Fujisan's Kyareng

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Jasmine sent Chinese leaders in Panic



Jasmine is a name of a white flower, known for its fragrances and flavor. It grows in the high altitude Tibetan plateau also. It is called Metok Kunda. Tibetan uses the jasmine as a part of incense and herbal medicine ingredients. But Jasmine grows in hot Arab nation like Tunisia too, where it is the national flower. Tunisian people recently rose against the long time dictatorship regime and won democracy, this came to be known as "Jasmine Revolution".

Because of this popular uprising, the word 'jasmine' has become taboo in China. Chinese authorities have blocked the word in Internet. People are forbidden to utter the word. It is said that the florists in Chinese cities are having problem because selling and purchase of Jasmine flower is also banned. When someone ordered for a jasmine tea, all eyes were on him. A 25-year old boy was arrested for having placed a white flower near a McDonnell restaurant. Anyone with anything to do with a white flower is arrested.

China is now the world's second largest economy, its military spending is said to be the highest, but the Chinese leaders panicking like a horde of frightened mice on hearing a name of a simple flower? What does this make of China's image?

How much the authority try to squelch the people's aspiration, some day it has to learn the hard truth that power doesn't always come from the barrel of a gun. It comes from people; it comes from a simple flower like jasmine.

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