By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamshala Nov. 21 – Despite 8 rounds of talks between Beijing and Dharamshala failing to produce any positive outcome, “talks with China must continue” was the air at the fourth day of the Special Meeting convened under article 59 of the Tibetan charter. Calls for re-strategized Middle Way Approach were made at today’s meeting. There was an outright rejection of the Chinese government’s accusation that the Tibetan side was responsible for the failure of the talks.
The current policy of the exile Tibetan government to seek ‘a genuine autonomy for Tibet under the framework of the People’s Republic of China’ received a huge backing from the participants of the Special Meeting but call for Independence unusually received a considerable mention.
The 559 participants of the Special Meeting today submitted their reports to the speaker and deputy speaker of the Exile Tibetan Parliament. The participants who were earlier divided into 15 sub-committees met for four days beginning November 17.
Proponents of the Middle Way Approach and Independence (Rangzen) had their views expressed through the chairmen of the respective committees. Though no comprehensible statistics were made available, it was clear the Middle way Approach retained its majority in the participants to the meeting.
There were strong signals that talks should not be continued if China engages in hurling abuses at the Dalai Lama, disseminating false propaganda, and violating human rights of the Tibetan people inside Tibet.
Views and opinions of those supporting the current policy of Middle Way Approach, Independence, Self Determination and also of those supporting any approach shown by the Dalai Lama were presented before the house.
Some of the major issues that were brought before the house by the sub-committees included the possible appointment of the next Dalai Lama during his lifetime, recognition of the exile Tibetan government by the governments of other countries, reassertion of the Dalai Lama as the sole and legitimate leader of the Tibetan people both inside and outside of Tibet, garnering more support to the exile government’s policy of Middle way Approach, and building ties with Chinese public.
The reports also pointed out that the political activities of the exile Tibetans should be targeted at criticizing the acts of Chinese government and not at hurting the sentiments of the Chinese people. Acts like burning Chinese national flag were discouraged.
Meanwhile, the composition of participants of the Special Meeting and its organization was questioned by some participants. Tenzin Tsundue, a staunch believer in Independence for Tibet and a popular activist, told phayul that the demography of the Special Meeting reflected little representation of the youth. “A lot of the participants are heads of settlements, schools and institutes who are mostly above 50, and there are a very few participants who represent the younger generation. So I hope we have more representation of the youth in future meetings”.
The Special Meeting, some say, is unique in that the members of the current administration, lawmakers and their predecessors, incumbent ministers and former ministers, leaders of NGOs, activists of independence, supporters of government’s Middle Way policy and ordinary people were all engaged together for the first time in discussions for Tibet’s future. “This is one major step we took through this meeting, and I think that’s unity”, said a participant from India who did not want to be named.
A consolidated report of all the sub-committees will be presented to the Dalai Lama. The participants will meet tomorrow noon for the conclusion of the Special Meeting.
