Prague, Oct 20 (CTK) – The uproar the Dalai Lama’s visit has caused on the Czech scene is ridiculous, Vojtech Varys writes in Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) on Thursday, referring to a controversy over four top state leaders’ statement confirming respect for the integrity of China including Tibet as its part.
Many Czechs have bad knowledge of Czech history but they tend to “perfectly understand” the complex situation in remote parts of the world, such as China. They tend to struggle for human rights in China or the survival of rhinoceros in Botswana rather than to tackle problems and questions faced by the Czech Republic, Varys writes.
It is naturally far easier for the Czechs to take a very resolute approach to something that does not concern them, he writes.
The Dalai Lama is a global celebrity who has been touring the world and meeting his fans. His popularity rests on two pillars, both of which are quite problematic, however, Varys continues.
First, the Dalai Lama has become a symbol of the fight against oppression and of resistance to China. Everybody hates China though everybody uses Chinese products, wears China-made clothes, pursues agile trade with China, works for it or owes money to it, and most often their relation to the country is a combination of all this, Varys writes.
To put on China-made clothes, go to a pro-Dalai Lama demonstration and photograph it by a China-made cell phone belongs to ways of a “permitted revolt.” It is a moment when citizens and consumers, who evidently preach something else than how they live, may consider their morals blameless, Varys writes with irony.
Second, the Dalai Lama has a reputation of a wise man. However, most of his statements are in fact banal, far from wise, and his fans would find no intellectual value in these statements if they were not the Dalai Lama’s but Paul Coelho or Robert Fulghum’s, for example, or a part of the motivation quotes appearing on the Internet, Varys writes.
After all, the forums the Dalai Lama tours, including the Forum 2000 annual meeting in Prague, directly focus on similar prattle presented as a philosophy, Varys writes.
In certain Czech circles, it is fashionable to have oneself photographed together with the Dalai Lama, while others prefer spitting at him and kowtowing to China. Both is ridiculous, Varys writes.
The politicians who meet the Dalai Lama in fact want to appropriate a portion of his fame and gain the reputation of brave freedom fighters. Those who make cowardly pro-China statements in order to not annoy Chinese comrades are even more laughable, he writes, alluding to Czech politicians’ different reactions to the Dalai Lama’s recent presence in Prague.
The bizarre situation culminates when the debate is joined by those who otherwise keep silent because they have nothing to say. The whole world is definitely eager to hear the opinion of great Czech intellectuals like Jan Hamacek and Milan Stech, heads of the lower and upper houses of parliament, respectively, Varys writes sarcastically.
The excitement the Dalai Lama caused in Prague is nothing but a harmless squabble in a country where nothing interesting occurs but where world celebrities come for a visit now and then, Varys concludes.
