By Jamyang Dorjee Chakrishar
At the outset I would like to state that I am neither an author nor a politician. But as a concerned citizen who has directly and indirectly made some small efforts for our nation in the last four decades, I could not remain silent about the present trend of Kalon Tripa election, charges and counter charges and hence scribbled the following note with the hope that somewhere somebody might find some sense in my expression.
The institution of directly electing Kalon Tripa, or Prime Minister, is only 10 years old and I believe it is our good fortune that we have someone like Samdhong Rinpoche who has now set the framework in many aspects of the functioning of the exile administration, keeping in view our age-old traditions, complex historical legacy and dependence on our host country India. In a situation where there is no territorial jurisdiction and in the absence of all other organs necessary in running a government, the job becomes even more challenging & complicated. People’s faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama, our belief in a historically independent Tibet, our belief in the strength of the Middle Way approach, our belief in the strength of our brothers and sisters in Tibet, and our belief in the truth, these are the things that bind us together in this movement. The new Kalon Tripa should be able to consolidate and take this belief forward to its logical conclusion. Therefore, we have to have a person who is mature, is rooted in our traditions, politically astute, and possessing skills to administer – no qualification from the finest academic institutions will guarantee these qualities unless the person has actually worked in our community and has nurtured these on the ground.
Professor Samdhong Rinpoche said in his farewell addresses that in spite of his admission in the beginning that he is not capable, the public elected him to this job. Therefore, the blame for any short fall squarely lies on the public, and especially on the parliamentary representatives of the public who passed the policies. Some of our seniors who are actually capable potential candidates for the current post of Kalon Tripa shied away from the race while a new generation has emerged. A generation that says, “I am capable and all others are useless.” Jetsun Milarepa had said, “Mensa sung na tho sar leap”, meaning “If you remain humble, you will reach the top.” Milarepa is outdated and our society has made a leap-frog jump in our thinking! While some declared their candidacy in the Parliament itself and other aspirants of Katri and Chitue declared their intentions in Bylakuppee during the general meeting, when they were supposed to be attending the most important meeting at the expense of the Exile Government. I have no doubts about their patriotism but wondering how honest are our potential leaders?
Some of our friends would like to believe this trend as proof of advanced in our progress with democracy. The positive side of this exercise is that unlike Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, the new Kalon Tripa will take the entire blame or credit upon himself for any achievement or fault in the ensuing policy of the exile government. But the irony is that by the time his term expires His Holiness the Dalai Lama will become 80 years old, or 81 years according to Tibetan calender. The big question, therefore, is whether we have enough time for this kind of blame game and training exercise? Have we come to exile to learn democracy and to show the world how a perfect democracy can be run without a territory? Aren’t we answerable to our brothers and sisters in Tibet who looks towards us everyday and night for some positive actions and for whom every passing day of the precious life of His Holiness is painful?
Tibetans in Tibet look to us with hope and it reminds me of a popular folklore: “Should we become like the yak who never returned after borrowing fur from his buffalo friend with the promise to bring back salt from Tibet?”
While personally, I do not agree with some of the policies of Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, it would be too simplistic to say that he has no experience except being a teacher (a claim made in Jamyang Norbu la’s article). Like many other spiritual teachers he could have chosen a comfortable life in a Buddhist center, but he chose the difficult path of serving the community and assisting His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the most difficult period in our history. He taught within the Tibetan community and positively shaped the lives of hundreds of youths. He deserves this credit too. Now that he is leaving we do not want to see him leave an unhappy man, like the previous Kalon Tripas. Tibet still needs him. Even the Chinese respect and consider their past leaders including the Mao Zedong, who was responsible for deaths of millions during his life time.
It is time that we as Tibetans must look back and review our actions. We consider ‘lye gyu-dre’ as our core belief but have we been fair and learned to appreciate the contribution of those who served our community as previous Kalon Tripas? The long list includes Kundeling, Taring, Juchen Thupten, Sonam Topgyal, Tethong Tenzing Namgyal and others. We left behind our ‘ley gyudre’ and instead made it a fashion to criticize them when they relinquish their posts. It is time we shed our crab mentality and do better than the Chinese for whom ‘ley gyu-dre’ means nothing. We should learn to honor those who served our community during those difficult times. This also includes intellectuals like Jamyang Norbu and Lhasang Tsering whose sacrifice and contribution during the early days in Dharamsala cannot be written off. Let us not forsake our civil behavior!
With the most pragmatic vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, all the previous Kashags followed a consistent policy while dealing with the Chinese Government and as in the game of Chinese checker, the recent submission of the Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy has cornered the Chinese government. The only option for them now is either to prolong the game or to abandon the game and start afresh from scratch. I believe they want the entire set of people in Dharamsala to change and break the consistency in the policy. The recent behaviors of some of the Members of Parliament also created such a situation where the people actually believed that they need to be changed. I have heard voters say the same. But we must recall that the parliament immediately came back on the track within the same session through democratic process because there are many other wise and good parliamentarians too. Our people’s recent interest in democracy and politics is a developmental phenomenon and I pray it it remains so after the election too. Clubbing the entire members of Parliament together as useless is an act of foolishness and changing the entire set is too dangerous at a time like this.
As the preliminary voting is over and final voting takes place in March 2011, we have five more months to seriously re-think and elect an experienced person by judging his past performances and proven record of loyalty to our leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, instead of someone driven by flashy publicity stunts.
We have seen a new trend in our emerging democracy where everything seems possible and money power may also play its part just like in the Indian elections. India can afford that but we cannot. It is also time for our parliamentarians to think seriously and make rules and ensure that a Kalon Tripa candidate in the future must have served the exile government for some time and whose administrative credentials are known . Even Indian PM candidates must be a member of Parliament when elected or gets elected within 6 months and most US Presidents were either senators or Governors when they were elected as President. The present scramble will certainly discourage people who have dedicated their entire lives and suddenly are subjected to the whims of a fresh college graduate who tells them, “Let us do it all over again.”
The writer is an editorial consultant to the Radio Free Asia and Co-Chair of International Tibet support Network (ITSN).
[OPINION-DISCLAIMER]
