I'm feeeeelin' it... You??
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Can the World handle Another Tianenmen?
To piggy back on my earlier post about the continuing protests in Tibet, I thought it would be appropriate to share this article published in the Sunday Times, and available at Timesonline, the UK daily available online.
Some of the striking observations, especially the changing stance of the Chinese authorities in handling the crisis presents a stark reminder of the Tianenmen Square protests. This time it is a bit different for the Communist party leaders that it is not happening square in the middle of Beijing, rather taking place far away from its center of control - in the mountains of Tibet. This can be a even more easy for the Government to continue its aggressive measures to quell the riots as it takes place farther away from the prying eyes of the media, who are now reliant on the information seeping through from the tourists who are cuaght in the middle and those exhiled groups in India and around the world.
With the Chinese government opting to trade the batons for bullets, it definitely warrants a hasty response from the G8 and the UN. Before a few more maroon robes come crashing down amidst the rain of bullets, it is the responsibility of the Civilised world to pressure China into doing a negotiated settlement rather than to aggressively crush the rebellion. After all, playing this "whack a mole" business might cost China dearly someday.
Pathetic of all is the response from the Indian government. There has been no support for letting the exiled group conduct a peaceful march in front of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. The protesters were manhandled and jailed for voicing their discontent, in a democratic way. Shame on you, India! All claims of being the largest democracy in the world is a mere farce unless we can't allow such peaceful protests. I am not sure what is driving India's decision to curb these protests but it seems to be driven by the economics rather than a policy/principle. The Ministry of External Affiars (MEA) has offered but nothing but a worthless call for talks between the parties, which has fallen on deaf-ears of the Chinese powers-be.
The article on Rediff stands to testify how pathetic India's stand is in this situation. An exceprt from the article notes the following: "Tibetan refugees are our guests in India. All those in India, whether Indian citizens or foreigners, are subject to the law of the land regarding the crossing of our borders, marches or demonstrations," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. "Like our guests, Tibetan refugees, while they are in India, are expected to refrain from political activities and those activities that affect our relations with other friendly countries," he said. Hey Mr. Sarna, it is one thing to invite someone as a guest but it is another thing to ask them to just lead their life without even raising their voice for their freedom. If this is how we will treat our guests, let me tell you that we are not playing the nice host. They are humans too... fighting peacefully for the very freedom of their land that belongs to them...You believed in their cause and offered to provide them refuge! But why shut them out completely when they express their solidairty for their fighting bretheren.
Stop posing, India! I laud the American response, though it is an unofficial one. The Speaker of the House, Ms. Nancy Pelosi has expressed her concern and pressing the Chinese to come clean with the whereabouts of those arrested. She was cited in this Times of India article " The protestors got a major boost on Friday when Pelosi strongly condemned the Chinese action in Lhasa. "The violent response by Chinese police forces to peaceful protesters in Tibet is disgraceful. The Chinese government should immediately provide information on the welfare and whereabouts of the detained Buddhist monks and facilitate access by international human rights monitors and journalists to Tibetan areas," Pelosi said in a statement in Washington on Friday. The Democratic Party leader arrives in Dharamsala on Friday. Pelosi is expected to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibetan refugees and human rights activists."
The one question that comes begging to mind is "What is behind this decision made by India?" It is probably because India doesn't want to let the budding relationship with China to die off so quickly? Is it the potential loss of economic ties between the two nations that is now growing steadily? The contentious claim by China over the state of Arunachal Pradesh that India now owns after the Sino-Indian war has been surfacing once in a bluemoon over the past 40 years to stoke the simmering tensions, prompting both nations to discuss and arrive at a lasting solution. Maybe it is the fear that supporting the protests by Tibetans in its soil will lead to disastrous outcomes over Arunachal?
Whatever be the case, it is time for action before a few more bullets pierce those maroon robes!
Some of the striking observations, especially the changing stance of the Chinese authorities in handling the crisis presents a stark reminder of the Tianenmen Square protests. This time it is a bit different for the Communist party leaders that it is not happening square in the middle of Beijing, rather taking place far away from its center of control - in the mountains of Tibet. This can be a even more easy for the Government to continue its aggressive measures to quell the riots as it takes place farther away from the prying eyes of the media, who are now reliant on the information seeping through from the tourists who are cuaght in the middle and those exhiled groups in India and around the world.
With the Chinese government opting to trade the batons for bullets, it definitely warrants a hasty response from the G8 and the UN. Before a few more maroon robes come crashing down amidst the rain of bullets, it is the responsibility of the Civilised world to pressure China into doing a negotiated settlement rather than to aggressively crush the rebellion. After all, playing this "whack a mole" business might cost China dearly someday.
Pathetic of all is the response from the Indian government. There has been no support for letting the exiled group conduct a peaceful march in front of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. The protesters were manhandled and jailed for voicing their discontent, in a democratic way. Shame on you, India! All claims of being the largest democracy in the world is a mere farce unless we can't allow such peaceful protests. I am not sure what is driving India's decision to curb these protests but it seems to be driven by the economics rather than a policy/principle. The Ministry of External Affiars (MEA) has offered but nothing but a worthless call for talks between the parties, which has fallen on deaf-ears of the Chinese powers-be.
The article on Rediff stands to testify how pathetic India's stand is in this situation. An exceprt from the article notes the following: "Tibetan refugees are our guests in India. All those in India, whether Indian citizens or foreigners, are subject to the law of the land regarding the crossing of our borders, marches or demonstrations," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. "Like our guests, Tibetan refugees, while they are in India, are expected to refrain from political activities and those activities that affect our relations with other friendly countries," he said. Hey Mr. Sarna, it is one thing to invite someone as a guest but it is another thing to ask them to just lead their life without even raising their voice for their freedom. If this is how we will treat our guests, let me tell you that we are not playing the nice host. They are humans too... fighting peacefully for the very freedom of their land that belongs to them...You believed in their cause and offered to provide them refuge! But why shut them out completely when they express their solidairty for their fighting bretheren.
Stop posing, India! I laud the American response, though it is an unofficial one. The Speaker of the House, Ms. Nancy Pelosi has expressed her concern and pressing the Chinese to come clean with the whereabouts of those arrested. She was cited in this Times of India article " The protestors got a major boost on Friday when Pelosi strongly condemned the Chinese action in Lhasa. "The violent response by Chinese police forces to peaceful protesters in Tibet is disgraceful. The Chinese government should immediately provide information on the welfare and whereabouts of the detained Buddhist monks and facilitate access by international human rights monitors and journalists to Tibetan areas," Pelosi said in a statement in Washington on Friday. The Democratic Party leader arrives in Dharamsala on Friday. Pelosi is expected to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibetan refugees and human rights activists."
The one question that comes begging to mind is "What is behind this decision made by India?" It is probably because India doesn't want to let the budding relationship with China to die off so quickly? Is it the potential loss of economic ties between the two nations that is now growing steadily? The contentious claim by China over the state of Arunachal Pradesh that India now owns after the Sino-Indian war has been surfacing once in a bluemoon over the past 40 years to stoke the simmering tensions, prompting both nations to discuss and arrive at a lasting solution. Maybe it is the fear that supporting the protests by Tibetans in its soil will lead to disastrous outcomes over Arunachal?
Whatever be the case, it is time for action before a few more bullets pierce those maroon robes!
Labels: China, Communist Party, Dalai Lama, Free Tibet, Gere, India, Olympics, Pelosi, Protests
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