Tibet: Epitome of Indomitable Spirit in the Face of Ruthless Genocide

(Geopolitics September 2017)

Major General Mrinal Suman

Two visits to Tibet during the last three years, spanning across the plateau from the northwest to the southeast gave a fairly reasonable idea of the prevailing state of affairs. The first visit was a pilgrimage to holy Kailash-Mansarovar, located in the western part of Tibet. The second visit was much longer and included train journey from Beijing to Lhasa in central Tibet and subsequent road visits to Shigatse in the west and Nyingchi in the southeast.

China invaded and annexed Tibet in 1950. It has been amalgamated in China as Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). It is autonomous only in name; the Chinese government exercises total and unbridled control. The locals have no say. Even though TAR has an ethnic Tibetan as the Chairman, he is only a titular figure. He is subordinate to the Branch Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the real power wielder, who is always from the Chinese mainland.

Although the estimates vary considerably, it is believed that up to one million Tibetan natives have been killed by the Chinese to suppress their demand for freedom. As the Tibetans are highly religious by nature, the Chinese have methodically targeted their places of worship and learning with a vengeance. Over 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed or ransacked. Damage done to Tibet’s relics, heritage and architecture has been truly horrendous; and beyond redemption.

Three aspects of present-day Tibet strike every perceptive visitor – pace and enormity of infrastructural development; ruthless tyranny of the Chinese and their acute paranoia of Dalai Lama; and the Tibetans’ intense faith in their culture, indomitable spirit and enduring visions of a free Tibet.

Infrastructural Wonders

The Qinghai–Tibet Railway is a high-elevation railway that connects Xining in China to Lhasa across the Kunlun Mountains. The 1,956 km long railway is a technological marvel and was opened in July 2006. With highest railway station Tanggula at 16,627 feet, 550 km of track is laid on permafrost. The 4,390 ft long Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest rail tunnel in the world at 16,093 ft above sea level.

Construction work on the Lhasa–Shigatse extension began in September 2010 and was completed in August 2014. The railway will be further extended to Zhangmu on Nepal border.  Another extension is planned to link Shigatse with Yadong near the China-India border. Work is already in progress to connect Lhasa with Nyingchi to the east.

In addition to Xinjian-Tibet Highway, constructed in early 1950s across Aksai Chin, Tibet has been linked with China through Quinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet and Yunnan-Tibet Highways. Sino-Nepal Friendship Highway extends up to Kathmandu. These are all-weather roads of strategic importance. Two highways connect Lhasa with Shigatse - 380km long Southern Friendship Highway via Gyantse  and 280km long Northern Friendship Highway along the river. Considerable stress is being laid on solar energy to electrify remote areas. 

Although Lhasa literally means ‘place of the gods’,  it has been converted into a concrete jungle by the Chinese rulers. With a view to change the demography of Tibet, China has been constructing sprawls of unsightly buildings to house the migrants from the mainland. Rows of uninspiring residential blocks line the streets. Skyscrapers have ruined the once tranquil skyline of the city. Arcades and shopping malls are coming up at a frenetic pace.

Earlier, the city of Lhasa had 22 large parks. Due to the pressure on land for constructing buildings, most of them have disappeared – only three survive today. Army camps with dormitory blocks and troops’ barracks are ubiquitous  across the whole of Tibet. They are surrounded by high protective walls and barricades. True to the apprehensions of an occupation army, locals are not allowed near them. Tibet is a police state in true sense of the word: dotted with police stations, manned mostly by Hans from China.

Chinese Paranoia of the Dalai Lama

Having failed to crush the ethnic pride of the Tibetans over the last 66 years, China has been systematically annihilating Tibetan culture and religion. Buddhists need police clearance to congregate to celebrate their festivals. Every gathering of the monks is overseen by armed troops, lest they conspire against China. If a group of monks wants to visit another monastery, an application spelling out purpose and duration has to be submitted to the local police station to obtain travel permit. Armed policemen are detailed to escort the group.  

   

Recent demolitions at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy and Jhada Gon Palden Khachoe Nunnery are also symptomatic of the Chinese efforts to subvert the local culture. Larung Gar is said to be the biggest Tibetan Buddhist institute (academy and monastery) in the world and is keeping the Buddhist knowledge alive. Under the garb of decongesting, China is attempting to curtail its influence.

The Dalai Lama has become a symbol of Tibet’s struggle for independence and a beacon of eternal hope. China considers him to be the biggest impediment in the integration of Tibet in mainland China and has realised that the Tibetan spirit cannot be crushed unless the influence of Dalai Lama is neutralised. Frustrated with its failure to stamp out Dalai Lama’s sway over the locals, China has decided to wait-out his demise to install a pro-China boy as the next Dalai Lama.

The very mention of the Dalai Lama makes the Chinese extremely nervous and apprehensive. He cannot be referred to as His Holiness. If overheard by the all-pervading police ears, a stint in prison is assured. No monastery can display his photo where as those of the lackey Panchen Lama can be commonly seen.

The Chinese paranoia of the Dalai Lama goes to ridiculous extremes. No paper, document, newspaper, photograph and other material concerning the Dalai Lama can be carried into Tibet. To enter Tibet at Hilsa (Nepal), one has to cross a foot bridge over River Humla Karnali and board Chinese buses. After a short drive, the visitors are asked to get down with complete luggage. Each and every bag is required to be opened and all contents laid out on the road side for inspection by the police. Even cameras and mobiles are checked for stored pictures, which is a highly time-consuming and degrading experience.

A policeman accompanies every tourist bus to ensure that the allowed itinerary is strictly followed. In addition, he makes certain that the visitors establish minimum contact with the locals, lest they reveal the true state of affairs. The bus has to periodically report to the designated police stations for security clearance to proceed further.

Tibetans’ Indomitable Spirit

Despite the most ruthless holocaust, China has singularly failed to crush the Tibetan spirit, obliterate the native identity and undermine the standing of the Dalai Lama. On the contrary, grave atrocities committed through political and religious repression have strengthened their resolve further.

To most, the Dalai Lama continues to be the most revered spiritual head who has been forced out of Tibet. Although a Chinese flag  flies over his temporal seat at the Potala Palace, Tibetans visit it in throngs to pay their respects to the exiled leader and pray for his long life. Many devotees cover long distance by lying prostrate at every step. Their faith defies description. They are confident that Tibet would be a free country once again under their most revered Dalai Lama.

A visit to Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, can be an overwhelming experience. As no picture of the Dalai Lama is allowed to be displayed in Tibet, the locals prostrate before his relics in reverence. Impoverished Tibetans in tattered clothes offer a part of their meagre earnings at the altar. They bring home-made butter to keep the lamps lit, in the hope of their Spiritual Head returning to free Tibet in the near future.   

  

Economic condition of the local Tibetans is miserable. Poverty continues to afflict most. They have been condemned to menial jobs like janitors, sweepers, load carriers and labourers. Many peddle in local stones and other produce. It is sad to see a once-proud community degraded to the status of subjugated populace.

Tibetans are not issued passports and hence cannot visit other countries. They can visit mainland China with special permits. China does not want the locals to interact with the rest of the world and reveal the true state of affairs in Tibet. Many young Tibetans, including those born after the exile of the Dalai Lama, rue the fact that they cannot visit India to pay respects to His Holiness.

Finally

Traditionally, the Panchen Lama is considered second to the Dalai Lama in hierarchy and plays a critical role in selecting the next Dalai Lama. After the escape of the current Dalai Lama to India in 1959, Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen sided with the communist China for a while but became disillusioned within a few years and was arrested. He died in 1989, allegedly poisoned by the Chinese. 

A boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was chosen to be the next Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama but the boy went missing soon after his nomination and is untraced to date. In his place, the Chinese government conspired to select Gyaincain Norbu (son of two Communist Party members) as the 11th Panchen Lama. Most Tibetans do not recognise Norbu as the Panchen Lama and consider him to be a stooge of the Chinese. 

Instead of staying at his official seat at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Norbu lives in Beijing. Hatred for him amongst the Tibetans is so intense that whenever he visits Shigatse, the city is converted into a police fortress to ensure his security. Locals are coerced to send two persons per family to attend his public addresses and are even paid money for the same. Non-attendance is viewed seriously and can even invite police action.

It is feared that China will adopt similar stratagem after the demise of the current Dalai Lama. In fact, it has already started manoeuvring itself to be in a position to have its say. Support of the lackey Panchen Lama will help China considerably. If the followers of the present Dalai Lama select a boy living in Tibet, he will be eliminated by China and replaced by a loyalist boy. Thereafter, with the support of a pliable Dalai Lama, China hopes to tighten its grip over the religious and spiritual facets of the Tibetan culture.  

In addition, the Chinese government considers demographic swamping to be the ultimate solution. The Han population is likely to overwhelm the locals in the next two decades. Influx of migrants has dramatically altered the ethnic mix in major cities with cities like Lhasa hosting 50–70 percent Han immigrants. Tibetans are being compelled to learn Mandarin and the local Tibetan language is being allowed to die.   

Tibet presents a sight of a state under foreign siege. A deceptive calm hides the underlying tension. There is no cheer in the air. Brutal decimation of an ancient, rich and peace-loving culture by ruthless China has been ignored by the world with criminal apathy and indifference. But, the Tibetans have not lost heart. Their self-belief that Tibet will be a free country once again remains undiminished. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama counsels, “There is a saying in Tibetan that ‘tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength’. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.”     

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