Last night SBS broadcast Murder in the Snow. Of course, when we see those figures falling into the snow, knowing that we are seeing, for instance, 17-year old nun Kelsang Namtso being shot dead, we react in the obvious way – outrage at the behaviour of the Chinese soldiers is not far away.
But there was something that struck me as worse. When we give guns to kids and young men, and tell them to go and “keep order” in an occupied territory, there will be atrocities. Think of the Americans at Mai Lai in Vietnam, in Iraq or at the Sand Creek massacre; the British in Northern Ireland (or, if you don’t find that convincing, go back to the days of the Black and Tans) or at the Amritsar massacre; the Japanese at the Nanking massacre; Rwanda; and on; and on.
What frightened me more was the mountaineers. There were about 100 of them in the party. Of those, two (yes, the number after one) of them, having witnessed the murder of defenceless, innocent civilians with their backs to the soldiers, saw it in the first place as their human duty to tell the story to the world. These were the Romanian cameraman Sergiu Matei and American mountain guide Luis Benitez. A couple of the others were more or less cornered into saying something later, which is some credit to them, but essentially the other 98 were more worried about their tourist visas and climbing permits than about state-sanctioned murder.
It is these “98ers” who stand by and let it all go wrong – but which of us can be sure that we are not amongst the 98? I’ve only just seen The Reader – was it not the 98ers who stood by and let Germany turn into Nazi Germany in the 1930s? Is it not 98ers everywhere who let bullying turn into bastardry and bastardry grow into atrocity?
The events of Murder in the Snow took place in 2006; it was the events of 2008 that I referred to a week ago, but in that connection I came across another graphic:
(Courtesy Lhuboom/RFA)
You can get what may have better resolution from Phayul if you want to put a copy elsewhere.
I saw Murder in the Snow at a special screening in Paddington a couple of weeks ago, proceeded by the Gyuto monks chanting. I too was really struck by the inaction of so many observers but inspired by the moral compulsion that the tour leader took and continues to take to inform people about the Chinese treatment of the Tibetans. Non action can be as cruel as negative action; but moral courage can inspire millions.
On another note, in terms of SBS documentaries, the series India Reborn, showing on Tuesday nights at 8:30, up to its third of four parts, is a must see. It shows the booming India economy….& those missing out. Heart breaking reminder about how economic equality is also a form of violence. Gandhi words are very poignant here:
An armed conflict between nations horrifies us. But the economic war is no better than armed conflict. This is like a surgical operation. An economic war is prolonged torture. And its ravages are no less terrible than those depicted in the literature on war properly so called. We think nothing of the other because we are used to its deadly effects…. The movements against war is sound. I pray for its success. But I cannot help the gnawing fear that the movement will fail if it does not touch the root of all evil – human greed.
-M.K Gandhi, "Non-Violence – The Greatest Force".
Hi Rose,
I missed that showing. Are you involved with the ATC?