Today, a newspaper carried a short story on a little girl in Hyderabad, who claimed to have met the Dalai Lama in her "previous life" and is convinced Tibet will be free by 2012!!!
I wish, I pray, I hope that happens!
But, it is a tough going for Tibetans and their supporters.
The Dalai Lama and his people have been living in India for over 50 years, peacefully. Is that why we have forgotten them?
How could we forget that Tibet was a free nation when India gained independence? How can we forget that we have had a deep cultural intercourse with a culturally and politically independent Tibet for centuries?
Can we afford to ignore the gruesome human rights abuses in Tibet that China has been perpetrating for over 60 years. And what about the steady decline of Tibetan population within China-occupied Tibet? Who has spoken about the concerted effort by the Chinese to promote a steady influx of ethnic Hans into Tibet, which threatens the very Tibetan heritage?
How can the Indian establishment be so weak to ignore all this?
We seem to be living in denial.
We supported the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa, liberation movements in Rhodesia and Namibia, de-facto independence of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) and Palestine. How is Tibet different? All that moral high ground India seemed to adopt is symptomatic of our directionless, opportunistic and reactionary foreign policy.
We, as a nation, suck up to those wielding power, first it was the Soviet Union, then the United States. And it's China now?
No one in our establishment seems to care.
And what about the United States? They are no different. It obvious that they are not interested in this cause because Tibet does not seem to have oil or natural gas. I believe their policy will change overnight, if these resources are discovered in Tibet.
It is a selfish world and Tibet is a forgotten cause that seems to matter little in this world.
Sad, but true.
As the enslaved Jews in Babylon used to say "Next year in Jerusalem" to keep their hopes alive, the Tibetans should also keep their hopes alive and should works towards independence.
Who could have even imagined in 1988 that the Soviet Union would break up by 1991? It happened in 3 years flat.
2012 is only 3 years away and I hope the little girl's oracle comes out true.
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