“Harmony in Tibet cannot come at the barrel of a gun.”

-Pico Iyer

The Chinese onslaught continues even as demonstration in Tibet enters its second month. China ’s reaction to a seemingly peaceful and passive uprising has been brutal and vicious. There is constant unrest in Tibet following March 10 th as the world stands witness to a showdown of human endurance vs. human cruelty in the pre-dominantly Buddhist nation. The plight of the Tibetan people by large is relayed through massive civil disobedience in all corners of the globe. Decades of repression and an iron fist regime have resulted in a storm brewing just under the surface; a storm that is nonetheless a mark of distinctiveness of the Tibetan race and a call for independence in view of present state of affairs. Overlooking the harsh reality that the Chinese militia will snap their effort like a twig, ethnic Tibetans in all the provinces looked death in the eye and embraced their fate. China once again did what they always have under similar circumstances; they declared insurgency and answered the call of freedom with guns. Hundreds of innocent lives were lost and the streets of Lhasa , Amdo and Kham were turned into rivers of blood. The streets now wear a deserted look and with more People’s Liberation Army stationed at volatile regions in Tibet , even a slight movement is monitored. Educational institutions and monasteries have been shut down and access is near to impossible. The death tolls are on the rise even as His Holiness the Dalai Lama termed the Chinese ambush on unarmed Tibetans a ‘cultural genocide’. He further stated that the “protests were a manifestation of deep rooted resentment of people under the present governance”. Tibetans living across the world have come together and showed solidarity for the blood shed and vile Chinese behavior. Buddhist monks in the Tibetan Capital were at the epicenter of the movement. China ’s bogus claims that monasteries in Tibet were used for housing arms and ammunitions allegedly recovered by the police and suicide attacks manned by Tibetans cannot have come at a more appropriate time. They accuse the Tibetan Government in Exile headed by His Holiness of organizing and staging the March 10 th uprising as well as the subsequent protests that followed in the Chinese occupied Tibetan regions. Arrests have been made by thousands and we are not sure what will become of the detainees. Demonstrations were also spilled into nearby Chinese provinces with ethnic Tibetan populations. Under mounting pressure from foreign countries on the ban of media in the Chinese occupied region of Tibet , China organized a three day media trip late last month. A foreign media person described the situation in Tibet as ‘eerily calm’ just as they were touring through the riot hit areas. A desperate attempt by a group of monks in a Lhasa monastery to bring their predicament to light rushed out in front of the group and broke down saying just how unhappy the Tibetans were under the present government and how poorly they were treated. Tibetans living in the Tibetan Autonomous Region are denied basic human rights such as freedom of speech, religion and education. The struggle is a result of a long standing atrocity against humanity and religious convictions. The resistance is an attempt to get back what is rightfully ours. The Chinese Government is feeling the heat from international dignitaries and representatives. The United States ’ Democratic Party Leader Nancy Pelosi has slammed China for its violent suppression and use of brutal force on Tibetans. Many international leaders have decided to boycott the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and the international community as a whole stand with the Tibetans. Noted England- born Indian Writer and Journalist, Pico Iyer of the Time Magazine has stated that “Harmony in Tibet cannot come at the barrel of a gun.” As the date for the arrival of the Olympic torch in New Delhi draws near, the Indian government has left no stone unturned in seeing to the fact that the relay goes on without any interruption from the Tibetans. Security around the vicinity has been beefed up with the route of the relay being barricaded and barb wired. Commando forces will be called in place and there will be an aerial supervision within the stretch. What remains to be seen is as the day dawns in the Indian Capital on the 17 th of April, spotlight will be on the nation that hosts the maximum number of Tibetans in exile. It will be a potpourri of human emotions running high and an explosion as a result of prolonged suffocation under an authoritarian government who has a history of non-adherence to human rights.

Tenzin Sangmo