By Suresh Kr Pramar,
Freelance Contributor
It is unlikely that the Chinese will allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet as the leader of Free Tibet. According to Xiao Bai, deputy mayor of Lhasa, the Dalai Lama may only return to his homeland if he renounces aspirations for Tibetan independence. The Chinese position on the Dalai Lama has become more aggressive after they have successfully managed to marginalize world opinion, which had earlier favoured a Free Tibet.
“The Chinese government’s attitude to the Dalai Lama is consistent and clear,” he said
“We can talk to the Dalai Lama as long as he truly gives up the principle of Tibetan independence and gives up his splittist activities and openly announces that Tibet is an integral part of China and that Taiwan is a province of China,” Xiao said
The cause of Free Tibet is fast loosing friends and supporters among Western governments. Most seem to have become disillusioned with the Free Tibet cause. The Dalai Lama is no longer being received at the highest level in most western countries. Apart from American President George Bush, who continues to receive the Tibetan spiritual leader in the White House, whenever he visits the USA, all other Western leaders are giving him the by pass.
Britain’s Tony Blair, for once refusing to play follow the leader, has made excuses for not wanting to meet the Tibetan leader. While in Britain, recently, the Dalai Lama was politely told that Blair, who had last met him in 1999, could not meet him. The Prime Minister’s refusal provoked a minor upheaval in the House of Commons, which has a number of firm Free Tibet supporters. To them Blair said that he had often met the Dalai Lama on previous occasions and will do so on some subsequent occasion.
Other European leaders like French President Jacque Chirac and German Chancellor, Gerhard Shroeder, have likewise kept the Dalai Lama at arms length. Chirac had met the Nobel Prize winner in 1968. Shroeder, however, has never met him since he became the Chancellor. Even in Russia the Tibetan leaders is receiving very cold reception.
Dwindling support, among western governments, for his cause became evident during the Dalai Lama’s recent peregrinations around the world. World leaders are avoiding the Dalai Lama because of Chinese pressure. The Chinese leadership is trying to reduce the Dalai Lama’s status to that of a non person. Its efforts to do the same to the Taiwanese leadership, over the years, have been successful.. So effective has been the Chinese campaign against the Taiwanese that even the United States does not dare to invite President Chen Shuib-ian official to that country.
Fortunately for the Dalai Lama his standing as a spiritual leader, a man of peace and a nobel prize winner, has saved him so far from suffering a fate similar to that of the Taiwanese President. He has however been kept out of many countries of Asia. Even countries with strong Buddhist populations like Korea, Thailand, Mongolia, Japan and Myanmar refuse to invite him officials.
Under strong pressure from the Chinese Nepal, which Is a conduit for Tibetans fleeing Tibet, started capturing fleeing refugees and handing them over the Chinese embassy authorities in Kathmandu. It was only after Intense pressure from world human rights bodies did the government of Nepal reverse its stand and allowed the UN High Commission for Refugees to handle these refugees.
The Chinese have succeeded in exerting pressure on Western nations largely because of their growing economic might. Most nations are competing against each other to get a slice of the economic cake being baked in China. A large number of businessmen in these countries have invested heavily in China. Western governments are not interested in giving this up for the cause of freedom for the Tibetans.
In India the decision of the Indian Government to recognize Tibet as an integral part of China has been a major blow to the Tibetan Refugees in India. In an agreement signed in Beijing during the visit of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003 the Indian government has assured the Chinese that it will not allow the Tibetans to indulge in anti Chinese propaganda in India. In return the Chinese had accepted Sikkim to be a part of India.
Realising that his cause is fast loosing support among the nations of the world the Dalai Lama has steadily watered down his demands. Where once he and his supporters wanted nothing less than complete independence the Dalai Lama is now prepared to settle for a Middle Path: genuine autonomy for Tibet rather than outright independence. This meant that China could oversee defence and foreign affairs while allowing the Tibetans to look after their internal and cultural issues. Unfortunately for the Dalai Lama, Beijing did not show much interest. China’s lukewarm response to many of the Dalai Lama’s suggestion has disillusioned him and his people.
In a policy paper on Tibet the Chinese government has rejected outright the Dalai Lama’s proposal for greater autonomy for Tibet. In the 30 page policy paper issued by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet on May 23, the Chinese government has called upon the Dalai Lama to “look at reality in the face”. It has asked him to accept the existing autonomy which the Tibetan Autonomous Region enjoys today.
The paper, “Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet,” says that the region has made tremendous progress since 1959 when the Dalai Lama fled. During these “four glorious decades a feudal serfdom under theocracy, one even darker and more backward than medieval Europe, has been turned into a modern socialist people’s democracy. The paper has said that Tibet was part of the China for over 700 years and so there is no question of independence. For the Dalai Lama the message is clear.
It has provided clear indications that while there is no question about granting independence the Dalai Lama “ should also give up any desire for a special deal on Tibet along the lines of one nation two systems.” The paper has said that “ the destiny of Tibet cannot be decided by the Dalai Lama and his clique. It can only be decided by the whole Chinese nation, including the Tibetan people.”
Chinese rejection of his watered down proposal for greater autonomy instead of independence is likely to cause the Dalai Lama greater discomfort. The younger generation of Tibetans are still clinging to the idea of complete independence or nothing. Citing history, as they have learned it, these exiled Tibetans claim that Tibet was an independent country from 1911 to 1951, when there was not a single Chinese in the territory.
Since 1978, when the demand for greater autonomy was mooted by the Dalai Lama there has been opposition to the proposal. According a senior Tibetan official serving the spiritual leader “when he first made this suggestion, there was a tremendous uproar among the Tibetan people who felt sort of let down. Yet, the strength of His Holiness is his inner conviction. He knew that he was taking the right step.” Many Tibetans opposed the Dalai Lama’s stand, but he stuck to it.
“It was really the only practical route available,” said the official “because after being exiled and with the Chinese people migrating to Tibet, our primary concern was and is to keep alive the identity and culture of Tibet. He was also concerned with the human rights violations and the killings taking place, the destruction of monasteries and the forced migration of Chinese that had reduced Tibetans to a minority. He feels that all this must stop before there can be any thought on independence.”
Tibetans in exile are growing increasingly desperate The Tibetan Youth Congress, an association of young Tibetans, has warned that while they respected His Holiness, they were not constrained from taking up arms for Tibetan independence.
For the Dalai Lama time is fast running out. He is growing old and his supporters are concerned about his health. Prayers for his health have become more frequent and earnest. Though Tibetans are sure of his rebirth there is a feeling that the incarnate will not have the extra special qualities of the present Dalai Lama.
The Chinese are playing for time waiting for him to die. This will give them a chance to replace him with a candidate of their own choice.as was done in the case of the Panchen Lama. When the 10th Panchen Lama died 14 years ago the Chinese refused to accept the Dalai Lama’s choice. They held a lottery and appointed their own candidate as the successor. When the present Dalai Lama passes away the Chinese appointed Panchen Lama will be asked to lead the Tibetans till a the Dalai Lama’s successor is identified.
Beijing recently revealed that the boy anointed as the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was no soul child or a living Buddha but an ordinary school boy. “ He is in good health and living a normal happy life. He is a senior in high school and his grades are quite good. To avoid disturbing his and his family’s life we have allowed no outside groups to meet him.”
The Chinese however concede that the Dalai Lama continues to retain the respect of the Tibetans on a wide scale. “The Dalai Lama has a certain amount of influence in Tibet, especially in the three monasteries,” said Zhao Baoyun, deputy director of the Lhasa Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, referring to Sera, Drepung and Ganden near Lhasa. This is the reason that the number of monks allowed to live in the main monasteries around Lhasa is restricted. Monks must undergo patriotic education to counter the Dalai Lama’s influence, he said, adding that good results had been achieved since the policy was introduced eight years ago.
“We think the monks and nuns have realized that in Tibet they can enjoy full freedom of religion and we have been able to maintain security,” he said. Those monks who break state regulations were dealt with by the police, while those who broke monastery rules were disciplined and expelled, he said
A group of Indian journalists who recently visited Tibet on the invitation of the newly formed China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture found that the Dalai Lama is still a popular figure among the Tibetans. “Whatever the Chinese officials may say, they have not been able to obliterate the memory of the Dalai Lama from the collective mind of the Tibetans. For most of them he is still the living God. If the Chinese government thinks it can win the battle for the mind of the Tibetans without the support of the Dalai Lama, it is deluding itself.
“His name does not find mention in any publications. Even carrying his picture in public is a grave offence. Still, he continues to be the conscience keeper of the teeming Tibetans. This love for him has not diminished in any way; it has only gone underground. The flight of the Karmapa Lama from China sometime back was only a manifestation of this disillusionment.”
