FREE TIBET!!!!...and then what?

From what I gather by listening to NPR and reading online sources (half-assedly), the Dalai Lama doesn't advocate for a separation from China. He does advocate for more autonomy. He wants to be able to keep the culture and spirituality while letting China run the government and finances. Or something. China feels the DL wants to separate.

The people, in Tibet are seemingly more and more fed up (protests/riots) with the Chinese over-bearing attitudes. Even the rural Tibetans are wanting a change in the status quo (protests) and they are the one who would best be aided by the Chinese rule.

Here is some good reading about Tibet and China
http://www.rangzen.com/history/views.htm

Ideally, a sensible solution could be found - similar to the one of
Puerto Rico and the United States. Tibet, a self governing commonwealth state with association to China.

CJ, that's a good site. Similar to Israeli/Palestinian attempts at writing parallel historical texts - two narratives side by side.

Free Tibet?

I'll give ya $2 for it!

I thought of the correlation between Israel/Palestinia too when I read
that, dagmar. I think their (Tibetan) concerns are foremost culturally
and religiously driven, they don't want to lose their identity in all that.

well that makes sense, also an actual (rather than de facto) autonomy...


but, what upsets me are the "Free Tibet!" exclamations you hear around, or read in email or on websites. I just took the time to peruse one of the biggest campaigns - the free tibet campaign - you'll get the history, all the human rights violations, the description of oppression.... but not a mention of what the "free tibet" means, how should it happen, what should it look like.
the herds of hippies with the "honk if you're for free tibet' signs are actually being counterproductive to the cause. If they know what they're advocating for, they surely don't let that show.

...and of course you can buy "free tibet" merchandise on all of these websites. it's hip.

Right! What I don't understand is, why hasn't anyone screamed "free Tibet"
in 1950 when China marched into Tibet to reclaim it. From 1913 on until
that time, Tibet was an independent state. The United States did nothing
in 1950, nor did the rest of the world. Why now all of a sudden?

To do some China bashing shortly before the Olympics?

I think it's more of a vogue. It's easy and it feels good. The real life solutions are neither easy nor good.

Looking through the news, i wasn't very surprised to see this:

Tibetan protests banned in Arunachal
16 Apr 2008, 0254 hrs IST,Pradeep Thakur,TNN
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TAWANG (ARUNACHAL PRADESH): The Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh has joined its Left Front counterpart in West Bengal in imposing a ban on Tibetan protests in Tawang, the border district which China has been claiming as its own.

Confirming the ban, Tawang Superintendent of Police S N Mosobi told TOI that Section 144 was imposed to prevent rallies in the district. The restrictions were imposed on the direction of the Centre, he added.

The ban has come even as the UPA government in New Delhi had earlier clarified that it would impose no restriction on Tibetan protests across the country. Continued: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tibetan_protests_banned_in_Arunachal/articleshow/2954838.cms

Arunachal Pradesh is one of those rebel states in Northeast India.... Since it's published by the Times of India, the emphasis is on relations with China as the main reason for the ban. I suspect that is far from the whole truth. India has a vested interest in seeing China handle Tibet firmly... for if Tibet succeeds in getting more autonomy, there goes the Northeast exploding more with similar demands. There goes Kashmir and Tamil Nadu... It's a tough, politically nearly impossible quest, it seems.

Well yes, India has no inclination to grant its northern states autonomy,
and I am afraid, it would end up like it did in Chechnya. That was such
a senseless war, but powerful Russia didn't want to give up the state.

"Free Tibet!" may not have been a THING in the 50s, but it has been preached for decades all the same. I think as early as the 70s. Maybe earlier.

right, it has... but i still hazard to say that most (surely not all) of tibet-related activism focuses on producing lists of injustices. i have yet to see a good campaign i could sign under.... and i am sympathetic of the cause.

Among the latest of petty annoyances are the "parallel toch runs for freedom".... how nice. People will do anything without checking basic facts. Or the symbols they get behind without apparently much thinking.


source: http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=1068

China says they found weapons and explosives at monasteries outside of Tibet.

BBC

...and the Summer Olymipcs are being held in China in 2 months. The "Free Tibet!" movement is capitalizing on it. That's not a bad thing in itself. But the awareness they are creating seems to be mostly surface level.

precisely. not a bad thing at all....

it's the not thinking, investigating and even knowing what exactly the outcome should look like and how to get there part that annoys me.

i'm all for more freedom in Tibet... I just don't like herd behavior, especially when it's counterproductive and leads to taking the cause far less seriously by many who are likewise put off by ignoramuses waving banners around without a clue as to why.

Olympic Torch in India Now. And large number of tibeticans and buddhists live in India.

I hope nothing goes wrong.

me too. reports say that 60,000 police troups blocked Delhi from pretty much everybody. Yikes.

I'd like to second what Dasha just said by asking: How many supporters of a free Tibet have read the constitution the Dalai Lama wishes to enact when he takes power? (Here's a link.)

This constitution is a theocracy: The Dalai Lama holds all executive power, appoints five percent of the members of parliament, hires and fires Supreme Court justices at will, and also hires and fires all regional governors. There is no separation of church and state: All religious institutions in Tibet report to the ecclesiastical council that is part of the executive. The council, with the previous approval of the Dalai Lama, has the power to administer all religious affairs. No limits to this power are specified in the constitution.

Granted, there is much to like about this constitution as well. It declares its support for human rights as the UN's universal declaration of human rights defines them. There is a role for public participation. In the Tibetian parliament, the national assembly, 75% of the seats are filled by popular vote. This constitution, if enforced, would certainly improve over the current Chinese occupation.

But it would also enact into law a Dalai Lama power trip: A theocracy whose constitution is written by the Dalai Lama and gives near-dictatorial powers to the Dalai Lama. The uncritical admiration the Dalai Lama receives from Western audiences and Western leaders is completely unwarranted. He's a politician, no better or worse than the others. As such, he needs to be criticized, checked, and balanced like any other politicians, whether people call him "His Holiness" or not. It's a pity that so few people do.