DHARAMSALA/SHIMLA: Peeved over denial of visa by South African government under pressure from China, Tibetan spiritual head and Nobel laureate Dalai Lama has said that “it is an act of abuse” and “like bullying”.
Appreciating the solidarity expressed by Nobel laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and others on the 25th anniversary of conferment of Nobel Peace Prize on him, Dalai Lama said, “Action of South African government is like bullying a humble person with no protection”.
In his brief speech on the occasion, Dalai Lama said, “You are my protection,” pointing towards fellow laureates Iran’s Shirin Ebadi and the US’ Jody Williams, who were present at a function to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The exiled Tibetan leader based at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh had applied for a visa to South Africa on August 27 last to attend the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace laureates to be held in Cape Town October 13 to 15 but the visa was not granted.
This was the third time in five years that the Dalai Lama has called off his visit to South Africa.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was conferred Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for Tibet in 1989.
Supporting Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause in Dharamsala, Williams and Ebadi said the decision to boycott Nobel summit in South Africa sends a strong message to China that they won’t bend under its pressure.
“The Nobel summit in South Africa was to celebrate the legacies of the Nelson Mandela. We are greatly saddened when South Africa denied visa to Dalai Lama to attend the summit and the same was cancelled as the Nobel laureates will not attend it,” said Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi.
They said that “the boycott of the Nobel summit was a message to the Chinese government and those countries who sell their soul and sovereignty, and we will always stand with truth and justice, and never bow to Chinese pressure”.
The World Peace summit was cancelled and shifted out of Cape Town in South Africa, owing to the denial of a travel visa to the Dalai Lama. -PTI
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