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 !

Pakistan our neighbor country has again come into the grip of Emergency. All the judges have been suspended, all private channels have been banned and the constitution of the country stands suspended. The military has assumed all the powers.

For me it’s not a surprise news. I knew from the start that it was bound to happen one day. Pakistan’s president Pervej Musharraf who is also the General of the Pakistan Army, was trying to achieve an impossible thing upto now. He wanted to be a dictator with the people’s mandate projecting his image as a Dictator who respects democracy. For this he gave liberty to Pakistani judiciary, which ultimately went against him. He gave full freedom to Press/Media and ignore their constant criticism of his policies. He tried hard to appear as a preserver of democracy in Pakistan. But at last, he did what all dictators do when faced with the question of survival. Just few days before a Supreme Court Bench decides the validity of his election as the President while retaining his military uniform, Musharraf declared emergency in Pakistan citing the growing terrorism and increasing interference of judiciary as the main reasons.

Well, you can’t be a dictator and champion of democracy at the same time. Musharraf tried to be both and failed miserably.

What can be the impact on India ?

I think nothing much. It is a common knowledge that Musharraf is the mastermind behind the Kargil War in 1999. He is a master of double-talk. He has made the American believe that he is their best bet in Pakistan and without him the War on terror can not be won. So he will keep extracting dollars from US as a prize to be it’s partner in curbing Al-Qaida. On the other hand, he will keep assisting the terrorists to promote terrorism on the soil of India. The blood shed in India will continue. We’ll keep looking helplessly as more bomb will explodes in our cities, more innocent lives will end and more destruction will happen to Indian properties. So as of now, there is nothing much Indians can expect from this emergency. The truth is that in it’s history of 60 years, Pakistan has never been a democratic country. Directly or indirectly the army in Pakistan has been the prime ruler of it’s people.

What is the future of Musharraf ?

Well it’s all in the womb of future. The fate of Musharraf as I can see will be just like that of his predecessors dictators of Pakistan. In a coup by any other general, either he will be dethroned and kept in house arrest or he will be thrown out of the country. Some serious consequences may also happen. Well, all this is just plain speculation.

As of now the coming days will be very interesting to watch.

Tawang, the town in Arunachal Pradesh which is repeatedly claimed by China as its part is a Hindi spoken area where everybody considers himself as Indian. They hate China for what it has done to Tibet and about it’s oppressing attitude towards Buddhism. (well what you can expect from a Communist country whose leader thinks religion is an opium of common man)

A resident of Tawang said to a TOI reporter, “ What worries us is the absence of quick reactions from New Delhi to Beijing’s claims.�

I think it is high time our Government took a strong and firm stand on Arunachal Pradesh and convey a strong message to China that it should better stop making such foolish claims. India is not Taiwan and certainly India is not what it used to be in 1962 (when China invaded India and took it by surprise). We must not forget that Arunachal Pradesh is 3 times in size of Taiwan.

We must not forget that in International Politics everybody has it’s own interest and being a meek duck can cost us our valuable possessions.