Martyrs burning bright
" The spate of self immolations by tibetan monks and Nuns in china has made those living in exile in Dharmashala hopeful of change,and perhaps Freedom "
Seven weeks after six members of the Tibetan Youth Congress began a hunger strike near Jantar Mantar and as a police crackdown became imminent, Thupten Ngodup, 60, slipped into a toilet, emptied a can of kerosene on his head, flicked a lighter and threw it on himself. As live flames ate him, Ngodup shouted
"Victory to Tibet " and held up both hands together in prayer. Next evening, when the Dalai Lama visited Ngodup in a Delhi hospital, he tried to get up. Ngodup died the same night.
Within days, a debate on whether "self-immolation was an act of violence" had engulfed the community in exile.
March 16, 2011, Amdo Ngaba, Tibet
On the third anniversary of the uprising against the Chinese in which 17 Tibetans were killed, Phuntsok, a 20-year-old monk from the renowned Kirti monastery, marched into the street, set himself ablaze and started shouting pro-freedom slogans. The police beat him with iron rods, causing his death.
By evening, the People's Armed Police had surrounded the monastery with 2,500 monks in it. Then, local Tibetans surrounded the soldiers blockading the monastery.
The stand-off continues. Since March 16, at least 11 monks and nuns have set themselves on fire. In Dharamsala, the debate this time is different. The walls are plastered with the photos of the 11 Tibetans.
At the Kirti monastery here, young monks talk about the lists that are circulating in monasteries in China with names of people ready to follow the "burning martyrs" . In a cafe , young boys talk about the Tunisian fruitseller, Mohamed Bouazizi, who sparked the Arab Spring with his self-immolation . "Now, it's our moment," says Tseten Norbu , a student. "China presently is very fragile."
With thousands of "riots" in the country every year, China has been showing signs of social unrest for some time, and recent calls for a 'Jasmine Revolution' has begun to make Beijing nervous. This year, China's spending on police and domestic surveillance - "stability maintenance" - will outstrip the defence budget . The 13.8 % jump in China's planned budget for the police and armed civil militia for 2011 is more than the 12.7% rise for the PLA. "The 'one country, two systems' policy is not working . There is anger in China. This regime has not just killed Tibetans, it has also massacred its own people," says Lhasang Tsering, a Tibetan writer and scholar. "We must push for Tibetan independence now. But our leaders are happy following the middle-way approach."
The Dalai Lama's middle-way policy of seeking "genuine autonomy" for Tibet within China has often been criticized, but this time the spiritual leader, too, has been sharp in his criticism of Beijing. "For the past six decades, using force as the principle means in dealing with the problems in Tibet has only deepened the grievances and resentment of the Tibetan people ," the Dalai Lama said in April after the first few self-immolations in Amdo Ngaba. Though the Chinese responded by accusing him "glorifying " self-immolations , the monk managed to score a political point over China.
Another shocker for Beijing came this week as the Karmapa Lama, who has refrained from making political remarks since his escape to India in 2000, asked China to "face up to the real source of these tragic incidents" . "Such drastic acts have their origin in the desperate circumstances in which Tibetans find themselves living...Where there is fear, there can be no trust," Ugyen Trinley Dorje said on Wednesday, even as he appealed to the Tibetans to "find other , constructive ways to work for the cause."
That constructive way is being taken by Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected leader who has inherited the Dalai' Lama's political powers. Last week, Sangay was in Washington, testifying before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan caucus of the US House of Representatives. If the idea was to raise the issue at the international level, the strategy seems to be working. "On this issue, the governments of Germany and Denmark have issued unambiguous public statements urging the Chinese government to review their policies in Tibet that have created the existing tensions," says Kai Mueller, executive director of International Campaign for Tibet (Germany) who was on a visit here. "While China's role in the world is growing- especially in the light of the current economic crisis in Europe - it would be unacceptable to sideline human rights and rule of law in China as these principles would guarantee real stability in China."
Stability of China is not an issue that bothers activists like Lhasang Tsering; he sees it as an opportunity for Tibetan independence. "In Tibet, people are turning themselves into burning lamps as a final offering to the cause and we are talking about dialogue with China. How can you talk to someone who doesn't want to talk? We must declare independence as our goal. That will change the ground situation in Tibet ," says Tsering.
That will also lead to a sharp rise in China's "stability maintenance."
Martyrs burning bright - The Times of India
