The Shangri La: Rising from the Crypt or a Utopian Dream?

In a non-descript part of the Majnu Ka Tila area in north Delhi is the capital’s very own “Little Lhasa”. The narrow alleys leading up to a courtyard with a small monastery bears a deserted look. The ominous signs are for all to see. The walls of the otherwise serene monastery are adorned with gory photographs of slain people with messages like “state of human rights in Tibet”. The shops in an otherwise bustling locale are shut. The silence is almost deafening, yet in a dark corner under a canopy are four young Tibetan men engaged in stifled murmurs. These are after all heady days for the sizeable Tibetan population in Delhi.

What started as a peaceful protest on March 10 to mark the 49^th anniversary of the “Tibetan Uprising Day” has turned into the biggest challenge to Chinese rule in Tibet in over two decades. The People’s Liberation Army had first invaded Tibet in 1950 and this was followed by China forcing Tibet’s leaders to sign a 17-point agreement wherein it promised to grant autonomy to Tibet and respect the Buddhist religion and its practices. However most of these promises turned out to be hollow leading to a full-blown uprising in 1959, in which thousands of ethnic Tibetans were killed, as Chinese forces sought to quash the uprising, forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India. The Tianenman Square massacre in 1989 once again raised the ugly spectre of China’s involvement in Tibet. That was a long time ago, when the Chinese leadership was still learning the rules of engagement with the international community. They had made a good start when in 1978; Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping sought to dismantle the “Bamboo Curtain” through a process of wide-ranging economic reforms that transformed the Chinese landscape. The reforms catapulted China into international stardom and heralded the shift of power from the West to the East as it accumulated both hard and soft power. As the west sought to mollycoddle the new superpower on the bloc, Tibet became a forgotten cause restricted to the Geres and Thurmans of the Hollywood fraternity. However, with the eyes of the world on China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tibetans saw an opportunity to divert international attention onto Beijing’s human rights record in Tibet.

As a result, Tibetans have attacked every symbol of Chinese power and influence in a bid to embarrass image-obsessed China. In response, the Chinese government has denounced what it calls the “secessionist activities by the Dalai clique” and has mobilised its military machinery. The Tibetan capital, Lhasa has become a virtual fortress and the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamsala claims that over 100 people have been brutally murdered in the past few days as a result of Chinese repression. Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has asked the world to recognise the “cultural genocide” being perpetrated by the Chinese and though a senior US politician has called the situation in Tibet a “challenge to the conscience of the world”, international reaction has largely been muted, to the extent of being pusillanimous.

If the Tibetans in Delhi had thought that the Indian government would provide some succour, they would only be writing the epitaph on the grave of the Tibetan cause. Let alone supporting the cause, New Delhi has done everything to rein in the protestors so as not to embarrass its “Chinese friends” – from stopping the peace march to Tibet from Dharamsala to reprimanding the protestors, asking them to “behave like how guests are expected to behave.” The Indian government has maintained that Tibet is an internal problem of China's and that any comment on how it should be resolved would be deemed as interference in its internal affairs by Beijing. China’s nuanced position on the Kashmir issue in recent years too is a reason why New Delhi has refrained from overtly criticising Beijing’s actions in Tibet.

India's relations with China have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, covering many more areas than the contentious border dispute and China’s “all-weather partnership” with Pakistan. The two Asian giants upgraded their relationship to a “strategic” level in 2005 during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s India visit.

China has also emerged as India's largest trading partner, with two-way trade crossing $38 billion, an increase of 56% over the past year. These developments have warranted a sea change in the way New Delhi deals with its northern neighbour, and India has had to walk the diplomatic tightrope on the Tibetan issue. This policy has come for much criticism among not only human rights activists but also opposition parties in India, which have lambasted India’s Tibet policy.

NDA Convenor George Fernandes in a recent interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN attacked the UPA government for allowing itself to be "bullied" on the question of Tibet and described as an "error" the National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to re-endorse Tibet as a part of China. "It was not a mistake but an error. It should not have been done," he said about India’s decision to reiterate its recognition of Tibet as a part of China during the previous Atal Behari Vajpayee government, in which he was defence minister.

Ridiculing the UPA government’s response to the recent incident of Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao being summoned to the Chinese foreign ministry past midnight, Mr Fernandes said New Delhi had "surrendered" over the issue.

"Well, our government allowed it. It has no shame," he said, adding that the government should have advised its ambassador to wait till the next day. "Elsewhere, that’s what would have happened."

He said India’s attitude towards China was because of the 1962 war. "I have a feeling that what happened in 1962 is still affecting people’s minds, and they can’t get out of it," he said. He also lent his voice to the growing calls for an Indian boycott of the Beijing Olympics. That seems improbable, as India would do little to earn the ire of the Chinese dragon.

Though there is a palpable sense of dejection amongst the Tibetan youth at Majnu Ka Tila at India’s aloofness, the steely determination and resolve to end the Chinese occupation of their motherland is hard to miss. Many members of the Tibetan exile community in Delhi want independence as opposed to the Dalai Lama’s call for “meaningful autonomy within the People’s Republic of China”.

“Before the Chinese invasion, Tibet was an independent country. To say that we would want autonomy within Chinese territory would be to dilute the aspirations of the Tibetan people,” says Kelsong, a young Tibetan born and brought up in India. He also expressed frustration at the Indian government’s feeble response to the latest developments in Tibet calling it “timid”. 

“The Indian elephant does not want to annoy the Chinese dragon. As the land of the Mahatma, it should lend political support to our just and rightful cause. India has the power of morality to do so," he says.

And do the Tibetan exile community approve of the large-scale violence in Tibet and other provinces like Gansu and Sichuan?

“China does not understand the language of non-violence. The Chinese leadership needs a dose of its own medicine,” adds Kelsong.

Pasang, a young Tibetan student from Bangalore says, “Though the Dalai Lama is our param-pujari and we respect him as our leader, the Tibetan cause is too emotional an issue for us. If alternative methods have to be employed to rattle the Chinese, so be it.” When asked as to what Tibet means to him, Pasang’s voice trails off. “I have only seen Tibet in the photographs. I wish to return to the land of my fellow Tibetan brethren. I want to shed the refugee status and be a free citizen of a free country. That’s my earnest desire.”

As his voice breaks off, his three friends Dorjee, Norbu and Lopsang nod their heads in silence.

This is not just a tale of Delhi’s Tibetan population living as “refugees” but a tale of six million Tibetans who are bereft of a national identity, their sense of “self” hijacked by a regime that seems determined to decimate Tibetan culture and its ethos. And would non-violence be the way to achieve their ends? Well, don’t count on it. Don’t forget that it is Tibetan self-respect, which is at the altar of Tibet’s current masters. Patience is running out. And fast.