PHK also pulls out of Dalai Lama conference
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Thursday August 17, 2017 18:00
The three-day conference begins today in Gaborone.
Kedikilwe, one of the major drawcards after the Dalai Lama himself and former South African First Lady, Graca Machel, told Mmegi he would also not be attending the conference. The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader viewed by China as a separatist rebel, withdrew from the conference on Saturday, citing exhaustion. The move came after months of mounting diplomatic tensions between China and Botswana, with the Oriental giant vowing punitive measures if Gaborone opened its doors to the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama was the headline feature at the Ubuntu/Botho conference whose objective is to “promote exchange of ideas between spirituality, humanity and science”.
“I won’t be coming because the discussions were supposed to be between us and the Dalai Lama in whose absence they cannot be held,” Kedikilwe told Mmegi by phone yesterday.
Organisers of the event, the Mind & Life Institute, had claimed the conference was sold-out weeks in advance, with both Batswana and other Dalai Lama enthusiasts eager to see and interact with the spiritual leader. At Botho University, the venue for the conference, officials yesterday said the hall had 500 seats ready, while tents had also been set up for overflow.
Tickets for the event ranged from P100 for the youth, up to P1,250, and in the aftermath of the Dalai Lama’s withdrawal, some disgruntled attendees took to social media to say they had spent up to P13,000 for the event.
Organisers have been busy refunding those who have opted out of the conference, although attendees from outside Africa, complained that they would not receive refunds for their hotel bookings, made in advance of the conference.
Mind and Life communications director, Donald Crotteau told Mmegi that only “a small portion of ticket-holders wanted refunds.
“The event at Botho University was sold out on the day that the Dalai Lama made the announcement about his health.
“(Due to the refunds) seats have opened up and the conference hosts are now offering limited availability of general admission tickets,” he said. Crotteau said ticket holders had been “overwhelmingly understanding and compassionate” about the Dalai Lama’s health, and had been “sending their prayers for his recovery”.
Yesterday, a ticket holder now seeking a refund, said he was yet to get his hands on the cash. The ticket holder spent P5,000 on the event.
“I am actually planning to inquire what the procedure is because they didn’t provide details. I am hopeful they will surely refund us because they put that up on their website,” he said, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs was yesterday still flip-flopping about whether the Dalai Lama had been issued a visa. At the height of the diplomatic spat, the Ministry found itself at the centre of questions about whether the Dalai Lama had been granted a visa and gave conflicting responses.
On Tuesday, chief public relations officer in the ministry, Hannah Ramorogo told Mmegi that there was no trace of a visa issuance for the exiled spiritual leader in their system. This was after requesting a two-hour period to search through the system for the visa issuance.
However, hours later, Ramorogo retracted her earlier statement and, in writing, said the Tibetan leader had in fact been issued with a visa.
“Please be informed that in fact the Dalai Lama had been issued with a visa to visit Botswana as opposed to our earlier response,” she said.