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I really mean it. Being a student of meditation, it is my heartfelt desire to visit Tibet once in my life. Once I read in a book that you need not go to any monastery in Tibet for the whole Tibet is a big monastery. Some of the most important research and development in the field of meditation and spirituality have been done in Tibet.
But what an irony it is. This great place of spirituality is now controlled by a Communist Country which has no belief on God ! From what I have read about Tibet in various sources, it appears that there has been a huge cultural invasion in Tibet by the Chinese Government. There has been a systematic strategy on a massive scale to inhabit Tibet with Han ethnic Chinese. Tibetans have been relegated as a minority in their own country.
The Beijing Olympic have once again focused the world’s attention on China and its oppressed rule in Tibet. Thousands of protests have started in various parts of globe to oppose the Beijing Olympics and highlight the cause of Tibet. There have been great concern over the security and safe passage of Olympic Torch as it travels in various countries of world amid the fear of protest against China. Many celebrities have decided not to carry the Olympic torch to show their solidarity with the Tibetan cause. On the other hand many people are of the opinion that we should not obstruct the Olympic proceedings as the games do not belong to China. They belong to the world in their collectiveness and boycotting them or opposing them just because they are being organized in an oppressive country is not fare.
I think Olympic is just a platform for Tibetans to highlight their endless suffering and humiliation to which they are subjected to almost everyday by. They have some very legitimate demands which primarily involves around a greater autonomy for Tibet within China.
Given the poor human right records and aggressive policies of China, I am doubtful whether China will ever concede to the demands of an autonomous Tibet. The only way it can happen in a distant future is when there will be a change in the very nature of the Chinese Government i.e. from a Communist state to a democratic one along with a kind hearted and humane leadership.
Communism is a failed philosophy – not by itself but because of the people who used it. It makes people robots, kills their desire to work, shattered the entrepreneur’s dreams and make the state the biggest goon. On paper, it appears to be the best ideology for human development. But, on implementation level, is has been grossly misused by the very people who propagate it. I don’t think Marx will be happy to see the kind of communism being practiced in China.
I sincerely hope that one day - not in a very distant future, people of Tibet will see a new dawn. The darkness of Chinese oppression will end and every Tibetan will have a reason to smile, a reason to hope for, to live for. No matter how difficult it appears, I firmly believe that the huge wall of Chinese oppression will crumble one day and I’ll be able to visit the forbidden city. Amen !
Beijing Olympic Communism human rights Tibet
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Twitter said,
Wrote on April 2, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
The irony part is the Tibeten God is not your god, unless you are a Tibet buddhist.
Do you know how many western missionaries were killed by Tibeten Monks? And that was not long ago, just before Communist party took power.
If you are talking about human rights, the only thing I can tell you is Communist party is Far better than Dalai Lama ruled Tibet. And we all know how bad Communisum China is, so go figure!
Study more history!
Eklavya said,
Wrote on April 3, 2008 @ 2:28 am
Tibetan God is not my God. So should I feel concern only for those who believe in my God ? Where the irony lies my friend?
“Communist party is Far better than Dalai Lama ruled Tibet.”
For the last 50 years, Tibet is ruled by China. Dalai Lama is has just been a symbolic head of Tibetan during these years. So how can you compare these two governments when one (of Dalai Lama) does not exist at all?
Instead of advising me to read history why don’t you read the past 50 years history of Chinese rule ? There is no point discussing what they did or not did in a distant past. Try to understand the suffering they are going through in present time.
david said,
Wrote on April 3, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
I believe Twitter is comparing the current Chinese rule with Dalai Lama’s rule 50 year ago. Although the Chinese rule limits political freedom, it does give people economical and other social freedom, unlike the brutal feudal serfdom combined with downright slavery under the Dalai Lama.
You do need to study the history to understand today. It’s no surprise that the exile community and some monks are so angry. They were once the elite enjoying everything in the expense of their impoverished subjects. They launched the rebellion in 1959 because the Chinese was pushing they too hard towards give their subjects some basic personal and economical freedom. It’s also no surprise that, 50 years ago, after avoiding any direct engagements while the military rebellion was going on for weeks, the Chinese troops were able to crush it in merely two days. You are probably not ready to admit it, but nobody can pull that off if they have absolutely no support from the local population. Just look at Afghanistan. The Russians tried it, and we Americans and Europeans are trying it again, and it’s still a big mess.
Although the Chinese government proclaims no believe in god, it does offer some limited form of religious freedom. The limitation is religion has to be strictly separated from politics. Such limitations take the “separation of church and state” idea originated from the United States to the extreme, some may say, and is somewhat self serving, but it’s not exactly a religious issue but a political one. People can practice their traditional religion or new religion whatever way they want as long as they don’t use it to challenge the government. Take the instance of Fa Lun Gong. The government did nothing to it until the sect started physically attacking journalists reporting negatively about it and organized unapproved protests against the government when its judiciary branch sided with the journalists. Was the government’s tactic overly heavy handed? Yes, but it’s a political issue, not a purely religious one.
Eklavya said,
Wrote on April 3, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Friends, let me admit it honestly, I am not aware of what exactly was the situation in Tibet during the rule of Dalai Lama 50 years ago. I think I need to read that era of history to understand what you both want to convey. However, I still feel that just because there was a brutal, slavery like rule of Dalai Lama once in Tibet, it does not mean that Tibetan should be subjected to another oppressive regime which is hellbent on destroyting their culture.
Further, I am unable to understand that if the Rule of Dalai Lama was so bad that a majority of Tibetan were suffering under him, how come the Tibetan still adore him as their most lovable leader ? Especially when they have every opportunity to assimilate with the Chinese mainstream and become independent of the tradition? In Delhi here thousands of Tibetans are living as refugee. They can choose to be a part of Indian mainstream or of China if they want, but still they are so attached with the idea of a Tibet under Dalai Lama - despite his chequered past as described by you.
Do you know how this so called feudal and oppressive Tibetan leader is adored by its people ?
In 1994, an Indian journalist went to visit Tibet. He went to a monastery. Rest are his own words :
“Inside the monastery, the monks swarmed around us. They want to know if you have ever seen His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Tenzin (his guide) explained. We shook our heads regretfully. They’re asking if you have any pictures of His Holiness, said Tenzin. Again we had to indicate we hadn’t. They’re asking if you can give them some Indian money, some notes, said Tenzin. It seemed a curious request, as Indian currency could hardly be legal tender in Chinese Tibet. But i took out my wallet and proffered a 100-rupee note. The monks shook their heads vigorously. No, no, said Tenzin. That’s too big; they want small notes, one rupee, two rupees. I found one- and two-rupee notes in my wallet. The monks passed them around with murmurs of awe and reverence. They’ll worship the notes, pray to them, said Tenzin. Because it’s possible that, maybe, sometime, His Holiness has touched one of the notes. That’s why they wanted small notes, which circulate more, so the chances of their having been touched by His Holiness are greater, he added. I looked at the remaining notes in my wallet, thumbed through them thoughtfully. Who knew? He just might have touched one of them. I was discovering what the Chinese have found out. That faith is an infection easy to catch, impossible to stamp out.”
I have nothing against people of China. I respect them and wish them good luck for the coming Olympic. In fact I am a big fan of the way China has progressed economically. However, I have strong reservation with the ways their Government handles human right issue and suppress freedom of speech.