An exile Tibetan woman holds a placard as she shouts slogans during a demonstration marking the 62nd anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese invasion of Tibet, in McLeod Ganj, India, on 10 March 2021. Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal
By Lobsang Wangyal
McLEOD GANJ, India, 10 March 2021
Tibetans around the world marked the 1959 Tibetan revolt against the Chinese invasion, renewing their pledge to fight until Tibet is free.
Faces covered with masks, close to a thousand exile Tibetans and a handful of local Indian supporters gathered near the Dalai Lama temple in McLeod Ganj for an event where speeches by prominent NGO leaders were delivered.
The NGO leaders exposed the Chinese government’s human rights violations and atrocities committed on Tibetans in Tibet, saying that China’s assault on the Tibetan people has reached an unprecedented level.
They claimed that currently there is a concerted effort by Chinese leaders to restrict Tibetans’ cultural identity. Tibetan children are being denied the right to learn in their mother tongue, as authorities make it compulsory to study Chinese Communist history and political views in Chinese language.
They called on the Chinese government to release unconditionally all the political prisoners, including the Panchen Lama.
The gathering marched down the hill to Dharamshala shouting slogans calling for the United Nations to support their cause.
An official programme was held within the premises of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), unlike in the past when Tsuglakhang or the Dalai Lama temple was the venue.
Lobsang Sangay, the President of CTA, delivered his annual address to a limited audience consisting only of the staff members of the administration, who were all seen wearing masks and keeping social distancing following the Coronavirus pandemic protocol.
It was Sangay’s last 10 March address, as a new President (known as Sikyong in Tibetan) will replace him in three months.
In a surprise reversal of stand, the “Mimang Langlu (Rise up)” song was sung in the official function — the first time in more than a decade. Artistes from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) sang the song, which has lyrics calling for the Chinese to be banished from Tibet.
This song, written by the founding members of TIPA in 1960, has been part of the official 10 March Uprising Day function for decades before the previous political leader Samdhong Rinpoche put a stop to it in an effort to create an enabling atmosphere for the two sides to achieve an amicable resolution to the Tibetan issue.
Sangay blasted the Chinese government for its repressive policies in Tibet which have reached unprecedented levels further escalating the violation of the Tibetan people’s fundamental rights. He enumerated incidents of censorship and surveillance in Tibet, with information blackouts making Tibet a heavily fortified digital cage, making it near impossible to get information out of Tibet.
Chinese authorities charge criminal prosecutions against individuals who use online communication tools to “split the country” and “undermine national unity”, which further aid the government in its persecution.
He further said that China is a threat to democracy around the world. “Today, China’s tentacles have reached beyond Tibet, using its growing economic clout to jeopardize global democracy,” Sangay said.
Expressing solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet, Sangay said, “We stand united with our brothers and sisters in Tibet, especially with the political prisoners who remain resolute despite the inhumane treatment and torture they suffer in Chinese prisons.”
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay is not fault-free. In fact, nobody in this world is. Some of his mistakes looked like vey much due to his inexperience in public life specially during his first tenure.
People say his over-eagerness to take all credit for himself when all is not in his due is a sign of “marab.” – Immodesty. Another weakness is apparently in money matters. This is very unhealthy.
On plus side: quite a building boom in Gangchen Kyishong providing more and better facilities for CTA at its headquarters, marked increase in scholarship for students for higher studies, more funding in health sector and notable use of information technology like Tibet TV for more effective administration.
All these activities require a lot of fund. Sikyong is a clever fund-raiser. In recent years the US government has been a generous source of funding for CTA.
Improvement in Tibetan settlements has been good including the lease legalisation which has reduced the fear of settlers losing their plot of land. This act may lead to acquiring land ownership in future.
On the front of resolution of Sino Tibetan conflict, Sikyong has hardly anything to show. But it is unfair to label him as a failure. In this matter even His Holiness remains helpless. The disparity between two sides is so unequal. It is like the sky and earth. When the sky refuses to let a drop of rain to fall on the ground, the earth remains just dry as ever.
On the balance, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay has better score than Samdhong Rinpoche whose ultra conservatism along with his own peculiar ideology dominated his rule as the Kalon Tripa for 10 years before Lobsang Sangay.
Will Rinpoche’s ideas and ideology gain currency as “would be Sikyong Penpa Tsering” takes over CTA soon?
If Penpa Tsering wins (Buddha forbid!) he will bring back every policy Samdhong Rinpoche exercised during his ten year tenure because Penpa Tsering is SR’s སྲས་ཀྱི་མཐུ་བོ་ (heart son). He will suck up to the Chinese communist dictators as never before because he is already on record, thanking the CCP for their alleged “help” to Tibet.
He will ban the མི་མང་ལངས་གླུ་ to show his love and loyalty for the CCP. He will ban the Tibetan Youth Congress unless they accept Umay-Lam. All Rangzen advocates will be haunted and labelled “anti-Dalai Lama”. Some of them like Jamyang Norbu may be expelled from the Tibetan community.
The very word རང་བཙན་ Rangzen will be banned among the Tibetan exiles. Anyone who doesn’t conform to his dictates will be harassed and forced out of the Tibetan community by his lynch mob like he did through his proxy to Atsok Lukar Jam.
His right hand man Sharchok Kukta took the Lukar Jam issue to parliament and since no one stood up to oppose him, they attacked his car and forced him out of Dharamshala and out of India. This is the impending scenario.
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay should be applauded for reversing the མི་མང་ལངས་གླུ་ which was banned by Samdhong Rinpoche. He also banned demonstrations against Chinese leaders visiting foreign countries along with burning of the CCP flag.
Such level of capitulation by the then Tibetan leader has grievously harmed the Tibetan Movement. It divided the populatiin who were for demonstration and those who followed SR. In the process, the attendees on 10th of March dwindled drastically and at many places M10 became non-existent. This had grave consequences since the younger generation took no interest in Tibetan affairs.
Even those who were willing to show their disdain of the Chinese and protested were chastised and looked down with contempt.
Now after twenty years of capitulation to the CCP, we find that Tibet is the least free country in the world along with war-torn Syria.
This clearly shows SR’s policy of appeasement was totally misguided and wrong. If anything, it gave a semblance of understanding between the CCP and Dharamshala which the CCP used to pursue its assimilationist policy with greater intensity without international castigation.
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay has turned a new page in history by becoming the first Sikyong to be welcomed into the US Department of State and now to add another feather to his cap, he has roundly condemned communist China for its Sinofication policy in Tibet unlike any other leader of CTA and reversing the patently false ban on མི་མང་ལངས་གླུ་
The banning of the song was an attempt to erase Tibet’s historical struggle against foreign occupation. It sought to demonstrate that the Chinese are not occupiers and delegitimised Tibet’s independent status to suck up to the CCP.
The Sikyong’s Tibetan speech on M10 was his best!
ཧྲི་ Stop spreading fake news. At least, you tribals stop doing it for today. You are nothing but parasites that refuses to recognize the real enemy. Our enemy is China, not SR.
I have been reading Tibet Sun for long time. I have a sneaking suspicion that ཧ྄ི and few other posters are none other than LS and Kaydor themselves. Just keep this in your mind, friends and countrymen. We should not become victims to China’s machinations nor fall victims to our corrupt politicians and their 420 (section in Indian penal code for thievery) chamchas.
You are the lynch mob of Penpa Tsering who are blinkered in your perception of reality. You and your ilk are the people sucking up to the CCP and demonstrated against the legitimate Government of Tibet based in Dharamshala. The anti-Kashag group went all the way from the US to demonstrate against it at Dharamshala. Is this a sign of patriotism or treason?
Who was bank rolling the air fare, insurance and accommodation of all those who came all the way from New York to protest against Kashag in Dharamshala? Ordinary Tibetans in NY are hardly able to make ends meet in their daily lives. How come Penpa Tsering’s supporters have so much cash to throw away to undermine and discredit the exile Government?
Exposing policy failure of a politician is not a crime. It is the right and responsibility of free thinkers to evaluate politicians and their frailties. Unfortunately, there are people who can’t see beyond the confines of their delusional perception and so anyone who doesn’t conform to their narrow and bigoted ways is branded as “fake”.
People who brandished black flags to denounce Kashag and bring disrepute to the Tibetan Government just goes to show the kind of people you are. They disrupted the Kashag to create chaos in the community and cause more fracture in the community, all the while disparaging the Kashag.
This unforgivable act has greatly diminished the standing of the Tibetan Government and its executive branch. These are deliberate acts of sabotage to discredit the Exile-Government in all likelihood at the behest of a foreign power. The Tibetan people should never forgive such turncoats.
However, when it’s time to demonstrate against the CCP, these people are found wanting!