" in Tibetan and English to draw attention to their cause.
Police erected metal barriers to push the crowds back. Some of them had to be physically restrained and forced to the ground as the aggressors began throwing objects, including bags of coins and bottles, spitting at, and yelling at the demonstrators.
The demonstrators remained contained, cooperated with police and agreed at the suggestion of the police to be evacuated with escort from the area while 6th Avenue was blocked off for 20 minutes during rush hour. They were told by police that this was necessary as it would have taken many hours to disperse the crowds.
Kelsang Pema, spokesperson for the WSS, says, "If this intense reaction and mob mentality is the result when a few people publicly question the Dalai Lama's actions on American soil with police present and western laws, imagine how difficult it is for these people to speak up against their unelected leader in the Tibetan community in exile. I hope that the western media will investigate."
From PR Web
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2 comments:
Apparently we are the 'bad' guys yet we get spat at and the restraints were for our protection.
This is very shameful,especially after just leaving a teaching?!?
The irony is that this sort of thing probably serves our cause in so far as it draws attention to the fierce and unthinking way in which Tibetans loyal to the Dalai Lama react to criticisms made against him. We should have love and compassion for these sadly troubled (inadvertent) benefactors.
I don't think we should get too defensive if people criticise us for provoking the Tibetans by criticising their beloved leader as this is understandable.
Rather we should politely ask them to carefully examine the issue about which we are protesting, to read some of the information on the wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org web-site, to watch the Swiss documentary on You Tube, and to try to understand why it is that there are people, both Western and Tibetan, who consider this issue to be of sufficient importance to be worthy of protesting about.
If they show little interest in doing so then they have no real ground for criticising us. If they do so then hopefully they will start to understand the extraordinary, unbelievable, but very real persecution that is taking place and which we are trying to bring an end to.
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