Dharamshala launch of ‘Tibet Burning’ issue of Seminar Journal

From left to right, Bhuchung D Sonam, Dhardon Sharling, Tenzin Tsundue, and Thubten Samphel at the launch of the April issue of Seminar Journal in Dharamshala on April 21, 2013. DHARAMSHALA, April 23: The April edition of the Seminar Journal, dedicated to discussing issues relating to Tibet, particularly the ongoing self-immolation protests was launched in the exile headquarters of Dharamshala on Sunday. TibetWrites, a group of Tibetan writers and poets, hosted the event which was attended by contributing authors to the magazine and many Tibetans and foreigners. The 102-paged issue, “Tibet Burning – a symposium on the crisis in Tibetan politics and culture,” published from New Delhi and edited by Ananya Vajpeyi, also features articles by Indians and Chinese writers. Thubten Samphel, Dhardon Sharling, Bhuchung D Sonam, and Tenzin Tsundue, four of the contributing authors present at the launch, read their articles. In the opening article titled, ‘The Problem,’ Ananya Vajpeyi, expesses hope that the “collective power” of the articles will “make a dent in the conscience of a world that has for too long left an ancient people with a rich and evolved civilization and delicate eco-system exposed to the depredations of a bellicose state that combines the authoritarian power of communism with the ruthless greed of capitalism.” “India under Nehru had the correct instinct to give refuge to the Dalai Lama and his people as they fled in the face of the Chinese invasion,” Vajpeyi writes. “But half-a-century on, India is not doing enough, not taking care of the Tibetans who live here, nor acknowledging their anguish as their distant homeland is slowly but surely destroyed. Tibet is burning: each of us needs to help in putting out these searing fires, whose flames consume our humanity and leave us diminished.” Other contributing authors to the special issue on Tibet includes Tsering Woeser, Tibetan author, poet and blogger, Wang Lixiong, Chinese dissident writer and Tibetologist, Youdon Aukatsang, Member, Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Tenzin Norbu, Environment and Development Desk, Ming Xia, Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center, and the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Sungchuk Kyi, poet and journalist, Claude Arpi, writer and historian, Tenzing Sonam, filmmaker and writer, Tsering Dhundup, Research Officer, Environment and Development Desk, Tenzin Dickyi, writer and translator, and Sudeep Basu, Assistant Professor, Gujarat Institute of Development Research amongst others. The Seminar is a monthly journal in print since 1959 which focuses on a single issue debated by writers belonging to different persuasions. Copies of the April issue are on sale in India and the online edition will be made available from May.