Venerable Jiyul has ended her hunger strike in protest of the construction of a tunnel through Mount Cheonseong for the Seoul-Busan express rail line after 100 days. The news is quite fortunate for those who had worried about her health. We applaud the government for producing a proposal, though late in coming, that took Jiyul's aims into account. We hope that all involved will produce a reasonable conclusion so that there is not a recurrence of the same type of situation.
Her 100-day hunger strike taught us how precious life is. "Life" does not refer only to the lives of human beings. She showed us how the value of all life forms in nature is in no way less important than us people, by being prepared to give her life as what is considered the supreme life form on earth in order to defend a variety of salamanders that might be considered trifle. Now we have to work together to create a climate in which all the life forms in nature and humanity life in harmony, as Jiyul has said we should.
Another lesson she has taught is that we must refrain from indiscriminate development. Humans have continually destroyed nature for their own comfort and convenience. `The destruction caused by human greed will eventually lead to human destruction. The question of the tunnel through Mount Cheonseong is not something that should be considered only for the economics of it. Instead of emphasizing the economic loss that the halt in construction will cause, we should look at the seen and unseen value that the mountain is to us. It is time stop worshiping development and realize that life is more worthwhile when it is lived with nature, even if a little uncomfortable and uneconomical.
Now there will be a joint environmental impact study for a period of three months, after which final judgment will be issued on the tunnel project. This time around the study must be done properly and not just go through the motions, since the studies that have been done so far have been challenged for being problematic. The alternative route proposed by a group of experts needs to be examined, too. We hope Jiyul's 100-day hunger strike does not turn out to have been in vain.
The Hankyoreh, 5 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
Ven. Jiyul's Hunger Strike Must Not Be In Vain |
