According to the Tibetan Government in Exile (TGIE) China has a problem concerning what it describes as ‘minority’ populations, the Dalai Lama and his representatives are convinced that Beijing’s policies are generating unrest amongst Tibetans, and neighboring Uyghurs in East Turkestan. Deliberately omitting, in its analysis, any reference to the decades of struggle for national freedom and self-determination, waged by both peoples, which lies at the heart-of-resistance to communist Chinese occupation, the TGIE has not only claimed that cultural and economic suppression are the causal factors of dissent, but some of its fomer Ministers have gone further in considering a solution which would assist communist China in governing Tibetans.
The Tibetan leader considers Beijing’s oppressive and violent measures, to crush peaceful protests by Tibetans, may lead to future generations reacting violently, how his people are supposed to react when women are dragged from their homes and forcibly sterilised, or sons and daughters brutalized and tortured is not made clear. The passive expectations upon Tibetans ignores their very real and understandable limits of human tolerance. Yet for decades the Dalai Lama has made public his disapproval of violent methods in support of the Tibetan cause, more recently he has gone further by suggesting he would consider stepping down, if violence becomes a strategy, a prospect the TGIE knew would have a seismic and censorial impact upon Tibetans, particularly in exile. In the fruitless efforts to obtain so-called ‘meaningful autonomy’ he has insisted upon peaceful measures as a way forward. Now this creed is being proposed by the TGIE as means of pacifying, what are considered by the Tibetan Administration, the radical actions of the younger generation of Tibetans. Former Tibetan Minister, Tenzin Tethong, now President of the Dalai Lama Foundation, considers traditional Tibetan culture and Buddhist principles can resolve the problem. In an interview with the Voice of America Tethong is reported to have said, “Tibetans are traditionally peaceful and gentle. The origin of their peacefulness is the Buddhist culture. If such culture is lost, then there will be misbehaviors. To preserve Tibetans’ religious culture is the way to end violence.” See: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/20752/
What violence are we talking about here? That defined by Communist China, as it misrepresented the Uprisings inside Tibet last year, and recently in Urumchi? Perhaps the ‘misbehaviors’ referred to by Tenzin Tethong include political gatherings, public dissent, or flying the Tibetan National flag? Which authority would determine what constituted violence? The answer to that is offered by the Tibetan Administration, in its so-called Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for Tibetans which makes clear that it is willing to accept Communist China’s law, as applied to so-called ethnic-minorities and regional autonomy. In that case any form of political opposition or expression from Tibetans could be interpreted under communist Chinese law as constituting criminal activity and punishable as only those thugs know how!
Exactly what is Tenzin Tethong advocating, that the preservation of Tibet’s religious culture provides a way for China to enjoy a peaceful occupation of Tibet? If that is the core of his message presumably he would have no objection to Tibetan Buddhism becoming a political tool to be placed in the service of the occupying Chinese regime, as a means of diluting political resistance and exerting social control over Tibetans committed to the struggle to regain Tibet’s nationhood?
