By BENJAMIN ROBERTSON
THEY came in their thousands to hear him speak: monks, foreign pilgrims and, sitting on flagstones outside the two-storey temple, dozens of Western backpackers, all curious to catch a brief glimpse of a reincarnated Buddha.
“While there are many religions, Buddhist teaching offers the ultimate answer,” intoned the Dalai Lama in his native Tibetan as he began a 10-day teaching course on the “path to enlightenment”.
Proving too esoteric for many in the crowd, some of whom doze under the midday sun, among those who listen attentively are a small group recently arrived from Beijing. “It is for us an amazing opportunity. We study Buddhism because life in China is so lacking in spirituality,” says their leader, who asked not to be identified.
Under no threat of repercussion for their visit to the home of the Tibetan government in exile, in the mountains of northern India, their pilgrimage is nonetheless symbolic given that the Dalai Lama is still persona non grata in a country he last saw in 1959.
Dubbed a “splittist” by the Chinese government for his insistence that Tibet is an independent country, the spiritual leader has often expressed a desire to once more visit his homeland. That wish may yet be granted, although the stages of progress are measured in years rather than months. Since 2002, a series of annual talks between Beijing and Dharmsala have been held in an unprecedented attempt to resolve the long-standing issue of Tibet’s status, the most recent being earlier this month.
Soldiers of the newly formed People’s Republic of China invaded, or as the Chinese put it, “peacefully liberated” Tibet in 1951.
In official Chinese propaganda, however, Tibet pre-1950 had few redeeming qualities. Described as a “feudal” backwater at the mercy of “foreign imperialist and expansionist forces”, in Marxist eyes Tibet was crying out for help. And while Tibetans say they have always been a separate nation, Beijing says the two have been part of the “big Chinese family” since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
Though predictions of a Communist Party collapse and possible fragmentation of the country remain favourite topics of China-watchers, and give hope to Tibetan activists in the long run, in the short to medium term, officials are talking of a growing urgency to preserve what is left of their culture.
Massive immigration from other parts of China has diluted indigenous customs. Already, say officials, Han Chinese outnumber Tibetans several times over. In response, the Tibetan community has adopted a negotiating stance known as the “middle way” in the hope of initiating dialogue. In effect an articulation of the Dalai Lama’s position since the late 1980s, it eschews calling for complete independence and instead asks for limited autonomy in the form of an elected parliament and control over all policy issues except defence and foreign affairs.
Unprecedented in any of China’s 32 provinces, these demands are further complicated by the fact that the Tibet the government in Dharmsala refers to and the Tibet that appears on contemporary world maps are no longer the same. One third the size of its former self, much of the country and its population have been divided up by neighbouring Chinese provinces.
“The ‘middle way’ approach is not something that has been imposed. It has been legislatively sanctioned by the Tibetan parliament, so the parliament has passed a resolution saying it is the policy of the parliament and administration that we follow the ‘middle way’ route,” says Thupten Samphel, the Dharmsala government’s secretary for information.
“For many years we viewed each other suspiciously as though we each had horns on our heads. If the talks continue to grow as they are now then we could move to full-blown negotiation. Being realistic, we can’t expect suspicion to clear and the air to be made clean by one, two, three, four visits. In a number of years we will get to know each other, our positions and sensitivities so that with full confidence we can resolve the issue of Tibet peacefully.”
A tiny yet crowded jamboree of guesthouses, government buildings and monastic centres, earthquake-prone Dharmsala has been the home of the Tibetan government-in-exile since the early 1960s. Given to His Holiness, as many there call him, after he fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, the government was then reformed along democratic lines. It is hoped that one day this model could be transferred to Tibet.
Started under the former government of Jiang Zemin, the exact content of the talks remains shrouded in secrecy. “It has been very slow and time-consuming. The first two times we had a preliminary dialogue and the third time we spoke in more detail, with both sides expressing their doubts and reservations,” said Tibetan prime minister Professor Samdhong Rinpoche.
Sceptical of Chinese intentions and against the compromised stance of the Dalai Lama, Lobsang Yeshi, vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), holds little faith in dialogue. “China and Tibet cannot work out their differences through peaceful negotiation. We have seen in the history how faithful, how loyal, how sincere Chinese are,” Yeshi says sarcastically.
Listing changing demographics, human rights abuses, an education system that neglects traditional Tibetan culture and language, mineral exploitation, and use of Tibet as a nuclear waste dumping ground, the TYC advocates violence to solve Tibet’s problems.
“Today Tibet’s situation has become very complex, very crucial. Something has to be done. We opt for violence as Tibetan people are in danger,” says Yeshi. Representing 30,000 members, the TYC is the largest non-governmental organisation among the Tibetan community in exile. Yeshi evokes memories of past fighting against the Chinese, firstly following the Chinese invasion and then with the aid of the CIA during the Cold War.
For now, though, Dharmsala is committed to peace. While officials say this is the best hope so far for a negotiated settlement, there are signs that they remain sceptical of the chances for a breakthrough.
The Dalai Lama himself has indicated this. Having turned 70 on Wednesday last week, he has already announced that search parties should look for his reincarnation amongst Tibetan communities outside of China, and so avoid possible Chinese interference.
