Dragon spits fire in Lhasa

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Dragon spits fire in Lhasa

Amidst the hype surrounding its economic growth, the issue of human rights, in China, has been lost in the high rises of Shanghai and Beijing. Chinese actions aimed at flattening the roof of the world are a testimony to its hegemonic mindset.

CJ: Dayanand Edappally

Tue, Mar 18, 2008 15:11:19 IST

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THE PASSAGE of time cannot erase the gravity of the crime the Chinese government committed by invading Tibet in 1950. The invasion overthrew the Dalai Lama and disrupted the Tibetan way of life. The Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala in 1959 and has been living in exile ever since.

Now as China braces itself for the upcoming Olympics, all eyes are fixed on Beijing’s human rights record. From the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy student demonstrators to the present-day ‘cultural genocide’ of the Tibetan monks and people, China has been demonstrating a ruthlessness that is probably matched only by Hitler’s pogrom or Stalin’s mass murder of Russian peasants.

China has been doing it to its own people for the last seven decades, be it in Taiwan or Tibet. It is a naked demonstration of the Communist Party’s sway over people’s lives. The party doesn’t care about the problems that beset people. Nandigram and Kannur validate it. It is the party that matters, not people.

The situation was pretty much the same in the Soviet Union until the time of Gorbachev. He was a realist, who was aware of the changes around him. He had an inkling into the ways the human mind acts and reacts. But the Chinese authorities lack it. They think they can suppress and coerce people to give up.

History bears testimony to the fact that human spirit cannot function and flourish in slavery. Slavery is unbearable to man. He will resist the slave driver to his last breath. Freedom is man’s birthright. As long as his spirits are shackled, he will be restless. If only the Chinese authorities open their eyes to the realities around the globe, they will realise the futility of military oppression, be it in Taiwan, or Tibet, or elsewhere.

It is about time the world community took note of this sad spectacle and raised its voice to draw the attention of Chinese authorities. India, understandably, cannot raise a hue and cry - like the Europeans or Americans - in this case. We need to be diplomatic in dealing with the dragon. All the same, we can, and must convey to them that might isn’t always right, and in Tibet it has never been from the beginning.

The people of Tibet have every right to carry on with their Buddhist traditions without outside interference. We must support them in their struggle for self-worth and dignity. They look for our moral support in their endeavour. They have a right to expect it from a big neighbour like India. Let’s not fail them in their hour of need.

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