By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, DEC. 18: The Tibetan government in exile, known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration reiterated its position of ‘Middle Way Approach’ while stressing that Tibet is not a part of China, a statement that the previous Tibetan administrations have seldom done, at a launch of a report that delves into establishing its official stand in a new vigor albeit to the same counterparts in Beijing as well as to the international community.
The Tibetan PM along with noted veteran politicians such as Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar and Jaya Jaitley launched the “flagship report” titled ‘Tibet is Not a Part of China but Middle Way Remains a Viable Solution’ yesterday morning at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi.
The Tibetan PM Lobsang Sangay said that the image China is trying to sell is “out of touch with reality” and that the Tibetan people inside Tibet have been subjected to harsh Chinese policies that have threatened Tibetan culture, religion and also environment. He said the report aims to, “share our position on these issues in order to draw international attention and generate public discourse on the best way forward to resolving the issue of Tibet, which is through the Middle Way Approach.”
Dhardon Sharling, Information Secretary of DIIR saying, “The report vividly documents the unfolding disastrous consequences of China’s atrocities in Tibet and the Central Tibetan Administration’s repeated attempts to ameliorate the situation through dialogue.”
Mani Shankar Aiyar said, “The Tibetan proposal to resolve the Tibet issue conforms closely with India’s own efforts to resolve its border disputes with China. Nehru’s vision was in complete harmony with the current approaches proposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
“It is easier to be a pessimist than an optimist but the fact that there is dialogue, it gives the Tibetan movement a measure of stability and progress,” he further said.
Despite the MVA garnering significant support and solidarity on the international platform particularly from the United States and the European Union, the exile Tibetan government’s endorsement of MVP as a “viable solution” has been rejected by China.
The chairman of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Losang Gyaltsen in March 2014 said the MVP is “a camouflaged approach” that seeks Tibet’s independence. He further said that “Tibet cannot be independent, neither can it be a semi-independent or disguisedly independent.”
The MVP conceived by The Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and supported by many Tibetans is not without resistance from within the Tibetan community, with parallel approaches for resolution of the Tibetan issue by the way of full independence endorsed by organizations such as Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth Congress and Tibetan National Congress.
