The Dalai Lama Will Retire

Yeshi Tsomo is 74-years-old. When asked about His Holiness the Dalai Lama's retirement from Tibetan politics her face melts into a pool of tears. This is the fundamental problem. Emotions of the Tibetan people, both in and outside Tibet, become so elevated on this issue that the possibility of any logical analysis and factual decision dies. We must, as Bob Dylan sang, “take the rag away from [y]our face/Now ain't the time for [y]our tears.”

Dharamsala's Gorshey and XZTV's Asinine Programs

A woman in 'Sinicised' Tibetan dress

A scantily clad woman in colourful see-through silk attire danced seductively. In front of her is a thangka of Buddha - beatific and calm. A khata hangs across Buddha’s face lazily. Sharp beams of light darted on the floor and across the hall. Then the woman raised her left leg in the air far above the Buddha's head. This was one of many terribly produced and totally vulgar programs on Xizang TV (XZTV), the official TV channel of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) on the eve of Losar.