I have been arguing in this blog that if world leaders were to shed their impotent stance on pressing/critical world issues, even the arrogant (etc.) President George W. Bush can be persuaded to see the light of reason and prevented from taking unilateral decisions that endanger world peace. The recent mounting pressure on China to behave itself in Tibet is a case in point.
Close on the heels of Nicolas Sarkozy’s threat to boycott Beijing Olympics (as also the European Union’s similar threat), President George W. Bush was finally shaken out of his slumber and he made an urgent phone call to the Chinese president Hu Jintao to urge the latter to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama, the exiled-Tibetan spiritual leader.
The AP White House correspondent reports: “In a telephone call with Hu, Bush ‘pushed very hard’ about violence in Tibet, a necessity for restraint and a need for China to consult with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the White House said.
“After days of silence by Bush as other world leaders raised their voices, it marked a rare, direct protest from one president to another. As if to underscore how pointed Bush was, the White House said he used the call to ‘speak very clearly and frankly’.” More here…
The European leaders are more strident in their criticism of the Chinese action in Tibet. The NYT reports: “In London, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France told a joint session of the House of Commons and the House of Lords during a state visit that Britain and France shared a responsibility to urge the Chinese leadership to respect human rights and cultural identity.
“That goal could only be achieved if there was ‘true dialogue’ between China and the Dalai Lama, he (Sarkozy) said, a day after hinting that France might boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing this summer.”
“The president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on Wednesday invited the Dalai Lama to speak to European Union legislators and questioned whether European leaders should attend the opening.
“Following the lead of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who met with the Dalai Lama last fall, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain announced last week that he would meet with the Dalai Lama when the spiritual leader visits London in May.”
It is time that world leaders, and the UN, begin to send similar strong signals to the Bush administration that US should begin to undo the damage it has done to world peace by its actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that Bush need not wait until next year when he would be replaced by a new president. Thus leaving a legacy that a man can take a wrong decision/action, but is also has the guts to remedy the situation.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.