'Tibetans have no option other than self-immolations', says Tibetan Prime Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay

Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay in exclusive conversation with Aditya Raj Kaul

The Sunday Indian

July 5th, 2012

With Tibetan Prime Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay

TSI: Almost 40 Tibetans including monks have attempted self-immolation since 2009. Why this sudden increase in such desperate acts of protest? Have they lost all hope for a free Tibet?
LS: [Brief silence] Yes, it has been really unfortunate. Question is why? The Chinese Government doesn’t allow any form of free speech like we see in India, here we can have dharnas, hunger strikes, and we can protest, and organise rallies. But in China, especially in Tibet, it is not so. You simply cannot participate in protests, even if it’s a gathering of three people, they get arrested and tortured. Tragically, Tibetans are taking to this rather drastic political act of self-immolation. But all the 40 self-immolators have only hurt themselves and not harmed others. Their demands are pretty clear – the return of His Holiness Dalai Lama and Free Tibet.

TSI: Tibetan activist Jamphel Yeshi also self-immolated himself hours before Hu Jintao’s arrival in March this year. Is self-immolation the only way of being heard?
LS: We have told people not to indulge in self-immolation. A few days after Jamphel Yeshi’s self-immolation we in fact issued a very strongly worded letter asking Tibetans-in-exile particularly not to resort to self-immolations because we have freedom of speech in India. We can resort to and engage in many other forms of protests. Unfortunately, Tibetans inside Tibet don’t have any other option, but to commit self-immolations.

TSI: Have the concerns over Dalai Lama’s security intensified of late? The Dalai Lama himself recently said that a Tibetan may attack him?
LS: Threat perception always remains. The report (about a Tibetan attacking Dalai Lama) is reliable but not verified. Reports are that China at one time was training people like that, so we have to take all this under consideration.

TSI: Your views on Indo-Tibetan relations?
LS: Tibet is of major interest for India from geo-political, environmental and cultural point-of-view. Culturally, because we follow Buddhism, which we adapted from India. Environmentally because Tibet’s Himalayan geography directly affects the region. And geo-politically because China is building a railway line all the way to India. The Indian government spends billions of dollars for border security. Before 1959, it was not necessary. Resolving the Tibet issue is in India’s interest.

TSI: Is there any ongoing back-channel dialogue with China or does a stalemate persist considering recent resignations of your two appointed emissaries?
LS: At the moment it is a stalemate, mainly because of the Chinese government. The relevant Chinese officials have not reciprocated positively to the memorandum that we submitted. That is why our two appointed envoys resigned. The environment is not conducive for dialogue. The situation inside Tibet is also getting worse. Having said that, we are ready to engage in dialogue with the Chinese government anytime. We seek autonomy within China and within the framework of the Chinese constitution. Most likely with the changes in leadership, by early next year there might be slight changes in the trend.

TSI: China has been showing off Gyaltsen Norbu, the government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, to the world. Do you think the world has accepted him as Dalai Lama's successor?
LS: No, No I don’t think the world will accept him because he is not the boy endorsed by the Dalai Lama. He spends more time in Beijing than in Lhasa. He spends more time talking of politics than spirituality. He is being groomed and shown around by the Chinese government which will not be accepted by Tibetans. Why should they?

TSI: If not Gyaltsen Norbu, do you think period after Dalai Lama will mean chaos for Tibetans-in-exile and China will only emerge stronger?
LS: Dalai Lama will come back. But interim period, it was chaotic before. You know, there is always a gap in history. That is why His Holiness has issued a very strong statement last September – reincarnation, selection or emanation. If  he comes back through reincarnation then till Dalai Lama is born and enthroned and mature, it will take 27 years. That is why, the Dalai Lama has said that if Buddhist leaders are willing there could be a selection process, some Buddhist leaders could gather and select the next leader. Or there is also the possibility of an emanation process, meaning the Dalai Lama could designate a boy (or a girl), and say he will be my successor. That will remove that interim period. Immediately after His Holiness passes away, we will have a young boy who will be the 15th Dalai Lama. Who better than Dalai Lama to choose, legitimize, give credibility, train and groom the next Dalai Lama?

TSI: What is your single-most-important task as the PM of Tibetan government-in-exile?
LS: Politically, restoring freedom for Tibetans and maintaining solidarity both within and outside Tibet are very important. Domestically, education will be the number one priority. I came from a humble background. Because of education I’ve managed to stand on my feet. Similarly, if we invest in education for everybody, then an educated and highly talented generation will be groomed to take forward the Tibetan cause.

TSI: But is the Dalai Lama refraining from being too outspoken about the situation in Tibet these days?
LS: His Holiness made it very clear last March that he wants to transfer all his political authority. There is a clear demarcation and I handle the political part of the Tibet issue and His Holiness is our most revered leader. Now he spends more time on his spiritual pursuits but as a Tibetan he often makes comments on the Tibet issue as well.

Tibetan Prime Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay with The Dalai Lam

TSI: China is one of the world’s most formidable powers. Is there still hope for a free Tibet?
LS: We perceive China differently from the way other countries, including India, perceive China. We Tibetans have been living side by side with China for centuries. China may grow powerful, but the Tibetan spirit, Tibetan sense of commitment and determination will not change. We believe that we will achieve freedom one day. That is the determination of the younger generation of Tibetans to carry the cause forward. Not just me, so many other Tibetans are joining in and have been in the Tibetan cause for a long time with sincere belief, that our day will come. We will return to Tibet.          

Flames of Freedom

Despair sometimes is a great tranquiliser. But for many Tibetans, despair has become a feeding flame for their long-standing demand for a Free Tibet, writes Aditya Raj Kaul

The Sunday Indian

July 5th, 2012

Jamphel Yeshi

When two Tibetan protesters set themselves on fire in front of Lhasa's famous Jokhang temple last month, it marked a fresh twist in the decade old Free Tibet movement. This was the first time that such protests against Chinese rule occurred in the capital city, far from sites of earlier self-immolations in eastern Tibet. One of the protesters, 19 year-old Tobgye Tseten, later succumbed to burn injuries.

The gory sight of people setting themselves afire and screaming in agony and flames – is one that most Tibetans have been acclimatised to over the last one year. More than 40 people have taken to such extreme acts in China administered Tibetan regions since March 2011, when a monk named Phuntsog set himself on fire in Sichuan Province. Nearly 32 people of them have died due to burn injuries.

The flames of this raging fire even reached New Delhi hours before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India in March this year, when 26-year-old Jamphel Yeshi committed self-immolation at Jantar Mantar. Even as Hu Jintao arrived to attend the BRICS Summit, Yeshi breathed his last at a hospital not far from the summit venue.

The recent spurt in self-immolations have only served to underscore the widening discontent over Chinese rule across Tibet. Since the Jokhang temple incident, security forces in Lhasa have been carrying out frequent and enhanced identity checks in the region. New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that hundreds of Tibetans in Lhasa have been arbitrarily expelled from the city by local authorities in a bid to enhance the security. Some, in eastern Tibet, have been ordered to leave not only the capital, but the entire Tibet Autonomous Region. The clampdown has been unprecedented as it extends to Tibetans who have valid business permits to live and work in Lhasa for years, the report further added.

"This arbitrary expulsion of people because of their ethnicity or place of birth is clearly discriminatory and violates their basic rights to freedom of movement and residence," explains Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "Additional arbitrary restrictions by authorities are likely to deepen tensions," she warns, adding that authorities in Beijing must understand that the solution to problems in Tibet does not involve more troops and discriminatory restrictions.

Meanwhile, in a move believed to distract the world’s attention from protests inside Tibet, China has announced that it will allocate £40 million in building 22 model villages across Tibet to raise the economy of the region. Ironically, the announcement from the authorities came merely a few weeks after China decided to ban any foreigner from visiting Tibet.

"Tibet is cut from the rest of the world over the last one month. All international tourists and media has been banned from visiting Tibet. Besides, most towns and cities are heavily guarded by police, anti-riot SWAT forces and a reserve of military is always stationed on the outskirts of the township. Moreover, plainclothes informers have deeply permeated into people's personal spaces," says Dharamsala-based Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue.

Sundry reports on social media and eyewitness reports shared with Human Rights Watch indicates that Chinese authorities have imposed a range of limitations on movement in and around Lhasa, including the expulsions, as well as a ban on public gatherings of more than three people in the city. This has led to the cancellation of daily group activities, such as physical exercises normally held in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, according to a source in Tibet with direct knowledge of the events.

The Dalai Lama last year accused Beijing of "cultural genocide" in Tibet. He attributed the wave of self-immolations to a harsh crackdown by authorities on Tibetan culture and religion.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Indian, Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile at McLeodganj in Dharamshala Dr. Lobsang Sangay said that "the situation inside Tibet is getting worse every passing day." Sangay, who completed his early education from Delhi University addressed a gathering of angry Tibetans at Majnu ka Tila after the self-immolation and death of Jamphel Yeshi in the national capital earlier this year.

A hand-written note left by Yeshi in his room and was discovered later that day said: “The fact that Tibetan people are setting themselves on fire in this 21st century is to let the world know about their suffering... If you have any empathy, stand up for the Tibetan people.”

Amid such resounding chants of freedom, the recent spurt in the string of self-immolations inside Tibet show no signs of abating. At least not for now.