Tibetans gather to discuss the road ahead
November 18th, 2008 - by Nazia Vasi
Non-violence a central tenant of the Tibetan faith is slowly losing ground to frustration that breeds antagonism. In an effort to douse the young flames of frustration spreading like wildfire across the globe, the aged Dalai Lama called a week long gathering of Tibetans in exile commencing on Monday. The meeting which is taking place in Dharamshala, North India, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile seeks to usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate, who has been campaigning for Tibet’s “meaningful autonomy” from China, now fearing age and a prolonged stalemate situation is seeking advice in his people. Meanwhile, many in the exiled community feel that “meaningful autonomy” and its de facto recognition of Chinese sovereignty should be replaced by a more aggressive pro-independence position. China has dismissed this week’s meeting as meaningless, saying the participants do not represent the views of most Tibetans.
On Sunday, the Dalai Lama’s envoys to the last round of talks with Beijing said in a statement to the Associated Press that they had presented China with a detailed plan on how Tibetans could meet their autonomy needs within the framework of the Chinese Constitution.
It calls for the protection for the Tibetan language and culture, restrictions on non-Tibetans moving into Tibet and the rights of Tibetans to create their own government that would “have the power to execute and administer decisions autonomously.”
But China apparently rejected the plan and recent “Chinese statements distort the position and proposal we have outlined in our paper,” the statement said.
China insists Tibet has been part of its territory for 700 years, although many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that time. Chinese forces invaded shortly after the 1949 Communist revolution and the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 amid an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule.
Despite a half-century of Chinese rule and political campaigns, large numbers of Tibetans remain fervently Buddhist and loyal to the Dalai Lama. If the exiles choose a more confrontational approach, Tibetans still living under Chinese rule would bear the brunt of any government response, the AP added.
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November 19th, 2008 at 6:27 am
“restrictions on non-Tibetans moving into Tibet”
If anyone else pulls something like this there will be outrage everywhere, I guess not for the Tibetans-in-exile in India.
And I am bothered by this sentence: “Despite a half-century of Chinese rule and political campaigns, large numbers of Tibetans remain fervently Buddhist and loyal to the Dalai Lama. ” Was it China’s goal to convert the Buddhists to athiests? No kidding. There are tons of Buddhists in China, for your information.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I wouldn’t bet on it. The Tibetans are not especially popular in the Himalayas, who are regarded generally as being historically troublesome and better off under Chinese rule. Ethnic unrest in Tibet could spark serious problems in the Himalayas with massive consequences for Northern India, Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan and especially Nepal; as well as in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. There is a lot more to this issue concerning regional security than the usual Chinese oppression angle. It will certainly not be alright if Tibet goes into meltdown. No-one else really wants them and refugees would not be welcomed.