Mythical leniency
Barring intervention of miracle, the deportation to Chinese- occupied Tibet of 4000 Tibetan refugees in Bhutan seems imminent. Repeated please to make Thimpu restore the pre-1974 situation when the Tibetans in the kingdom were considered peace loving and law abiding members of the society have bounced off stonewalls. Nor is there yet any sign that India will allow them to enter this country. According to available reports. Bhutan is determined to “expel” the refugees from their present settlements. Even if they are not directnly sent back to Tibet, the best that can happen to them is being scattered in the bleak remote areas near the Bhutan Tibet border and left, without any facilities for starting anew, to their own devices Bhutan obviously knows that refugees cannot last long in a region which offers little opportunity for earning a decent living – and, that too under an openly hostile government. It is only a question of time before the refugees decide it may be wise to take a chance across the border.
Even if that happens many people of the world may feel this is not an overly disconcerning incident. In fact, somw will definitely try to propagate that the Tibetan problem is aproaching a solution now. After all, words have been out for sometime that the new leaders of China are moderate, pragmatic, liberal and what not. We will be reminded that they have not only admitted that past policy on Tibet was wrong, but was magnanimous enough to apologise to us on behalf of the actual culprits – the Gang of Four.
4000 is a sizable proportion of the Tib population, and their deportation will obviously mean a major setback in our struggle for freedom. Lest some of our compatriots also begin to feel that a “benevolent” Chinese rule is better than perpetual exile and uncertainty, it is necessary to see briefly exactly how free the Tibetan in Tibet have become because of the ‘moderate’ and ‘lenient’ policies of China.
Release of some of the Tibetan arrested in 1959 have been announced with much fanfare. However, as one of these former prisoners told reporters in New Delhi, all it means is those who were in small prisons have been transferred into the larger prison where the rest of the Tibetan population is incarcerated. Visiting Tibetan have indicated that the actions and speeches of the released prisoners are still entirely controlled by the rulers.
Putting up a few more Tibetan in the administrative organs means little in an administration where all decisions are made in Peking and the functions of the so-called local government is restricted to implementing those decisions.
Some cases of Tibetan visiting relatives in Nepal and India have been reported, but other members of those families have always been held back in Tibet. There has not been a single case where an entire family was allowed to leave the country.
Some of the visitors have brought back address of relatives of their friends in exile and recent months many letters have been exchanged between relative in Tibet and outside. However, one can be sure that censors in Peking take care of anything ‘anti-peole’ or ‘counter revolutionary’ in their contents before passing them on to the addresses.
To be quite fair, let us admit there is about 1 per cent chance that Chinese leaders are genuinely beginning to be concerned with the welfare of their subjects. But the Tibetan outside cannot afford to be too optimistic about it. It is our duty to look for traps and loopholes in any gesture of friendship that comes from China. God knows there are enough so-called ‘objective’ observers around ever ready to give Peking the benefit of the doubt. They look at Tibet from business angles and political considerations. We have to continue to look at it with wellbeing of six million people and the survival of a weak nation, race and civilization in mind.
With this perspective we can’t yet offer our hands to be shaken by the Peking leaders. Even if Chinese are allowing a little bit of real freedom to the Tibetan, it is not good enough reason for us to feel gratitude towards them. Off course, there is always the possibility that Peking has begun to regard Tibet as a liability and are gradually working out a face-saving device before pulling out. For this reason we must try to reach them—but only with a telegraph pole, and taking care never to surrender on advantages.
Barring intervention of miracle, the deportation to Chinese- occupied Tibet of 4000 Tibetan refugees in Bhutan seems imminent. Repeated please to make Thimpu restore the pre-1974 situation when the Tibetans in the kingdom were considered peace loving and law abiding members of the society have bounced off stonewalls. Nor is there yet any sign that India will allow them to enter this country. According to available reports. Bhutan is determined to “expel” the refugees from their present settlements. Even if they are not directnly sent back to Tibet, the best that can happen to them is being scattered in the bleak remote areas near the Bhutan Tibet border and left, without any facilities for starting anew, to their own devices Bhutan obviously knows that refugees cannot last long in a region which offers little opportunity for earning a decent living – and, that too under an openly hostile government. It is only a question of time before the refugees decide it may be wise to take a chance across the border.
Even if that happens many people of the world may feel this is not an overly disconcerning incident. In fact, somw will definitely try to propagate that the Tibetan problem is aproaching a solution now. After all, words have been out for sometime that the new leaders of China are moderate, pragmatic, liberal and what not. We will be reminded that they have not only admitted that past policy on Tibet was wrong, but was magnanimous enough to apologise to us on behalf of the actual culprits – the Gang of Four.
4000 is a sizable proportion of the Tib population, and their deportation will obviously mean a major setback in our struggle for freedom. Lest some of our compatriots also begin to feel that a “benevolent” Chinese rule is better than perpetual exile and uncertainty, it is necessary to see briefly exactly how free the Tibetan in Tibet have become because of the ‘moderate’ and ‘lenient’ policies of China.
Release of some of the Tibetan arrested in 1959 have been announced with much fanfare. However, as one of these former prisoners told reporters in New Delhi, all it means is those who were in small prisons have been transferred into the larger prison where the rest of the Tibetan population is incarcerated. Visiting Tibetan have indicated that the actions and speeches of the released prisoners are still entirely controlled by the rulers.
Putting up a few more Tibetan in the administrative organs means little in an administration where all decisions are made in Peking and the functions of the so-called local government is restricted to implementing those decisions.
Some cases of Tibetan visiting relatives in Nepal and India have been reported, but other members of those families have always been held back in Tibet. There has not been a single case where an entire family was allowed to leave the country.
Some of the visitors have brought back address of relatives of their friends in exile and recent months many letters have been exchanged between relative in Tibet and outside. However, one can be sure that censors in Peking take care of anything ‘anti-peole’ or ‘counter revolutionary’ in their contents before passing them on to the addresses.
To be quite fair, let us admit there is about 1 per cent chance that Chinese leaders are genuinely beginning to be concerned with the welfare of their subjects. But the Tibetan outside cannot afford to be too optimistic about it. It is our duty to look for traps and loopholes in any gesture of friendship that comes from China. God knows there are enough so-called ‘objective’ observers around ever ready to give Peking the benefit of the doubt. They look at Tibet from business angles and political considerations. We have to continue to look at it with wellbeing of six million people and the survival of a weak nation, race and civilization in mind.
With this perspective we can’t yet offer our hands to be shaken by the Peking leaders. Even if Chinese are allowing a little bit of real freedom to the Tibetan, it is not good enough reason for us to feel gratitude towards them. Off course, there is always the possibility that Peking has begun to regard Tibet as a liability and are gradually working out a face-saving device before pulling out. For this reason we must try to reach them—but only with a telegraph pole, and taking care never to surrender on advantages.
posted by editorla at
9:20 PM
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