No Stopping The Tibetans

By Tenzing Dhamdul

‘10^th March is the day when Lhasa fell. And we, the Tibetans, became refugees and rootless,’ said Tenzin Nyinjey, a Researcher and Rangtsen Advocate on a Podcast, “Unsilenced: Voices of Young Tibetans”. (The programme was a production of the Foundation for Non- Violent Alternatives, FNVA).

This year Tibetans worldwide commemorated the 64^th anniversary of that fateful day. And held peace protests to mark the Tibetan Uprising Day. The mood was articulated by a young student Tenzin Kunsang, who said, “March 10 is more important than my birthday.”

Taking part in a march to the historic Jantar Mantar (an observatory with instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens that has become a popular venue for protest demonstrations) in the Indian capital, New Delhi, the teenager said “It is the responsibility of the third-generation Tibetan refugees like me to carry the torch forward because we are the future of the community”.

10^th March uprising was not an orchestrated upsurge nor a rebellion as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims, but a proletariat revolution to couch it in the Communist jargon. It was quashed by a proletariat government, while acknowledging that tens of thousands of Tibetans from all the three provinces of the country, both lay and clerical, had risen in protest, which, according to the Tibetan Parliament in exile, is “a spontaneous upsurge of protests prompted by the concern over the wellbeing of their nation in their minds.”

The then Indian Consul General to Tibet, Major S.L Chibber was an eye witness to the momentous event in 1959. Like for the Tibetans, for him, it was a “revolt by the masses against the occupiers”.

His lament was no less prophetic: “The Future is dark. Only a miracle can save Tibet from the clutches of the Chinese Communist Colonialists.”

The Chibber-speak reflects the current predicament of Tibetans residing in “occupied” Tibet.

Fear engulfs them in the darkness that prevails over Tibet – the land that hosts Mount Kailash. My paternal grandparents lived nearby the sacred place. I cannot visit to pay my respects to them.

RESPONSE – CHINA

Two developments took place in the run up to the 64^th Uprising Day Anniversary this year.

President Xi Jinping got himself anointed as head of the state for an unprecedented third term at the ‘Two Sessions’ just a day before Mar 10. It is an appointment that does not come as a surprise though. Xi has been presenting himself as the Modern Helmsman of China, drawing a lot of parallels with the PRC founder Chairman Mao Zeadong.

The second notable event that has a bearing on the Tibetans at home and in exile was the security surveillance mounted by Beijing and its security apparatus with caps and without caps.

Radio Free Asia says the surveillance started from February 25 itself. All public places in Lhasa came under a blanket dragnet. Places visited by Tibetan Buddhists to perform religious rites became special focus.

The drill was extended to Nagchu, Chamdo, Lhoka, and Shigatse amongst other places.

From March First, the Police in Lhasa and across Tibet targeted anything they considered as separatist thought or separatist activity. The Police internet portals, and web sites carried warnings to instill a sense of fear.

And, just after the March 10 Uprising Day, came the announcement from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi that it was opening doors to Tibetans, well, after several years.

The whys and whatfors remain a Sudoku.

A surmise that finds many takers is that the ‘opening’ provides ‘open resources and analytic data’ to the Chinese embassy in India on ‘the whereabouts of Tibetans who had escaped their occupied home’.

Put simply, it is a welcome into a world of repression without borders as the Tibetans living in the US, Canada, UK and several other western nations have realised with their brush with China’s audacious transnational policing.

Tibet Now

Now to the sad reality.

All Tibetans who are in Tibet are living with their back to the wall. It is a life that is neither here nor there. All the Tibetans, my sisters and brothers and relatives like the kith and kin of the exiled have no respite from the iron fist of the regime.

Hope of a turnaround is eternal for them, no doubt, but as of now they continue to face the full might of People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its polices to sway Tibet the Han Chinese way and to submerge Tibetans into the Communist mainstream through what is described as assimilative policies.

For some more reality check.

After the Uprising Day, Gonpo Kyi, the sister of philanthropist- businessman Dorjee Tashi was taken into custody and tortured mercilessly. Her crime – peaceful protest against the imprisonment of Tashi on trumped up charges.

Her brother was branded a secessionist after the 2008 mass uprising. The secessionist charge was subsequently dropped and he was indicted for loan fraud, which was no more than a ploy to remove him, and large-hearted philanthropists like him.

The likes of Dorjee Tashi are targeted by the apparatchiks of the Chinese proletariat regime to stop them in their strides. Their crime: quiet efforts to create a groundswell to preserve the rich Tibetan traditions and culture.

Dorjee is still behind the bars serving life term at the dreaded Drapchi Prison. Also known as Lhasa Prison No. 1, Drapchi Prison is about a mile from the city centre.

Zangkar Jamyang, a noted writer, was arrested three years ago on the charge of splittism ( advocacy of separation). He was also accused of spreading ‘rumors’ through internet chat groups.

Confirmation of his detention came only recently.

This delay in information on ‘the status’ of Tibetans inside Tibet highlights a reality of today’s Tibet.

It is the severity of clamp down and the difficulty in reaching out to the world.

There is a parallel to Zangkar Jamyang’s plight. It is of the 10^th Panchen Lama (Gedhun Choekyi Nyima), who is recognized by the Dalai Lama and Tibetans worldwide. He is the youngest political prisoner, having been kidnapped at the tender age of six years. There are many unreported cases of missing Tibetans.

The 2023 Freedom House report terms Tibet as the least free region in the world with repression at full play for several years now.

Many brave Tibetans have been putting their very lives at stake just to tell the world of their struggles and inhuman situation around them.

A Communist irony that has been unfolding of late is officially allowed protests by ‘domiciled’ Han Chinese in Lhasa with no such right to the Tibetans in their very own homeland.

If Tibetans are Chinese as the Mainland China claims, why this discrimination? The answer is provided by the Chinese actions – administrative actions along with major polices. And it is that Tibetans are not Chinese. – a fact the regime is loath to admit.

This is the harsh reality of Tibet as 64^th anniversary of Tibet Uprising Day was commemorated the world over.

The reality is worse than what we currently are able to read, see and grasp.

Well, Tibetans inside Tibet are bold, and courageous lot. They are an inspiration for teenagers like Tenzin Kunsang as the world awaits a meaningful resolution to the Tibet China conflict at the negotiating table.