Tibet- A lost cause?
BY HIMANI KUMAR SANAGARAM
With Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping’s visit
to United States in February this year, a number of questions related to the Chinese security,
economy and human rights situation were raised. Although Jinping acknowledged
that China needed to improve its human rights situation, he has called on
America to respect Chinese claims of sovereignty over Taiwan and Tibet.
Tibetan protestors have rallied at various events
where Xinping visited. There have been 25 confirmed self-immolations in Tibet since
Feb. 2009, according to the International Campaign for Tibet Web site.
In January, Tibetan reincarnate monk Lama Sobha self-immolated
himself. Found in Sobha’s robe was a tape recorded message to family and
friends, which expressed his wish that Tibetans should: “Unite and work
together to build a strong and prosperous Tibetan nation in the future.” Speaking
in Amdo Tibetan, he said: “Give love and education to the children, who should
study hard to master all the traditional fields of studies.”
China has called Dalai Lama's freedom movement and
his groups as “Dalai Clique” with “splittist” elements. Tibetans will decide to
go for total independence if Chinese do accept the Middle Way Path suggested by
Dalai Lama.
One can almost draw an analogy of the Arab Spring
with the Tibetan Revolution. A Tunisian trader burnt himself to death in a
public square and it led to protests that started the global movement and led
to topple dictators. Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media are helping the
cause. Even the Minnesota Tibetan Alliance urged people to boycott buying
Chinese-made goods for Christmas last year.
Such immolations have led to the launch of Chalk
Tibet in October last year to let public know the extent of suffering in Tibet. It involves outlining the Tibetans who died
in Occupied Tibet on the streets and people lying inside the outline with the
name of the side. Such protests have taken place almost all over the world from
Switzerland to Australia and India, of course, where the movement is quite
strong
On Nov. 18,
the appointment of Tibetan Che Dalha
instead of Chinese Qin Yizhi as Lhasa Party Secretary was one good thing of
re-establishing the convention of ethnic Tibetans holding this post, but not much hope is seen.
Nepal did not support Tibetans refugees due to
pressure from China. China is also detaining Tibetan returning from India after
attending teaching sessions by the Dalai Lama and is forcing them to undergo
political re-education, according to Human Rights Watch. China has imposed a
religious transformation in monasteries for monks in Tibet so that they forget
their language and culture. Monks and nuns are tortured in prison, according to
several media reports.
Lobsang Sangay becoming the Kalon Tripa or prime
minister of Tibetan- government-in-exile is an important milestone. For Tibetans,
this is a watershed moment as the leadership has gone into younger hands. His
policies will surely affect the future course. Sangay, like, the Dalai Lama,
believes in the Middle Way Approach – seeking genuine autonomy for Tibet within
the framework of the Chinese constitution, but China thinks that Tibetans
wants independence. The younger generation
of Tibetans, however, demands full independence, which leave the Tibet dialogue
unresolved. According to Liebig’s Law of the Minimum, growth is controlled not
by the total amount of resources available but by the scarcest resource -
In the Jan.
8, GPS program by Fareed Zakaria,
China’s leadership is about to change. Seven of the nine top members of the
Standing Committee will be stepping down. About 70 percent of China's top 200
leaders will be replaced. As elections in China will be held in 2012, Chinese
president Mr. Hu Jintao is focusing on
internal politics and the transition, setting the ideological foundations to
guide a new generation of young leaders that will face young leaders like Sangay.
China has also canceled TV shows to control what
Chinese people hear and see. China also continues to fix its currency to
increase trade with the United States to become a world super. But when push
comes to shove, something else needs to be done. Unless America puts its
economic interests aside and looks at the human rights situation in Tibet with
empathy, the issue of Tibetan freedom will continue to loom large.
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