A hundred million candles for Tibet's freedom

"A Candle for Tibet" calls on everyone to show a lighted candle, on 7 August, eve of the start of the Beijing Olympics. This way the world will remember repression in Tibet.

NEW DELHI (AsiaNews) - At least 100 million people from all over the world are expected to join in a worldwide 'light' protest for a free Tibet by lighting a candle one day before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

David Califa, a retired private individual with an investment banking background, from Ramat Hasharon, Israel, launched the campaign "A Candle for Tibet," which he has financed with his own money.

"A Candle for Tibet" has quickly developed into a global movement which operates from a multilingual (25 languages, all translated by volunteers) web site with its own social network. It calls on people to put a candle in their windows, desks, or anywhere else where other people will see it and hopefully do the same.

So far more than 500,000 people from well over a hundred countries have signed in.

Tibetan diva, Yungchen Lhamo, who is recognised as the "Voice of Tibet", has recently joined the campaign.

The hope is that there will be so many "small" lights on the day before the start of the Olympics that TV networks will cover the campaign around the world.

On the next day 8 August letters will be issued to every head of state in the world reporting how many people from his country wish Tibet to be free, and demanding that each one of them take concrete steps for Tibet.

For campaign supporters a light protest symbolises the power of one person to make a stand for a just cause. It unites millions of people around the world in an ideal vote regardless of their nationality, sex, race, political views and religion, bringing hope for change--especially in countries like Western democracies where leaders are accountable to public opinion.

For them "every human being who cares about freedom has a responsibility of lighting a candle. The act of lighting a candle, being personal and spiritual, is also viewed as a vote. Such massive vote that world leaders will not be able to ignore."