There will be no Nobel Peace Prize winners in South Africa this month.
The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, which was supposed to happen in Cape Town, has been cancelled after the South African government refused a visa to the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama has long had trouble traveling, as the Chinese government has worked to restrict his movements. Last month, China pressured the government of South Africa to deny the Dalai Lama a visa for the Nobel meeting. It was the third time South Africa has barred the Dalai Lama from visiting.
When the Dalai Lama announced he could not attend the meeting, six fellow laureates said that they would boycott the summit in protest. Apparently, their outrage was heard.
“The venue of the summit has been shifted out of South Africa,” Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams, one of the boycotters, said to american reporters today. Williams was speaking from Dharamsala, India, where she was visiting the Dalai Lama to celebrate his Nobel silver jubilee anniversary celebrations, on October 2.
According to ABC Net, South African Peace Prize Laureate and personal friend of the Dalai Lama Desmond Tutu lashed out against his government, “for ‘kowtowing’ to China by barring the Dalai Lama.” More on that story, here.
Also see more at One India News.
