India - Tibetan youth consider taking to arms to gain freedom

Rediff ^ | 7.19.02 | Ramananda Sengupta

[swarthyguy]

"Enough already! How long must we endure this? How long?"

I never did get his name.

Clad in a orange T-shirt which had 'Tibetan Youth Congress, New York Chapter' emblazoned across the front and back, designer jeans and sneakers, he was arguing furiously with some other young and not-so-young men when I first saw him.

It was early morning, April 28, 1998, and we were all gathered in a makeshift tent at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar complex. The night before, Thupten Ngodup, 50, had immolated himself in protest against the forcible break-up of a Tibetan Youth Congress-organised hunger strike by the Delhi police. One could almost smell the charred flesh under the overwhelming aroma of incense lit around a picture of the first Tibetan 'martyr' on foreign soil.

The youngster from New York was shaking with rage. "How long?" he demanded to know. "We have tried peaceful methods for 50 years, but China refuses to listen. It is time for action!"

Action? What kind of action? Violence? What about the Buddhist values of non-violence, so assiduously promoted by Tenzin Gyatso, better know as his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama? In fact, didn't the self-immolation itself go against the grain of the non-violent principle?

They are fighting for a homeland that many have never seen. And they are led by a man whose name has become synonymous with non-violence.

Rumours about the Dalai Lama's failing health have been rife recently. And though he insisted that all was well soon after he was discharged from Mumbai's Lilavati hospital in January following a stomach ailment, he also admitted that the doctors had advised him rest and recuperation from his extremely hectic schedule.

The spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent drive to free his country from Chinese occupation, was born July 6, 1935, which puts him on the wrong side of 60.

And for most of those 60 years, he has steadfastly propagated the Gandhian principle of non-violence when dealing with the Chinese over his homeland. And while the leadership of the newly elected Tibetan parliament-in-exile plans to continue with that policy, many, particularly members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, are straining at the yoke.

They are particularly upset over the 'middle path' that their spiritual and temporal leader unveiled in 1998, which affirms he was ready to negotiate for partial autonomy in place of full independence.

"The Tibetan Youth Congress's stand on independence has been very consistent. It demands complete independence of Tibet, consisting of all the three provinces of Dhotoe, Dhomey and U-tsang, that is, one representing the whole of historical Tibet. It opposes the Chinese division of Tibet by the formation of TAR [Tibetan Autonomous Region] and incorporating the Amdo and Kham areas into other Chinese provinces. It maintains that only complete independence will guarantee the survival of the Tibetan people, their religion, culture, and opposes all deviations from it whether in terms of autonomy, federation, confederation or Taiwan status," says Tenzin Samphel, vice-president, TYC.

"TYC maintains that the issue of Tibet is not the issue of the returning of the person of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but concerns the future of the six million Tibetans. Though TYC has never resorted to violence as a means to achieve Tibetan independence, it has kept the option open. Several general body meetings addressed the issue of making it an active policy," he adds.

"We have the money, and we have the people ready to die for our cause," said the youngster from New York. "It is only out of respect for the Dalai Lama that we are restraining ourselves. As for our policy of non-violence, there is nothing that says we can't hire outsiders to do our dirty work. I know of at least three mercenary outfits who'd be delighted to do whatever we ask if the payment is right!"

Mercenaries? Fighting the PLA? He must have seen the scepticism in my eyes. "We don't have to launch a war in China; we can always target Chinese interests abroad," he retorted, before he was shushed by a wary colleague.

"Many people misunderstood TYC's position to be in opposition to the Dalai Lama's policy of non-violence, which is not true. It is born more out of the utter brutality of the Chinese rule and wholescale destruction of the Tibetan culture and identity in Tibet, and the apathy of the international community, which has failed to provide any meaningful support to the many peaceful initiatives of the Dalai Lama," continues Samphel.

"Nowadays, the international media and the big nations pay attention to violent struggles, while ignoring peaceful movements," concurred another Tibetan student leader in Dharamshala. Identifying himself only as "Thupten," since he did not "want His Holiness to misunderstand me," he added: "Besides, look around you. Most of us youngsters are unemployed and those who cannot escape abroad are turning to drugs and violence. Anything is preferable to that kind of a life. If taking up arms helps us get a sense of direction, what's wrong with that?"

But New Delhi, which gives sanctuary to the Tibetans on the condition that they do not indulge in any anti-China political activity on Indian soil, might have a problem with that.

"Though it is most unlikely that the Tibetans will try to attack Chinese interests on Indian soil owing to their deep and abiding sense of gratitude for us having given them sanctuary, if such a thing did happen, we would have a really tough time explaining ourselves to China," warns a China watcher at the ministry of external affairs. "If these guys are serious, they should be warned that any such action could backfire rather badly on them."

"Backfire?" scoffs the student leader, while agreeing that a sense of gratitude was very much prevalent. "We have lost almost everything. What should we expect? Deportation to Tibet? That might not be such a bad idea after all. It will surely generate international interest in our cause."

Design: Lynette Menezes

[swarthyguy]

The Butchers of Beijing have never paid a price for the Invasion of Tibet and the destruction of the Tibetan Culture, Religion and People.

[Frohickey]

Everytime I see one of those Free Tibet bumper stickers, I have the irresistable urge to get out with a felt tip marker, and cross out Free and write Arm over it.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[swarthyguy]

The story of how Tibet was abandoned is a sad one. An insurgency was allowed to wither on the vine. China's 1959 invasion made the US help the insurgency and then stop.

Break UP China!

[Jack Black]

Talk about hopeless causes. China will leave Tibet when hell freezes over, and not one day before. People who want to hire other people to do their fighting for them to keep their hands clean (for religious reasons) need to go study both law and philosophy. That's absurd.

The Chinese have certainly trashed things in Tibet, but were able to in part because the Tibetan leadership was running a 10th century style country. However the Tibetan culture seems to be doing OK. It is certainly much better known in the world now than in 1940. Tibetan religion is flourishing. Every large US city has dozens of Tibetan Buddhist temples and teachers. And there is no ongoing genocide of Tibetans. In fact I believe they are excluded from the "one chid" policy of the rest of China.

None of this is to excuse Chinese impearialism, but it's not a Russia / Chechnya type of situation and no one but an idiot would want to turn it into one.

[swarthyguy]

Fine, condemn the Tibetans to living under the brutal yoke of the Chinese.

Do you also feel the liberation of Easter Europe and the Baltic states was a mistake. In the 1950', 60's and 70's and even the 80's, imagining Poland, HUngary, the Czechs as free from Soviet domination would be crazy too.

Lots of Eastern Europeans built thriving communities in the US; was that reason enough to not overthrow the Soviets.

NO ONGOING GENOCIDE IN TIBET----HAHAHAH - that's because the genocide has been done and huge levels of Han immigration are making the Tibetans a minority in their own country.

Nice to see such support for the Butchers of Beijing on a conservative(???) web site.

Peachy.

[SpinyNorman]

I thought Tibet was "liberated" by the PRC!! Surely, I must be misinformed.

Seriously, look how they are fighting to get Taiwan back, even though it is a separate country (as far as I am concerned: screw the word games).

[andysandmikesmom]

For what it is worth, I will just try to give you a mental picture of what my son saw and experienced a little more than a year ago, when he spent about a month in Tibet....

Crossing over on the 'Friendship Highway' from Nepal to Tibet, was to say the least, harrowing...the Chinese Police are everywhere, and there are many, many, Chinese checkpoints along they way, with Chinese guards constantly going through your papers, searching your belongings, and constantly barraging you with questions....

Every single Tibetan town of any size, has a very ugly Chinese section to it, and as my son said, it appears that China has only one architect, who constantly builds his one type of bldg. at the edge of every Tibetan town he gets to...all these Chinese sections are ugly, noticeable, and look terribly out of place...

The Chinese police, are rude, nasty, looking for money and bribes, and try to be as offensive as possible, especially to Americans, who always seem to be singled out at the checkpoints, and given a rougher going over than most tourists from all other countries...

My son did not want to join a tour to get to Tibet, as he visited every country on his year long around the world trip on his own...but traveling alone is not officially allowed in Tibet...you must join and are required to join a tour, in order to simply get into Tibet...once you are in, and get further and further into the more remote areas, only then, can you breathe a little easier, and tour as your might wish, free from being hassled by the usually ever present Chinese police...

Yes, it appears that the Tibetans are exempt from the one child policy...most Tibetan families, have many children....my son stayed with Tibetan nomads on the high plains, sleeping in their tents, helping the children round up the livestock, eating their traditional foods, and trying to communicate with local Tibetans as best as he could...the biggest impression he made on the Tibetans, was when he cracked open his guide book, and showed them pictures of the current Dalai Lama...that is because, it is forbidden for the Tibetans to actually display a picture of him....so they were quite fascinated to see an American bring them such a picture...

The monasteries and nunneries are still operating, tho their numbers are very low, at least in comparison to the past...still the monks go about their daily chores and tasks, and welcome foreign visitors to visit their monasteries, share a meal, and spend the night...

In spite of all the oppression, and times of turmoil, and complete utter poverty and a very hard lifestyle, my son found the Tibetans, especially the nomads, to be a beautiful, optimistic people, who somehow sense that their traditional lifestyle, may someday disappear, and yet they still try to quietly resist...they retain their love of family, their love of their religion, and their love of their culture...

Whether they would ever rise up and arm themselves to fend off the Chinese is another question....it seems as if the Chinese, are more and more insiduously injecting themselves to eventually populate Tibet, with more and more Chinese...

My son is glad that he got to Tibet when he did, because judging from his observations about the creeping in of the Chinese, he believes that eventually Tibet, as it was, and as it is now, will no longer exist, shortly in the future...

These are just the impressions I get from my son, on his month long stay in Tibet, in the spring of 2001...

[swarthyguy]

Great narrative. So was it andy or mike? :)

[andysandmikesmom]

Andy is the one who made the trip...Mike, my firstborn, died many years ago, from leukemia...since that time, Andy has always seemed to live life what I and his dad call 'double'....he was just an 11 year old, who watched his older brother slowly die from leukemia, and it seems to have made an impact on him, making him live once for himself, and once for his brother...

He made a year long, round the world trip, going into what I would consider dangerous places, and doing some rather dangerous things, but he just seems to enjoy living on the edge...

Tibet, was probably one of his favorite places to visit, and he found the Tibetans to be a people he genuinely loved...

He also brought us many things back from Tibet, traditional things, obtained from traditional peoples, not trinkets bought from touristy traps...they are among my most prized possessions, for I know where they came from and were made by the locals...my son gave me a tradtional apron, and purse that all good Tibetan nomadic ladies wear on the plains...along with a typical pair of embroidered ladies Tibetan boots, that the ladies no longer really wear anymore, as they dont afford much protection...but they still make them and wear them for special occasions...

I doubt that my son will ever return to Tibet...he still plans to do many travels, but I think he fears the terrible changes which are coming to Tibet, and prefers to remember Tibet as he once experienced it...

[swarthyguy]

I met some Tibetans in Ladakh - contiguos to Kashmir on the border with Aksai Chin, a chunk of Ladakh that China grabbed in 1959 or 1962.

As we drank Tibetan tea, regular tea with a dollop of butter, in truly exotic, medieval surroundings, a hut in a hillside village, the husband and wife told me stories of how they as children, along with their parents and assorted friends and relatives fled the Chinese troops with literally no belongings leaving all their possessions to be expropriated by the Chinese.

The only items they brought over were hundreds of statues of Buddha, approximately 2-3 feet high, made of gold, that they carried on their backs over the mountain passes to the safety of India. Got to see some of the statues in the local monasteries.

They weren't too enamored of the Chinese.

[andysandmikesmom]

You are correct, the Tibetans have no fondness for the Chinese...my son recounts how at one of the checkpoints, they were really being hassled by the Chinese guards...their transport was being driven by a Tibetan...

When they had finally crossed the checkpoint, the Tibetan driver, said "F--K You, China" and flipped them the finger, grinning the whole while...

When my son stayed with the nomads, he of course, had the traditional foods that they shared with him, a tea with a dollop of butter, and their traditional noodle soup....he, in turn, shared his stash of sweets and candies with them...which they quite enjoyed, as evidenced by their what my son called their 'infectious Tibetan smile'....

[swarthyguy]

"'infectious Tibetan smile'...."

How true. But don't go for a mountain hike with them. THey are sure-footed and as nimble as mountain goats - walking up or down death defying inclines (oh, it's not that steep) and i'm sliding on my butt down the "hill".
They however, just merrily marched on.

[Jack Black]

I'm not condemming the Tibetans. There is nothing to condemn them for. I am certainly not supporting Chinese policies. On the other hand calls for Tibetans to rise up and fight the Chinese are ridiculous. That would result in massive slaughter and death, mostly of the Tibetans. You best not start a fight you can't win. Those who call for a war they can't win are irresponsible and not fit to lead, which is the case I would make about the TYC. Of course they are young, by their own admission, maybe they will grow out of it.

The best and only hope for a Free Tibet is a Free China.

I find disagreeable the weird sort of liberal racist fetishism (often supported by ultra-left Hollywood liberals like Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys and Marin County "religion of the month" types that brought us Rat Boy the US Taliban) that DEMANDS that China free Tibet but shows no concerns for the ongoing horror of the Chinese people themselves. After all the same evil government that is misruling the few million Tibetans is misruling over 1 billion Chinese. Why no concern for them. Because they are "Han"?

If we all focused on "Free China" a obvious result of that campaign being successful would be a free Tibet (and a free Hong Kong, and a free unthreatened Taiwan, and probably a few more Islamic central Asian nations to deal with). If we focus on suppporting a armed struggle by a tiny Tibetan minority against the worlds largest standing military, a military controlled by the same goons who perpetrated Tianamen, the results will be predictably awful.

[swarthyguy]

Good point. I tend to agree with you that a free China could be the best hope for an independent or autonomous Tibet.

[Dog Gone]

The best and only hope for a Free Tibet is a Free China.

I agree. There will be no successful liberation of Tibet under the current Beijing government. The only way it MIGHT happen is if China undergoes something similar to the breakup of the Soviet Union.

That will require a regime change.

[Frohickey]

I'm not condemming the Tibetans. There is nothing to condemn them for. I am certainly not supporting Chinese policies. On the other hand calls for Tibetans to rise up and fight the Chinese are ridiculous. That would result in massive slaughter and death, mostly of the Tibetans. You best not start a fight you can't win. Those who call for a war they can't win are irresponsible and not fit to lead, which is the case I would make about the TYC. Of course they are young, by their own admission, maybe they will grow out of it.

Change the words 'Chinese' to 'British', and 'Tibetans' to 'colonials'.

Even with today's modern weaponry, if the Tibetans had the will to rebel and throw off the Chinese, they can do it. All it would take is a few phone calls to India to supply the Tibetans with some up-to-date weaponry, and a generous foreign aid package to the Indian government.