FW: [WTNN] World Tibet Network News -- March 23, 2011
Alex Bunjes
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Issue ID: 2011/03/23Compiled by Nima Dorjee
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Contents
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1. Democracy is feasible for Asia nations: Dalai Lama
2. Tibet poll 'a vote for freedom'
3. Why Doesn't China Want To Let the Dalai Lama Resign?
4. Panel set up on Dalai's proposal
5. Dalai's retirement proposal radical, says Rinpoche
6. Tibetan parliament passes resolution urging Dalai Lama not to retire
7. Nepal disallows Tibetan voting
8. 'I was born in India, owe debt to US, but my heart is Tibetan'
9. Harvard Law fellow set to lead Tibetans
10. Editorial: Sangay: Reaching out to China, via Harvard
11. Tibetan Who Set Himself Afire Dies
12. Exile: Tibetan monk in China set himself on fire at anti-government
protest, hundreds rally
13. Should Tibetans Have Protested in 2008 or Not?
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1. Democracy is feasible for Asia nations: Dalai Lama
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March 19, 2011
Taipei Times
SUCCESS STORY:Tibet¹s spiritual leader said he hoped that Taiwanese
would remain courageous in a rapidly changing world and maintain their
democratic values
Staff writer, with CNA, DHARAMSALA, India
The success of democracies in Taiwan, India and Japan has given the
Dalai Lama confidence that democracy is compatible with Asian nations,
Tibet¹s spiritual leader said yesterday, adding that the regional
examples should inspire Tibetans to also implement full democracy.
The Dalai Lama made the remarks in an interview with foreign
journalists, including the Central News Agency.
He said he was particularly -impressed by Taiwan¹s rule of law, as
demonstrated by the jailing of former president Chen Shui-bian (???),
who he referred to as ³a good friend of mine,² after Chen was convicted
on corruption charges.
The Dalai Lama said he hoped Taiwanese would remain confident and
courageous in the face of a rapidly changing world.
He said he also hoped that Taiwan would keep upholding such universal
values as democracy, the rule of law and transparency.
On March 10, the Dalai Lama announced his intention to relinquish his
political role to a popularly elected leader.
³My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk
responsibility. It is for the benefit Tibetans in the long run, ³ he
said at the time.
The Cabinet of the Tibetan -government-in-exile has agreed to honor his
decision, but the -parliament-in-exile, which convened on March 14,
wanted the Dalai Lama to continue to lead the Tibetan people.
The 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate said: ³If they [lawmakers]
come tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, then I will tell them no. An
institution that is the head of both temporal and spiritual; that must
end; that is outdated.²
He said he made the decision himself and that he was not under any
pressure. The Dalai Lama said that his leadership was as outdated as a
monarchy and he insisted that he would abolish the four-century-old
tradition that Tibet¹s spiritual leader also reigns as the political
leader.
³Rule by spiritual leaders ‹ by kings or rajas ‹ is now outdated,² said
the Dalai Lama, who has been calling for democratic reform since the
1960s. ³I do not want to be like [ousted Egyptian president Hosni]
Mubarak.²
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2. Tibet poll 'a vote for freedom'
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* Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent
* From:The Australian
* March 19, 2011 12:00AM
*
IN an election battle that will determine the most powerful secular
leader ever to head the world's exiled Tibetan community, Lobsang Sangay
has shared dinners, campaign tips, 12-hour car rides - even a hotel room
- with his political rivals.
Before every speech, the poll favourite takes pains to highlight the
"integrity and patriotism" of his two fellow prime ministerial aspirants.
As if Richard Gere's somnolent charms weren't sufficient endorsement for
Tibetan Buddhism. Never, it seems, has the world seen such a civilised
election campaign.
"Why not?" the 42-year-old Fulbright scholar, Harvard Law fellow and
self-described freedom fighter asks when the wisdom of such good-natured
collectivism is questioned.
"It's not just an election for the position of Prime Minister in a
democratic government. It's a freedom struggle.
"Whoever wins, I wish him all the best and we must unite behind him and
work for Tibet."
About 83,000 exiled Tibetans in India and more than 30 other countries,
including Australia, head to the polls tomorrow to choose only their
second democratically elected parliament and leader, and their first
secular Prime Minister, as the high-ranking monk Samdhong Rinpoche steps
down in August.
But not even the most genteel election race can mask the divisions
emerging within the community.
The polls - and the office of the Kalon Tripa (PM) - were lent greater
significance last week when the Dalai Lama announced his intention to
relinquish political power after 51 years as head of the Tibetan
government-in-exile.
The Dalai Lama's roles as spiritual and political leader date back to
1642 and there is considerable resistance among the six million people
in Tibet - who don't get to vote tomorrow - to any change delivered from
the outside.
Even within the exiled community, the election will test the unity of
Tibetans, split between those who support the growth of democratic
institutions and those unwilling to accept the devolution of their
spiritual leader's divine right to rule.
"We need to encourage a culture of democracy," says Tenzin Tsundue, a
writer and spokesman for the volunteer Tibetan Youth for a Better
Democracy movement that is backing 30 "progressive" candidates for the
44-seat parliament.
Tsundue says he is dismayed by the current parliament's unwillingness to
accept the Dalai Lama's political retirement because "this isn't about
retirement but about creating new leaders who can lead, not just follow".
"The Tibetan community is habitually dependant on His Holiness and that
can be dangerous if it comes to a point where he is unable to offer that
kind of leadership," he says.
It's not a view universally shared by Tibetans in the Indian hill town
of Dharamsala, which has served as home-in-exile to the Dalai Lama and
his followers since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950.
"The Tibetan government-in-exile is dependent on the Dalai Lama. Within
Tibet they would not accept an exiled government without him," MP Pema
Jungney told journalists this week.
The election result, due in May, is tipped to herald a new, possibly
more combative, phase in the China-Tibet relationship. The two leading
candidates have hinted at their willingness to move beyond the Dalai
Lama's Middle Way of autonomy for Tibet.
Sangay says his priority is to "win freedom for Tibetans and Tibet . . .
and anyone elected as Prime Minister must implement the Middle Way
because it's the stated view of His Holiness".
His main opponent, Tenzin Tethong, 62, a Stanford University
distinguished fellow of Tibetan studies and founder of key Tibetan
initiatives in the US, has even talked of "self determination" - code
among younger radicals for independence.
The election has stirred a political awakening among the traditionally
theocratic Tibetans, who have embraced their nascent democracy like
never before.
In 2006, less than 27 per cent of voters participated in the elections.
But concerted campaigns in the past year by youth activists,
non-government organisations, women's groups and the Dalai Lama have
many predicting voter turnout as high as 75 per cent.
Tenzin Tsundue says there's no better indicator of the community's new
enthusiasm than the fact that 15 people fought last year's primaries for
the right to stand for prime minister.
Two years earlier, Tibetan exiles - alarmed at the dearth of potential
candidates - were pushing to amend their democratic charter to allow the
incumbent Prime Minister to stand for a third term.
Tsundue credits the internet and social media for helping drive the
change and says the new enthusiasm has "encouraged and inspired the
Tibetan struggle itself".
"We now have three established, really promising leaders who have
created huge appreciation among Tibetans," he says.
Sangay agrees there's been a political awakening, though he is more
inclined to credit the 2008 uprising suppressed by Chinese authorities -
and his own political campaign, which for the first time took
electioneering to the most remote Tibetan settlements.
To a community accustomed to inheriting leaders through divine
reincarnation, it was a thunderously successful revelation, which
delivered Sangay twice the votes in last October's primaries as his
closest rival. "Now if candidates don't go to the people they will not
win," he says.
Most Tibetans believe this election will bring more transformation still
and Tsundue says his community is on the edge of a "hugely inspiring
moment".
"This is all happening in 50 short years," he says. "When my mother and
father came from Tibet they had never even seen trains or buses or
bicycles.
"Using the little freedom we have as Tibetan refugees around the world,
we're working to create a process of democracy that will be our gift
when we get back to Tibet, to create a new Tibet."
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3. Why Doesn't China Want To Let the Dalai Lama Resign?
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Tibet's spiritual leader says he's giving up political power -- but it's
not that simple.
Foreign Policy
BY ROBERT BARNETT | MARCH 21, 2011
At least one unelected life-long world leader has decided to hand over
power to his citizens, and it hasn't come on the heels of protest in the
streets. On March 10, the anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising for
independence in 1959 and of a wave of major protests that began in Lhasa
three years ago, the Dalai Lama announced that he intends to retire from
his political responsibilities. This will not change his spiritual role,
or end his travels round the world. Nor will it avoid almost certain
conflict over his reincarnation, as the Chinese government still insists
only it has the right to choose.
But it is a major challenge for Tibetan exiles, because the Dalai Lama
also made a radical demand to his exile parliament, based in Dharamsala,
India: He asked it to change the constitution and replace his position
with "a democratic system in which the political leadership is elected
by the [Tibetan] people for a specific term."
This means that a 350-year era of Tibetan history will come to an end,
and Dalai Lamas will no longer be the political leaders of the Tibetan
people.
Instead, the leader of the Tibetan government, which now exists only in
exile in India and is charged with "rehabilitating Tibetan refugees and
restoring freedom and happiness in Tibet," will be their prime minister.
The last two prime ministers have been chosen democratically by the
150,000 exiles, and an election was held to choose the next one on March
20. (The front-runner is a 42-year-old Tibetan named Lobsang Sangay who
graduated from Harvard Law School; however, the final results won't be
announced until late April.) The winner would become the ultimate leader
of Tibetan exiles if this proposal is accepted by the exile parliament,
which alone has authority to change the exile constitution. But so far
42 of the 43 exile parliamentarians, meeting in northern India this
week, are still insisting that the Dalai Lama remain in power.
Then again, the most important reaction to the Dalai Lama's statement
will come not from the exiles, but from the 5.5 million Tibetans in
China, whose willingness to accept Chinese rule is at the root of the
China-Tibet question. They constitute just .4 percent of China's
population, but, like Mongols in Inner Mongolia and Uighurs in Xinjiang,
inhabit vast areas of China where the central government's territorial
claims are weakest. Each of these peoples has supporters in large
numbers among fellow ethnics living just across China's borders with
India, Nepal, Central Asia, Mongolia, and elsewhere. As a result, their
ability to draw the worried glance of Beijing and so impact Chinese
politics is far out of proportion to their actual numbers. The
authorities respond to even slight indications of dissent among these
nationalities with disproportionate force and angry rhetoric.
Some of the government's defensive moves expose it to ridicule and
exacerbate relations. Last week, for instance, the Party-appointed
governor of Tibet, Padma Choling, told the international press that the
region has been closed to foreign tourists for the remainder of this
month because of "extreme cold" and lack of hotels. This might sound
credible to ethnic Chinese audiences, but everyone in Tibet knows that
the weather in Lhasa is not severe (the mean temperature minimum there
in March is 27 degrees Fahrenheit, about the same as Chicago) and that
the city has a glut of hotels. The real reason for the ban on foreigners
is not a secret in Potala, the regional capital: Tibetans often stage
protests on or around March 10 to mark the failed uprising of 1959.
Tibetans have already taken to the streets this March. On March 16, the
anniversary of the shooting deaths of at least eight monks in a protest
against Chinese rule in 2008, a 16-year-old Tibetan monk burnt himself
to death in the local marketplace in Ngaba, an area of eastern Tibet now
within Sichuan province. This is only the second time a Tibetan monk is
ever known to have used this form of protest. Suicide breaches basic
Buddhist vows against self-harm and the Dalai Lama's policy of
non-violence, but among ordinary Tibetans such an act is seen as the
highest form of dedication to defending the community and its values.
Last Wednesday more than 1,000 monks joined protests, which were
disbanded by security forces wielding electric batons.
In these tense times, the Dalai Lama's decision to resign is likely to
increase anxiety among many Tibetans, desperately worried about a future
without a well-established leader. At the same time, his determination
to introduce democracy to the Tibetan government in exile will increase
his standing among Tibetans remaining within China. It will also remind
them that China's leaders have done nothing to devolve the absolute
power of the Communist Party despite constitutional promises of
"multi-party cooperation." Just last week, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the
National People's Congress, reaffirmed that China's leaders had "made a
solemn declaration that we will not employ a system of multiple parties
holding office in rotation."
The party has used two main methods to counter opposition in Tibet. The
first is striving to better economic conditions. Over the last 30 years,
it has directed billions of dollars worth of subsidies into Tibetan
infrastructure and salaries to boost the region's economy (Beijing gave
$4.32 billion to Tibet in subsidies in 2007 alone). This has helped push
GDP growth rates to more than 12 percent annually for the last 15 years
-- higher even than the rest of China -- and improved living conditions
in Tibet.
But the second method has been to increase restrictions on Tibetan
culture and religion. These were stepped up in the mid-1990s, with bans
on worship of the Dalai Lama, on any Buddhist practice among Tibetan
students or government employees, on any increase in monks or
monasteries, on any criticism of Chinese migration policies, and so on.
Chinese officials apparently fear that these practices encourage Tibetan
nationalism.
China's current development policies in Tibet have also added to the
problem: They are perceived by many Tibetans as an attempt to erode
Tibetan culture. In the past two decades, the authorities have openly
encouraged Han Chinese traders to move to Tibetan towns; by the year
2000, more than half the males of working age in Lhasa were
non-Tibetans, even according to the official census. In 2010, the
government announced that Mandarin would replace Tibetan as the
principal language of instruction in schools in eastern Tibetan areas,
leading to protests by hundreds of Tibetan students.
These are some of the issues that the Dalai Lama has been asking Beijing
for 30 years to resolve through face-to-face negotiations. Since 2002,
Beijing has held nine largely fruitless rounds of talks with his
representatives. It refuses to enter into full negotiations with the
exile government, which it considers an illegal entity, or with the
Dalai Lama, whom it terms "a political renegade" -- claiming that he is
secretly plotting Tibetan independence, despite his public utterances
that he only wants Tibet's autonomy within the current Chinese system.
Will the Dalai Lama's decision to hand over power to an unknown layman
end any chance of a negotiated settlement?
So far the Chinese government has denounced the Dalai Lama's planned
retirement. Its spokesperson in Beijing described it as "tricks to
deceive the international community," while the state-run newspaper in
Lhasa declared that his "nonsense talk of retirement" had "laid bare the
true face of the Dalai as a "political salesman" and "exposed the
reactionary nature of the Dalai clique."
This denunciation contradicts the usual position of the Chinese
authorities, who have always derided the Dalai Lama for retaining a
political role. In principle, his new decision should make it easier for
them to talk with him. And buried in his statement to his exile
parliament is a clue that the Dalai Lama may be trying to ease the path
toward effective talks: In the last sentence of his statement, he
announced that two declarations passed by the exile parliament in 1963
and 1992 that call explicitly for Tibetan independence would henceforth
become "ineffective." Behind the scenes, Chinese officials have long
been pushing exiles to nullify these two documents. If they are
withdrawn, it would increase the credibility of the Dalai Lama's claim
to be seeking autonomy (not independence) for Tibet.
The Dalai Lama's new proposals may increase anxieties about the future
among some Tibetans. However, his proposals should also make it easier
for Beijing to open negotiations with him or his government --
especially if the last formal documents calling for Tibetan independence
have been withdrawn. Beijing may soon find itself under increased
pressure to consider serious talks with the Dalai Lama (if not with the
Tibetan government) and grapple at last with the situation in Tibet.
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4. Panel set up on Dalai's proposal
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Naresh Kumar Sharma, TNN | Mar 22, 2011, 07.56am IST
DHARAMSHALA: The exiled Tibetan parliamentcurrently debating the issue
of Dalai Lama's formal proposal to retire from his political duties has
formed a committee to look into the matter.
The panel members are de facto prime minister of Tibet Samdhong
Rinpoche, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Dolma Gyar
and one parliamentarian. After studying his proposal in detail, the
committee would submit the report to parliament on March 23 outlining
how to move on this important matter entwined with future of Tibetans.
The ongoing budget session of the exiled Tibetan parliament would
conclude on March 25.
The Tibetan assembly would have to decide that whether the matter be
referred to either select committee or it would be taken care of by the
15th parliament for which elections were held on Sunday.
A parliamentarian also said that some of the members of the outgoing
parliament wanted absolute redrafting of the charter of Tibetans
(constitution) to pave the way for transition of Dalai Lama's
authorityto the new elected leadership in smooth manner. The Dalai Lama
had asked the Tibetans to accept his decision to retire from political
duties.
Meanwhile, in the Karmapa case, Rubi Chosang alias Shakti Lama appeared
before theEnforcement Directorate (ED) Chandigarh on Monday pertaining
to the investigation in the recovery of huge haul of foreign currency
from the monastery at Sidhbarri about eight kilometres from Dharamshala
during the raids conducted by the state police. The police had raided
the premises of the Gyutso monas-tery at Sidhbari in January raising
suspicions about 17th Karmapa, Ogyene Trinley Dorjee, suspected Chinese
links.
Sources said Chosang was questioned about the financial transactions and
management of the money at the monastery.
Earlier, monastery officials had also deposited $1,50,000 with the ED on
Thursday. The Karmapa was currently away to Bodh Gaya in connection with
teachings. The monastery had all along maintained that the money found
had been offerings and donations made by devotees visiting from various
parts of the world.
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5. Dalai's retirement proposal radical, says Rinpoche
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Naresh Kumar Sharma, TNN | Mar 18, 2011, 06.54am IST
DHARAMSALA: Even though, the exiled Tibetan parliament continues to
deliberate on the formal proposal of the exiled spiritual head of
Tibetan community, the Dalai Lama to devolve his political authority,
the de facto Prime Minister of Tibet Samdhong Rinpoche, stated here on
Thursday that Dalai Lama's formal proposal to retire from his political
engagements as radical and forward looking.
Speaking to TOI, he said that as of now the possibility of the Dalai
Lama's proposal going through appears to be extremely little. He said
that the Tibetan community has been perhaps shocked by the retirement
proposal of the Dalai Lama adding that they were finding it very
difficult to come to terms with it. The Tibetans were worried and
concerned about what would happen to the Tibetan cause in the post-Dalai
Lama era, said Rinpoche.
He said that the Dalai Lama though had present his formal proposal to
the exiled Tibetan parliament on Monday which was currently holding its
annual budget session had been dwelling on the aspect of retiring from
his political duties. He said that the retirement of the Dalai Lama
would definitely have impact on the Tibetan movement but added that it
would continue emphasizing that the new elected government of exiled
Tibetans for which elections would be held on Sunday would be able to
carry forward the movement.
He said that since the Dalai Lama had set up the proper infrastructure
in terms of installing exiled democratic political system for Tibetan
community and only thing was needed to continue the governance of the
exiled Tibetan movement along with the responsibility of pushing further
the Tibetan movement for Tibetan cause. On being asked about the major
highlights of his tenure since Rinpoche would also be demitting his
office in view of the elections for the post of elected prime minister
called as Kalon Tripa on Sunday, said that it was up to the Tibetan
community to see and assess what had been done in his two tenures to
move forward in resolving the Tibet issue.
He said that during his two terms the exiled Tibetan government had made
sincere efforts and held negotiations with the Chinese representatives
to find amicable solution of the problem. When asked that would Tibetans
be able realize their dream to return to their homeland to get genuine
autonomy as envisaged by Dalai Lama's middle-way approach, he said that
for this to happen, it was difficult to set any time-frame.
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6. Tibetan parliament passes resolution urging Dalai Lama not to retire
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Phayul[Friday, March 18, 2011 20:54]
By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 18: Despite His Holiness the Dalai Lama's firm
decision to relinquish his political role, Tibet¹s parliament in exile
Friday passed a resolution appealing the exiled Tibetan leader to
reconsider his decision.
The Dalai Lama, who is revered by Tibetans as their supreme spiritual
and political leader, had on March 10 announced his decision to give up
his political role as the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Earlier on Monday the Tibetan leader sent a formal message to the
Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile formally directing its members to legalise
his decision
³Now, a decision on this important matter should be delayed no longer.
All the necessary amendments to the Charter and other related
regulations should be made during this session so that I am completely
relieved of formal authority,² the Dalai Lama had said in the message.
In the message the Dalai Lama also clarified that his decision was in
accordance with his long-held vision of establishing a fully functional
democratic system of governance for the Tibetan polity as the most
appropriate measure in the long run.
After more than two days of extensive deliberation on the issue, the
parliament today passed a three-point resolution with almost unanimous
support, which, among other, calls on the Tibetan leader to continue to
act as both the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people.
North America MP Mr Tenzin Chonden was the lone opponent of the motion.
Airing his views in the parliament, Mr Chonden insisted parliament
members to take heed of Dalai Lama¹s urgent and timely message, and
urged them to act progressively as per his wishes.
The lawmakers had initially debated on a four-point draft proposal
prepared by the parliament. One of the points, which calls for the
formation of a ³Constitutional Amendment Committee² should the Dalai
Lama subsequently sticks with his decision to devolve his political role
was, however, dropped after it was voted out by majority in the
parliament today.
In the final resolution, the parliament offered "immense gratitude" and
³heartfelt devotion² to the Dalai Lama on behalf of the Tibetan people
for his leadership role. The parliament said it was fully convinced that
the Tibetan democratic setup under the leadership of the Dalai Lama was
in full conformity with the modern norms of a healthy democracy and that
there was no need of immediate change for the time being.
The parliament also extended heartfelt apologies to the 75-year old
Dalai Lama for failing to work according to his wishes and pledged that
the members in future would strive more to do their best for the unity
of the Tibetan people and for the general cause of the Tibetan people.
Speaking to journalists at the end of today¹s session, the Deputy
Speaker of the Parliament Mrs Gyari Dolma said attempts have been made
to incorporate the views of every member of the parliament and also of
the Cabinet (Kashag) in the parliament¹s draft proposal.
She also said that parliament was ³duty-bound to appeal the Dalai Lama²
to continue his leadership, saying that the parliament was bound by its
past resolutions that gave Dalai Lama full authority in dealing with the
future course of action for resolving the issue of Tibet.
Parliament Speaker Mr Penpa Tsering said the final resolution would be
submitted to the Dalai Lama for his consideration.
Mr Penpa, however, said the Dalai Lama might not accept the appeal and
might redirect the parliament to act on his proposals. ³If that happens
the matter will come up again in the parliament,² Mr Penpa said.
Speaking at a news conference here yesterday, the Dalai Lama had
reiterated that he was firm with his decision to relinquish his power
despite opposition from within the Tibetan government-in-exile.
As many as 38 out of 43 members of the parliament, including the Speaker
and Deputy Speaker, attended the session today to pass the resolution.
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7. Nepal disallows Tibetan voting
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Naresh Kumar Sharma, TNN | Mar 22, 2011, 08.12am IST
DHARAMSHALA: In what could be termed as very crucial election for the
exiled Tibetans owing to the fact that the Dalai Lama sticking to his
retirement proposal formally presented to the outgoing Tibetan
parliament-in-exile last week, thousands of Tibetans voted on Sunday
with great deal of enthusiasm to elect the new prime minster called as
Kalon Tripa.
Besides this, the Tibetans also voted for electing new 44 members of the
15th exiled Tibetan parliament to be constituted. The polling was
conducted on Sunday in the Tibetan communities based in India,North
America, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland,
Russia, Japan,Taiwan and Australia. There are 56 regional Tibetan
election commissions across the world.
However, the voting could not be held in Nepalwhere 20,000 exiled
Tibetans live. The reports said that the Nepalese authorities, acting
reportedly under pressure from Beijing, did not allow the elections as
they believed that it was unlawful activity. Chief election commissioner
(CEC) Jampal Choesang said 10 polling booths were set up at Dharamshala
for which the voting was held peacefully.
"Voters seemed to have taken very active role and interest as we
witnessed people in long queues wherever we went," he said. "We have not
received any complaint from any other part," he added. Speaking on the
voting process in Nepal, the CEC said, "we have requested our people
there to appeal to the government to allow the Tibetans to conduct the
voting. We hope everything will go well in Nepal as per our schedule
before April 15.'' "The regional election commissions will have to send
their documents to the head office in Dharamshala before April 15. After
receiving them, the head office will compile the final declaration,"
Choesang said. "We will announce the final results on April 27," he added.
A total of 83,399 Tibetans had registered to exercise their franchise.
There are three candidates for the PM's post --Lobsang Sangay, Tenzin
Tethong and Tashi Wangdi. Sangay is favourite for Sunday's election
having picked up about 50% votes in the preliminary round of elections
held last year.
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8. 'I was born in India, owe debt to US, but my heart is Tibetan'
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Shobhan Saxena | Mar 20, 2011, 05.34am IST
Times of India
Lobsang Sangay, 43, has been on a campaign trail for two months,
travelling to Tibetan settlements inIndia, Nepal and Bhutan. The Harvard
law fellow is the frontrunner in the election for the post of kalon
tripa , prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile . Sangay got
50% of the votes in the preliminary round and is hopeful of doing well
in today's election. He talks politics, spiritual striving and the Dalai
Lama to Shobhan Saxena. Excerpts:
The Dalai Lama's announcement he will retire from politics has stunned
the Tibetans. What is the significance of his decision ?
In the history of the Dalai Lamas, it's the first time that there is
transition from a traditional role to a modern process . Secondly, he
really wants to invest in democratic institutions of the Tibetan
government in exile , so that the movement can be sustained till freedom
is restored in Tibet. Thirdly, he is devolving his power not only to an
elected prime minister, but to the people. It's a reversal of the
classic democratic process where the movement is bottom-up . In our
case, it's coming down from the top. It's a karmic evolution of democracy.
Is he trying to ensure the Chinese aren't able to manipulate a
post-Dalai scenario?
He is definitely challenging the Chinese government upfront. They have
always criticized him as a religious leader who plays politics. Now he
is saying 'I am giving political power to the people and you ‹the
communist party ‹are holding all the power even though you may not enjoy
the mandate of the people' .
But reports from Dharamshala suggest the community is not accepting his
resignation.
Who can replace the Dalai Lama? It's a daunting task. Our government is
in the name of His Holiness ; the dialogue with China is in his name;
many supporters are with us because of him. It's very difficult for the
parliament to find a solution to all this in one sitting. The Dalai Lama
will always remain our leader.
As per the proposal, the new prime minister will be the political leader
of Tibetans. Your plans if you become prime minister?
It's too presumptuous to assume that you will be elected. Anyway,
whoever gets elected must take political decisions. He has to be at the
front and reflect and represent the political aspirations of the Tibetan
people. The next kalon tripa will also have to deal with China.
All three candidates for prime minister are based outside India, seat of
the Tibetan government-in-exile . Why?
If you look at the preliminary results, I got an overwhelming number of
votes. If you look at the list of candidates, you'll see that the people
want the next kalon tripa to be someone who is away from Dharamshala
because we had top six or seven candidates having close links with
Dharamshala . Now, people are aspiring for change. I got the highest
number of votes not because I live in the US but because I am least
connected with Dharamshala . On the other hand, the people want to see
someone who is rooted in Tibetan tradition, who understands Dharamshala
pretty well and, at the same time, has exposure to the West.
Barack Obama ran his presidential campaign as a Washington outsider. Are
you running your campaign on similar lines?
Consciously, it's important to run my campaign as a Tibetan who wants to
dedicate himself to the Tibetan cause. But, while campaigning, the
question I was often asked and sometimes criticized for was not having
the experience of working in Dharamshala. I have always replied, 'I am
an outsider who understands Dharamshala' . This line seems to have been
accepted by the people.
You have been involved in Track II diplomacy with Chinese scholars. Any
positive results?
The Chinese are a complex set of people with diverse views. There are
hardliners who don't recognize the tragedy of Tibet. There are some
liberalminded scholars who understand, yet they are least influential
back home because their chances of going to jail are higher than of
influencing the Chinese government. There are some serious scholars who
want to resolve the issue. At the moment, the hardliners reflect the
views of the Chinese government . I have been doing Track II for the
past 15 years. I have organized seven major conferences. In 2009, I
arranged the Dalai Lama's meeting with 100 scholars from China. That's a
breakthrough. The fact that people are talking is itself a positive result.
There is some confusion about what the movement wants. Some people talk
of independence , the Dalai Lama wants autonomy...
The confusion is made out to be more than it actually is. Tibet was an
independent country and it's entitled to independence and
self-determination . But what the Dalai Lama says is that given the
reality of China's might, we can negotiate genuine autonomy , which is
pragmatic. We have sent nine delegations to Beijing; now some conclude
that there is a stalemate. Hence, the younger generation is saying we
should go back to our original demand of independence.
Recently the Dalai Lama called himself a son of India. How do describe
yourself?
I have never seen Tibet because China doesn't allow me to go there.
Still, I am a proud Tibetan and I will die a proud Tibetan. While I
live, I will work for the Tibetan people. But I was born in India. I
drank Indian water. I have no hesitation in saying that the Indian
government and people have been very generous . For the past 15 years, I
have been at Harvard . The exposure that I have now is because of th e
university and I am grateful to the US. Once you are born a refugee,
it's difficult to say where your home is and our home always will be
Tibet, but our second home is India.
You could have become a rich lawyer...
I was born a Tibetan. If I turn my back on Tibet and the Tibetan people,
what example am I going to set for the younger generation? I have
already decided to dedicate myself to the Tibetan cause.
But many Tibetans want to go abroad. Isn't that an issue within the
community?
It's an issue. That's why I stood for this election so that I could set
a trend whereby people in the west and even here could say that we all
have to return and take ownership of the government. In the present
election, the participation of the younger generation is huge. It's a
very positive development.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Harvard Law fellow set to lead Tibetans
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Lisa Wangsness and Maria Sacchetti
Boston Globe Staff / March 22, 2011
Lobsang Sangay grew up in a Tibetan refugee settlement in Darjeeling,
India. His parents sold one of the family¹s three cows to pay for his
school fees. He went on to university and then law school in Delhi,
before winning a Fulbright scholarship that brought him to Harvard.
Today, Sangay is a research fellow at Harvard Law School and lives with
his wife and daughter in Medford. He drives a Honda and loves
thePatriots and Red Sox. And now, he is poised to become the most
powerful elected leader in the history of the Tibetan government in exile.
Sangay, 43, is the strong favorite to win election as Kalon Tripa, a
Tibetan title generally translated as prime minister. The voting took
place in exile communities around the world Sunday; the results of the
three-way contest are to be announced late next month.
The election has taken on special significance since the Dalai Lama¹s
announcement earlier this month that he plans to relinquish his role as
the political representative of his exiled people and focus his energy
on his spiritual leadership.
The political challenges facing the Tibetan people are enormous. They
are seeking greater autonomy from China, but their influential longtime
leader, the Dalai Lama, is now 75, and China is becoming a more powerful
player on the global stage.
In a telephone interview yesterday from Dharamsala, India, the seat of
the Tibetan government in exile, Sangay said that if he wins, his top
priorities will be ³to make efforts to restore freedom in Tibet; to
alleviate the suffering of the Tibetan people in Tibet; to end political
repression and economic marginalization, cultural assimilation, and the
environmental destruction taking place in Tibet.¹¹
³It¹s tough,¹¹ he said. ³But someone has to do it, and whoever gets
elected will have a major role to play.¹¹
Sangay has never been to Tibet; his attempt to travel there was barred
by the Chinese government.
He said that, if elected, he would continue to support policies
articulated by the Dalai Lama, who led his people into exile in 1959 and
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years later. Sangay criticized what
he called the Chinese government¹s hard-line policies toward Tibet,
which, he said, ³make a breakthrough very difficult.¹¹
But, he said, ³I believe in nonviolence. I do believe nonviolence should
be the way to move forward.¹¹
Sangay¹s opponents are older, and boast decades of government
experience. Tenzin N. Tethong, a fellow at Stanford University,
represented the Dalai Lama in New York and Washington, D.C., and Tashi
Wangdi has represented the Dalai Lama in Europe since 2005. Both men
have served in the Cabinet of the Tibetan government in exile.
But Sangay won the preliminary election last fall by a wide margin,
capturing more than 22,000 votes to runner-up Tethong¹s 12,000.
Observers of Tibetan politics say Sangay, a dynamic speaker, appealed to
voters by getting to know them in his scholarly travels over the years
and in an unusually vigorous round of campaigning in Tibetan refugee
communities over the last year.
Tenzin Wangyal, a member of the editorial board of the Tibetan Political
Review, said Sangay campaigned early and aggressively, visiting refugee
settlements in India, as well as in the United States and Europe.
³It¹s the Tibetan nature to not be very assertive and to see any efforts
to gain political power . . . [as] somebody trying to do something for
personal gain,¹¹ Wangyal said. But Sangay, he said, deserves praise for
his outreach, which put pressure on the other candidates ³to step up or
be left behind.¹¹
Dhondup Phunkhang, a 37-year-old community organizer in Somerville, met
Sangay at a birthday party in Roxbury in 1997. He recalls Sangay as
³extremely confident and ambitious,¹¹ but also friendly and approachable.
³Lobsang has a huge amount of presence,¹¹ Phunkhang said. ³In our
society, generally if people work for the government or have a certain
stature, naturally people become afraid to approach that individual.
It¹s a little more intimidating. He didn¹t seem to be that way.¹¹
Phunkhang said Sangay¹s experience outside government is part of his
appeal.
³He energized a lot of people to come out and to get involved,¹¹
Phunkhang said.
But Sangay is also extremely well connected through Harvard, by giving
lectures around the world, and through his work with Tibetan officials
in India and New York, said Phunkhang, who spent a year working with
Sangay and other organizers to prepare for the Dalai Lama¹s 2009 visit
to Massachusetts. The event helped raise more than $700,000, much of it
to help build a cultural center for Tibetans in Massachusetts.
Kalsang Namgyal, a board member of the Tibetan Association of Boston,
said Sangay has been able to bridge the gap between generations of
Tibetans who often disagree about how best to advocate for the Tibetan
cause.
In the interview, Sangay described himself as a onetime hard-core
activist who preferred ³banging on tables¹¹ to diplomacy. But, he said,
his time at Harvard helped him become a more sophisticated thinker with
the skills to engineer a series of conferences between Chinese and
Tibetan officials.
³Coming to Harvard made me more rational,¹¹ he said. ³Eventually you
learn . . . to get to know the person from another perspective. You
exchange views more freely and more forthrightly.¹¹
William P. Alford, director of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law,
said Sangay made ³tremendous efforts¹¹ to reach out to Chinese students
at Harvard.
³He listened a lot,¹¹ Alford said. ³He spent a tremendous amount of time
listening to quite a broad range of Chinese students. He was actually
much more effective because he wasn¹t trying to proselytize.¹¹
Sangay has won particular praise for organizing a series of conferences
at Harvard that brought together mid-level Chinese and Tibetan officials.
Janet Gyatso, a professor of Buddhist studies at Harvard Divinity
School, said the events provided an opportunity for the officials to
interact without the political pressure of a high-level diplomatic
encounter.
³Inch by inch, little by little, a lot can be done to make things better
[in Tibet], even though they¹re not going to win back independence,¹¹
she said.
But Sangay¹s diplomatic efforts have also brought him criticism. He
traveled to China on a temporary ³Overseas Chinese National¹¹ travel
document to meet with Chinese academics; his acceptance of such a
document upset some who reject the notion that Tibet is part of China.
Sangay said it was the only way he was able to travel to China, and not
an acknowledgment of Chinese citizenship.
Gyatso said one of the main challenges Sangay will face if he wins is
balancing the desires of a strongly pro-independence exile community
with a Chinese government that has as yet shown no signs of yielding
greater autonomy to Tibetans.
³In order to negotiate with the People¹s Republic of China, one has to
make a lot of concessions,¹¹ she said. ³In order to maintain his
credibility with the community in exile, he can¹t be seen as too
friendly or too willing to make concessions.¹¹
Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwang...@globe.com. Maria Sacchetti
can be reached at msacc...@globe.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Editorial: Sangay: Reaching out to China, via Harvard
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston Globe
March 23, 2011
Medford and Harvard Law School have a right to be proud of Lobsang
Sangay, the scholar-activist who is a strong favorite to emerge from
Sunday¹s balloting in Tibetan expatriate communities as the next prime
minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is working to help
Tibet obtain greater autonomy from China.
From his modest apartment in Medford and his perch as a research fellow
at Harvard Law, the 43-year-old devotee of Buddhist non-violence has
brought academics from China together with their Tibetan counterparts.
At conferences he organized at Harvard, Chinese and Tibetan participants
were able to hear each other out with courtesy and respect. If leaders
in Beijing ever decide to grant true autonomy to Tibet, the seeds will
have been planted in those classrooms where Sangay¹s belief in the value
of dialogue was put to the test.
In one of the most unlikely of historical events, Sangay arranged in
2009 for Chinese students and professors to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibet¹s
spiritual leader, in a conference room at the Charles Hotel in
Cambridge. Some Chinese students spoke of their surprise at the
disparity between what they had heard about the Dalai Lama from their
government and what they heard from him.
Now the Dalai Lama is giving up his position as a political leader, and
Lobsang Sangay will inherit the task of persuading Beijing to let Tibet
have genuine autonomy within China. Nobody could be better prepared for
that challenge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Tibetan Who Set Himself Afire Dies
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By EDWARD WONG, New York Times
Published: March 17, 2011
BEIJING ‹ A young Tibetan monk who set himself on fire to protest
Chinese rule in the vast Tibetan regions of western China died early on
Thursday. It was the first time that a monk protesting against China had
killed himself through self-immolation, according to historians of
modern Tibet.
The act appeared to reflect the sense of desperation and futility that
simmers among Tibetans who chafe at rule by China, which invaded central
Tibet in 1951. The monk, Phuntsog, 20, belonged to the Kirti Monastery
in Sichuan Province. The monastery has been a center of protest against
Chinese policies and was especially active in the 2008 Tibetan uprising.
³China¹s violent rule in Tibet has escalated since 2008 to a point where
Tibetans feel compelled to take desperate action,² Tenzin Dorjee,
executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, based in New York, said
in a statement. ³Phuntsog Jarutsang¹s self-immolation is a window into
the deep suffering and frustrations that Tibetans everywhere are
feeling, and is an urgent cry for help that the global community cannot
ignore.²
Phuntsog set himself on fire at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to a report
Thursday by Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
A report by a Tibet advocacy organization based in Washington,
International Campaign for Tibet, or I.C.T., said that security officers
doused Phuntsog¹s flames, then beat and kicked him.
Hundreds of monks and laypeople had gathered during and after the
immolation and later began protesting the security presence, which had
been tightened this month in anticipation of a potential uprising. The
anniversaries of the 2008 revolt and one in 1959 that resulted in the
Dalai Lama¹s flight to India both fall in March.
At some point, monks took Phuntsog¹s body back to the monastery.
Security forces locked down the town and detained many local people,
said I.C.T. and another advocacy group,Free Tibet. A fellow monk from
Kirti, Tsering, confirmed the accounts of the self-immolation in a
telephone interview with The Associated Press late Wednesday.
The Xinhua report, citing an unnamed official in Aba County, which is
called Ngaba or Ngapa in Tibetan, said Phuntsog died at 3:44 a.m.
Thursday after ³treatment delays² because monks took him out of a
hospital and hid him in Kirti Monastery. Calls made on Thursday to a
police station in the area went unanswered.
Kirti was the scene of a brutal crackdown in 2008 to halt an uprising
that started after riots broke out in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. At
least 10 Tibetans around Kirti were shot dead, according to Tibet
advocacy groups. Monks living in exile in Dharamsala, India, have
photographs of several Tibetans killed by bullets in Kirti during the
2008 protests.
In February 2009, another monk from Kirti, Tapey, set himself on fire,
but he survived after security officers put out his flames. In 1998, a
Tibetan layman living in exile in India, Thubten Ngodup, died after an
act of self-immolation to protest the Chinese occupation of his homeland.
The most famous modern case of a monk using self-immolation as a form of
political protest occurred in 1963, when a Buddhist monk in Saigon,
South Vietnam, Thich Quang Duc, burned himself to death to protest
persecution of Buddhists by the Catholic-dominated South Vietnamese
government.
International Campaign for Tibet also reported this week that a Tibetan
monk, Sangey Gyatso, who had gone into hiding in Gansu Province, died on
Feb. 26 of undisclosed health problems. He was among the 15 or so monks
who held a protest in front of foreign journalists in April 2008 at
Labrang Monastery in Xiahe. At least three monks from thatprotest fled
to India to seek asylum.
Wary of potential uprisings this month, Chinese officials have barred
foreigners from traveling to central Tibet, known as the Tibet
Autonomous Region. That travel ban has been in effect every March since
the 2008 uprising.
Chinese leaders say that Tibetans are generally satisfied with rule by
the ethnic Han, who dominate China, and that only a small number take
part in protests. They accuse the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan
spiritual leader, of organizing the protests from India.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Exile: Tibetan monk in China set himself on fire at anti-government
protest, hundreds rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Gillian Wong (CP) March 19, 2011
BEIJING, China ‹ A Tibetan monk in western China set himself on fire in
an anti-government protest, then was beaten and kicked by police,
prompting hundreds of monks and others to rally, an exiled Tibetan monk
said.
The 21-year-old monk, Phuntsog, who like many Tibetans goes by only one
name, set himself on fire on Wednesday afternoon on a main street near
the Kirti monastery in Aba town, in Sichuan province, said Kusho
Tsering, a monk now living in Dharmsala, India.
A man who answered the phone Thursday at the Public Security Bureau in
Aba said he did not know anything about the case and hung up.
A man who answered the phone at the media office of the Communist Party
in Aba said his office did not know the specifics of the matter.
"The main office of the communist party in Aba county is on top of this
issue," said the man who would give only his surname, Zhang. The phone
rang unanswered at the main office.
"The monks in the Kirti monastery are always trying to find ways to
protest against Chinese rule in Tibet," Tsering, who is from the same
monastery, said late Wednesday. "It's an obvious way to show the
resentment of the Tibetan people."
The account highlights simmering tensions in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited
regions in western China amid several anniversaries this month,
including the March 10 anniversary of the unsuccessful revolt against
China that caused the Dalai Lama to flee in 1959. Aba county has for
years been the scene of large protests involving hundreds of monks and
citizens.
Within 15 minutes of the monk's self-immolation, police and plainclothes
security officers turned up and extinguished the fire, but also beat and
kicked the monk, Tsering said.
Angered by the beating, monks and Tibetan residents carried the monk
back to the monastery, then marched along the main street before police
intervened, said Tsering, who added he received the information from two
eyewitnesses and two residents.
Tsering said he did not know if Phuntsog survived. Tsering spoke in
Tibetan to The Associated Press by phone, with the help of an
International Campaign for Tibet researcher in Dharmsala who translated.
Wednesday marked the three-year anniversary of what Tibetan activists
and residents have described as a bloody crackdown by police on a large
demonstration at the same Kirti monastery. It came just days after
rioting that broke out in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on March 14,
2008, which left 22 people dead and led to the most sustained Tibetan
uprising against Chinese rule in decades.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many
Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for
centuries and that Beijing's tight control is draining Tibetan culture
and identity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Should Tibetans Have Protested in 2008 or Not?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Woeser
http://www.highpeakspureearth.com
MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011
( "Should Tibetans Have Protested in 2008 or Not?" By Woeser
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was
originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia's Tibetan service on
March 14, 2011 and posted on her blog on March 20, 2011.
In the blogpost, Woeser presents several Tibetan views on the 2008
uprising. The song mentioned in the blogpost is "The Sound of Unity" by
Sherten, translated last year by High Peaks Pure Earth. Follow this link
to watch the video and read the lyrics.
http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/08/two-songs-about-tibetan-unity-ment
ally.html)
The blood and flames of 2008 happened exactly three years ago. Many
Tibetans had to sacrifice; many Tibetans are still suffering in prison
today. The oppressors¹ snipers are still standing above Tibetan people¹s
heads; on sunny days, the beams deflected from the guns in their hands
stab into the prostrating Tibetans. This is a collective memory which
has been engraved on Tibetan people¹s hearts.
However, amongst Tibetans, we can also discern some other differing
voices, saying that the uprisings in those three Tibetan provinces
should not have occurred because they only brought about merciless
oppression and ever more emphatic changes in policies causing the
previously gained space to once more diminish. For example, many
charitable foundations in Tibet were not only closed down, they will
never reappear and the only thing we can do is engage in endless
compromises to protect ourselves.
Foundations or NGOs portray advantageous morals of political correctness
because they engage in charitable work. But now that charitable work
cannot be carried out anymore, it is understandable that people
complain. Yet, those standing in the way of charitable work are by no
means the protestors, the ones responsible are the oppressors. So it is
necessary to discuss the accusations against the protestors and the
silence towards the actual oppressors.
One Tibetan working in the government said that the 2008 protests were
not wrong. Internally, it activated the national consciousness that had
long been locked in people¹s hearts; for the outside world, it exposed
the delicately woven veil that had been covering Tibetan people¹s faces,
made visible to the world Tibetans¹ true faces, and made the world hear
the cries coming from the bottom of their hearts.
A middle school Tibetan teacher said that the 2008 protests taught us
that pain must be given vent to; it cannot be buried in one¹s heart. But
even more importantly, we take matters into our own hands and we cannot
rely on His Holiness, the Dalai Lama or other intellectuals or the
elite. Hence, every one of us must embark on the path of striving for
individual rights.
A Tibetan author said that the 2008 protests spread the following
sentence throughout the whole of Tibet: Tibetans stand together through
thick and thin. The protests weren¹t incited by anyone else, they were
started by the people themselves and they represented the people¹s
aspirations, their attitude and standpoint. Some people who think that
the people were too reckless are those who consider themselves having
great foresight and able to decide on behalf of other people what they
should or shouldn¹t do. This elitist way of thinking in fact lacks any
kind of sense of responsibility to take things into one¹s own hands and
it lacks even more any public concern for the benefit of one¹s own
nationality.
Another Tibetan author said that the 2008 protests have become a
milestone in the history of Tibet. Over the past three years, in many
areas in the Tibetan areas, people were discussing issues of national
feelings and national dignity as if they had just regained
consciousness. Just like the lyrics of the song ³The Sound of Unity²,
which conveys what Tibetan people think, say: "O Tibetans! Unite, unite!
If you think of the sadness on the face of your father, O Tibetans!
Unite, unite! Tibetans of the Land of Snows unite. O Tibetans! Unite,
unite! If you think of the tears from the heart of your mother. O
Tibetans! Unite, unite!"
An influential monk opposed the view that those engaging in the protests
in 2008 were only a minority of people. This opinion was prominent among
people and in areas that have been quite obviously Sinicised. Probably
only those who are rather calculating and anxious for their own
advantage, think in this way. No doubt, this is because the protests
have led to the deterioration of the situation for Tibetans, but
relative to what people throughout the entire region are facing, it
cannot be called trouble. Tell me, please, is the interest of the entire
nationality important or the interest of individuals or organisations?
Also, this was an opportunity to gain some practical experience and
inner strength, thus increasing the courage to face hardships.
A monk who was arrested and endured torture because he had taken to the
streets three years ago said that the 2008 protests serve as proof; if
there had not been any protests, it would have meant that the Chinese
government¹s rhetoric of ³self-liberation² of the Tibetan people and
Tibetans being ³the happiest people² may in fact be true. But as the
protests did occur, it shows even more that these words are simple lies.
The 2008 protests were a success, they revealed Tibetan people¹s
national consciousness, which had been sealed in their hearts, they gave
Tibetans hope for the future, and even though they also made Tibetan
people¹s lives even harder than before, this is a reason why there will
be more protests to come. The more protests occur, the better it will be
for the Tibetan people; it will make more and more people see the true
situation, if it happens again, I would still be in the front line.
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