It’s Time for a Change

Jamyang Norbu has an op-ed up on Phayul that says what I’ve been thinking since the national uprising started in mid-March inside Tibet:

No amount of begging, pleading or further negotiating with Beijing will bring any resolution, even a little improvement, to this crisis. I think that Dharamshala has one real option left to deal with this situation. It must act in a way that is bold, dynamic and totally unanticipated by Beijing. The exile government must declare that in light of the sentiments expressed by Tibetan people in the recent protests, and the harshness and implacability of the Chinese government’s response to the expression of their basic human rights, the Tibetan government is compelled to reconsider its Middle Path policy. That the Kashag and the Tibetan parliament will immediately commence joint hearings to review the Middle Path policy and that representatives of Tibetan organizations advocating independence will be invited to offer their testimonies at the proceedings.

To His Holiness I would respectfully suggest that he make a public announcement stating that though he had genuinely and unreservedly supported China’s bid to host the Olympic Games, the lives and welfare of the thousands of Tibetans – victims of China’s crackdown – were far more important than a sporting event (even one as major as the Olympics). That unless China agreed to allow international agencies as the Red Cross, the UN or Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and other such organizations, to send their personnel freely throughout Tibet to verify the conditions of these people and check on their legal situation, he would be compelled to appeal to the world to boycott the Beijing Games. Furthermore he would call on all his subjects, his friends, supporters and disciples worldwide, to engage in non-violent but direct action to disrupt China’s massive ultra-nationalist propaganda exercise, for which the 2008 Olympic Games is being effectively employed.

Real negotiations might follow, for the first time.

The Middle Path has been pursued in earnest for over 30 years. Not once have the Chinese welcomed the entreaties of the His Holiness nor the TGIE to solve the Tibet question through meaningful autonomy. For two months, Tibetans inside Tibet have spoken out for their freedom and for their rights. The response has been universally brutal, with untold thousands imprisoned and at least hundreds, if not more, murdered by Chinese police, paramilitaries, and military forces.

The demands of the Tibetan people inside Tibet and the brutality of the Beijing regime demand a shift in policy. While SFT has always pursued independence as the only solution for Tibet, I join Jamyang-la to personally hope the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile properly assess the current situation and stand up for independence as the only necessary conclusion for Tibet.