Dharamsala: There is a renaissance of short for hundreds of colorfully attired Tibetans who congregated at the Main Square of Mcleodganj in this Buddhists pilgrimage town of Dharamsala today. The reason was to rekindle an era for conservation of endangered animals by boycotting clothes made from animal skins.

People huddled around a huge bonfire of animal skins by chanting ancient Buddhists sermons. Tiger, fox, otter and other skin laced garments were burnt on the street of lower Mcleodganj by hundreds of cheering public. Five different Tibetan organizations participated in the event to invoke among the fellow Tibetans, the teaching of Mahakaruna which forbid cruelty towards all living beings.

This was the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his fellow Tibetans at the launch of the Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign (TCAC) with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Care for the Wild International (CWI).

This event was organized two days after the screening of the video depicting the mass burning of animal skins on the streets of Tibet, which was clandestinely brought here as part of a mass movement. The film was screened on February 17 at the main temple of His Holiness in presence of more than 1000 Tibetans. About three billion Yuan worth of skins were reportedly destroyed in various parts of Tibet.

It may be considered as the first ever public demonstration in India to protest against the use of animal pelts by burning on streets. It also assumes significance as a way of expressing solidarity due to widespread protests in the last fortnight in various parts of Tibet, though much larger in scale than it was in Dharamsala.

According to an organizer, “usages of endangered animal skins by the Tibetans should be viewed as a curse handed down by the Chinese consumerist’s culture to those who have been flamboyant in the pretext of a false identity. Tibetans never used animal skins to such extravagance that it might have led to the extinction of a species.”

One of the volunteers of the Friends of Tibet said that similar events in the future would be carried out in places like Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi where a considerable number of Tibetans live. This place shot to notoriety when several Tibetans linked to the illegal wildlife trade were perceived to have contacts and recent seizures of wildlife goods in Delhi and elsewhere by various security agencies proved this fact.

With this positive initiative by a few civil groups in India and Tibet, one can only be optimistic that our wildlife gets breather from this brutal trade which continued for long and with devastating consequences. Tibetans who have used wildlife products, this awareness message of shedding animal pelts would give them reasons to rethink.