By Navneet Anand
NEW DELHI – The Dalai Lama may have had to amend his support for a free Ttibet, but for a motley group of students and academics at JNU, A 13-YEAR ASSOCIATION WITH THE CAUSE REMAINS UNDILUTED. And in true JNU style- putting up posters,bringing out pamplets,organsing late-night discussions in dimly-lit dinning halls of Periyar and Ggodavari hostels- is how the All India Students Forum For Free Tibet(AISFFT) is going about it.
Formed on campus in 1993, AISFFT members are a grim lot today.They are saddened by the recent turn of events sparked by the ‘Middle Path’ statement of the Dalai Lama on the 46th anniversary of the TibetanNational Uprising Day.
They have taken to organising discourses and are attempting to build an opinion around the “misinterpretation of the Dalai Lama statement.” On a Saturday (19th March) afternoon, some -odd members -all former and present students of JNU-huddled in the committee room of Triple S(read School of Social Sciences) trying to dispel the gloom. They had good company-media professionsl and JD(U) MP Bashistha Narain Singh-also participated in a day-long deliberation on ‘Freedom of Tibet and Security of India: A Dialogue’.
“Why isn’t the media looking at the many other relevant points that Hhis Holiness is making,” questioned Manoj Kumar, working with the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society. He points to a paragraph of the speech that refers to the Tibetans facing”suspicion and growing restrictions”.
He adds that the Dalai Lama also said:”The lack of true ethnic equality and harmony based on trust and the absence of genuine stability in Tibet clearly shows that things are not well in Tibet and that basically there is a problem.” Singh argued that there was a “Strong China Lobby in the media”. The MP, however,looked at the Dalai Lama’s statement in a broader perspective and said:”It should read with caution. By reiterating the middle path approach, Hhis Hholiness is trying to portray his moderate and liberal approach. In search for alternatives, this statement is fruitful and strategic.”
Professor Anand Kumar, with the Tibetan freedom movement for over 15 years, feels: “The media should be circumspect on what it writes. Why isn’t the media writing about the lack of human rights, religious freedom and self-rule in Tibet that His Holiness has talked about in the speech”. “The road ahead,” feels Dhondup Dorjee, a Tibetan pursuing his Ph.D in diplomacy and information secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress,” lies in looking at a solution during the life of the present Dalai Lama.” He is hopeful yet skeptical:”if it’s not done now, it will spell big troubles for both China and the Tibetans”.
