Contact is taking a holiday!

Dr Lavanya Vemsani, MyIndMakers, 7 October 2016

Buddhist monks of Tibet cannot write letters to world leaders or the UN unlike the Muslims clerics in Palestine and South Asia. The Tibetan monks also cannot get the media attention that some of the Islamic terrorist groups get, which perpetrate heinous crimes in Israel and India. However, the suffering of Tibet is well established in the past, although the information has declined drastically in the past few years. The UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) during its recent sessions in Geneva last week (September 21-22) leveled intense criticism against China regarding its human rights violations in Tibet.  In addition to the EU statement, the USA, Germany, France and UK also expressed concerns and released independent statements on human rights violations in Tibet. Still the media coverage of Tibet issue is meager when compared with other issues raised at UNHRC. Even Dalai Lama’s speech at the Parliament of European Union (EU) in France got scant media attention than the incendiary retaliatory statement issued by Chinese administration in Tibet. The Tibetan administration expressed anger at Dalai Lama merely for speaking up for the rights of Tibet, and said that its “highest priority” in Tibet is to curb Dalai Lama’s influence. It is clear that China is treating Tibet not only as its subsidiary territory, but also exploiting it with its Han-centered administrative policies.

It is also surprising that the concerned Human right groups focus is India, Israel and to some extent on the West, but fail to raise their voice against state supported atrocities or terror activities committed in other parts of the world such as China (Tibet), West Asia, Middle East or Pakistan. The mild mannered Buddhists do not want to appear rash, or blame anybody for their misfortunes under totalitarian regime in current state of Tibet. But there is no excuse for the rest of the world community to remain silent on Tibet. Tibet hardly gets the attention it deserves. Hence, Tibet takes a back seat on the world stage, even though it is on the verge of collapse, if not in human terms, but in ecological terms, which when finally it happens would push the world in to an emergency situation. Should the world stay silent to the environmental and ecological cost of Tibet?

Tibet would have existed as a happy land akin to Bhutan if India and Tibet had not committed the missteps that they had committed between 1950 and 1960. Especially, India’s Himalayan mistakes are noteworthy in this instance. Under Nehruvian shortsighted foreign policy India surrendered all its treaty rights and in a more shocking gesture accepted Tibet as part of China on April 29^th 1954. It is a mistake and more so since China has not given any written commitments on borders with India either accepting the McMohan line or western borders at the Aksai Chin. The shortsighted Nehruvian policies of 1954 still haunt India in its relations with China and Pakistan. In return for this generous gesture from India, China returned battles at Barahoti (south of Niti pass) on 17^th July 1954. Nehru also did not know about the secret talks between China and Pakistan in 1954 and applauded China at Bandung Afro-Asian conference. The result is that Pakistan surrendered its occupied Akai Chin area to China and China continued incursions into Indian territories on its borders, which also culminated in the war of 1961. All this is part of China’s global expansion plan including its Northern Eurasia and Africa extension plan. Tibet and Pakistan were mere pawns in this major plan of China to reach its international markets. However, the most important question is, should the world remain and and watch the ecological and human cost inflicted on the world due to China’s expansionist plans?

Chinese hegemony in Tibet brings forward two very important issues for the world: the first is geo-political and strategic balance of power and the second is ecological and environmental damage that could result in worst consequences in the form of climatic effect for the rest of the world.

International strategy is evolving fast in the Tibetan borderlands. China has formed a formidable alliance with Russia and Pakistan. China is also moving ahead in collaboration with Russia in forging relations with Iran and other Eurasian states as far as Turkey. Unless an equally formidable alliance of nations is evolved in the South Asia and Northern Eurasia that works to liberate Tibet and Mongolia from the tight control of China, balance of power will shift in favor of China. Current conventions of geopolitical strategy proposes evolution of multi-polar world in the next decade, however, the current changes in Asian alliances seem to indicate the global power balance shifting in favor of China and Russia emerging as strong allies and also as counter balance to the EU (European Union) and US (United State of America).

Although it may not seem as urgent the environmental damage in Tibet is as important as the geo-political strategy. The ecological issue is of immense importance. World had witnessed damaging floods across South Asian in the last decade. With the warming climate, and incessant developmental projects undertaken in Tibet mining, power sector, hydro-electric and geo-thermal projects, in addition to the transportation projects (road, rail, and flight network) may cause increased geological activity in the rest of the lower Himalayan zone. The lower Himalayan region is densely populated than Tibet and any geological change might cause immense damage, which will have a direct bearing on the lower regions (India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh). The world could not stand mute to the ecological and geological damage being done to Tibet through the Chinese interventions, which will also indirectly have an effect on the environment of the rest of the world.

Dalai Lama was precisely right in his recent comparison on the immense ecological damage of Tibet akin to the raging fire on the roof of the world. The comparison is very apt, since Tibet (3700 meters above the sea level) is the highest plateau of earth, and numerous rivers have their origin in the Himalayan zone. Melting glaciers on the Himalayas bring increasing water flow into the Himalayan Rivers and lakes, resulting in damaging flash floods in India, Nepal, China, Japan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Compounded with these warming climatological issues are the geological fault lines of Himalayas, which result in earthquakes that are constant and unpredictable. China has always focused on road and train routes, and hydroelectric and water projects in the Himalayan region with little regard for it neighbors. China works hard to promote positive image of itself, calling Tibet ‘China’s Tibet’ and organizing tourism, mostly for Han Chinese from the rest of China. Tourism in Tibet increased hundred-fold between 1960 and 2010 which is reaching to about 15 million tourists generating about 18 billion Yuan ($3 billion) in 2015. Han centered tourist development commercialized Tibetan culture and religion with a view to providing an opportunity for Han Chinese to experience the minority cultures in its borderlands. Tibet is slowly losing its identity and individuality, while quickly becoming a romanticized spiritual tourist destination for other Chinese to visit. There are immense limitations on foreign travel to Tibet. Hence, very little news or information comes out of Tibet, if at all any news leaked out, it is always about the happy camping stories in the mystic land (Shangri-la) of Tibet.

Tibetans are held under tight control, and monks commit ‘self immolation,’ to express their opposition to Chinese rule. But there is only a limited role any protest can play in a peaceful Buddhist society to demonstrate its woeful living conditions. Chinese propaganda films depicting Dalai Lama and the Buddhist monks have failed to capture the loyalty of Tibetans. China is using the plan of ‘waiting game’ on Tibet. It is only waiting for the current Dalai Lama to leave this world. If the current conditions of Tibetans are woefully difficult now, one can only imagine a ‘reign of terror’ to be unleashed once it gets full command of Tibet, following Dalai Lama’s exit from this world.

Syria may be strategically important in the West Asia, but Tibet is also equally important in the Eurasia and the broader Asian regional co-operation, which may have significant consequences for the world. When Tibet holds such important place in the world, any thing that happens there must be of concern for the rest of the world. One must seek more information rather than the simple official notes that trickles out of Chinese administration in Tibet. It is important that the world must pay close attention to Tibet and work for a permanent solution to the Tibet issue. It is time the world paid special attention to Tibet.