By Mila Rangzen
Independence advocates have every right to pursue their goal
based on history, legality, off and on independence struggle from 1949 to 1974,
and the current will, hardship and sacrifice of and by the Tibet Tibetans for
independence. On the other hand, CTA has every technical right to pursue its
goal supported by the exile Tibetan parliament. However, our political reality
for the past six decades has clearly shown us that right alone cannot beat
might in the world of politics, economics and military.
Four decades of Middle Way Approach (MWA) with no Genuine
Autonomy in sight proves that it has failed. There is something wrong with the
key we have been using to unlock the Tibet issue. MWA Advocates in power ought
to be more creative by initiating a new middle ground as a way to realize a
livable reality. The political administration of the Sakya Lamas, Phakdruks,
Ripungs, Dhepa Tsangpa, Miwang Pholha and Gaden Phodrang from the 13th century
up to the fall of Tibet in 1949/1959 did not reign beyond the Drichu River.
Therefore any claim on Genuine Autonomy cannot stretch beyond the Drichu River.
Period. Tibet that we know of today as chokasum (The three traditional regions
of Tibet under the governance of a Tibetan government based in Lhasa) simply
did not exist as one united political entity for the past eleven centuries!
What can we do now?
The alternative is to drop the demand for Genuine Autonomy for
Dhotoe, Dhomey and Utsang under one giant Tibetan administration over 2.5
million sq-km of territory, and instead demand Independence on a landmass of
just 100,000 sq-km around Kongpo and the adjoining areas to the west and east
of it. Carve out a half moon map and call it New Tibet in which Tibetans from
different parts of the Tsenpo era Tibet can be relocated and yet maintain
diplomatic relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). PRC would
fund the relocation.
Given the political reasoning of the MWA proponents that
compromise is the key means available to strike a deal with PRC; this proposal
is highly sensible and reasonable. Mutual agreement can be reached and New
Tibet can materialize within a decade and the bardo of Uma and Rangzen
(Proponents of autonomy within China and Tibetan independence respectively)
will finally come to an end. What more can we ask?
This proposal is far more realistic than demanding Genuine
Autonomy over 1/4 of the current Chinese Territorial size. PRC can never let go
such a vast resourceful territory to a non-Han people whose population is less
than 1/226 of the overall PRC population. New Tibet is definitely more
practical than hoping for the grand Genuine Autonomy that has china losing
everything and gaining nothing. If there is any basis of hope for Genuine
Autonomy, why wouldn’t there be more basis of hope on Independence for New
Tibet where the demand is over only 100,000 sq-km or just 4% of the 2.5 million
sq-km of Tibet, and the remaining 2.4 million sq-km or 96% of the disputed
territory is given up completely? Whether PRC blows up mountains in the given
up areas for uranium or transfer to the valleys a Chinese population of 100
millions over night would be none of our business once an agreement is reached.
PRC shall enjoy the vast Tibetan territory and its resources worth hundreds of
trillions of dollars for the next millennium and beyond with no disruption or
protest from us. This approach will silence the Chinese accusation that
Tibetans are seeking independence in disguise for greater Tibet. Producing this
result will close down Rangzen camp for good and we shall all be reunited with
our brethren in New Tibet enjoying the fruits of Freedom. Meanwhile, Tibetans
from every part of cultural Tibet should start moving defiantly with their
belongings including livestock to New Tibet. Locals in New Tibet should welcome
them with tents pitched near their dwellings.
The ground realities are tough but the idea and the process must
not be mistaken for an indian reservation in the US. The fact that the Chinese
are in Tibet for the greed of the land and its resources, not for the love of
the Tibetan people or their cheap labor is obvious. Mere dialogue with the
overseas Chinese dissidents or intellectuals or Buddhists or United Front Work
Department, international awareness campaign and street protest can get us no
further than we are at--a dead end. The longer it takes, the more we get
dragged deeper and deeper in the Uma and Rangzen hopelessness. Imagine 35 years
from now. Nothing matters. Imagine 63 years from now. Everything is dead,
including the New Tibet. For the Chinese, land is everything and a good Tibetan
if I may use the cliche is a dead Tibetan. Outside in and inside out.
Physically, psychologically and functionally extinct.
When PRC can squander $40 billion on a 16 day Olympic Games in
2008, the cost of relocation of less than 6 million Tibetans to New Tibet is
easy. The US relocated hundreds of thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Laos and
other countries in the 70s across land, sea and air without any unbearable
difficulties. PRC with GDP $12,610,000,000,000 can do it too. When more than 30
million Irish, Italians and Jews left their respective countries in Europe in
the late 19th century and early 20th century and moved to the US with next to
nothing on rickety boats on turbulent seas stretching over thousands of
kilometers, the relocation of Tibetans on land within the same territory is a
simple task. In the next dozen years PRC is moving 250 million rural Chinese to
mega cities. With just about $100 billion to $200 billion, PRC can easily
relocate six million Tibetans in 6000 concrete lasting buildings in New Tibet.
Of course, Tibetans can move to countryside if so wished. This is not an
unbelievably huge sum for PRC and it’s a matter of taking one small decision on
her part. In this venture, United Nations would also intermediate and help with
funding, expertise, time and energy.
It is not far fetched to expect a donation of $1 billion to $ 5
billion from each major country that has remained silent on Tibet where justice
has been brutally raped for over six decades without the slightest provocation
or justification. Approximate $200 billion donation windfall can be fix
deposited in a world bank for two reasons a) The new Tibetan government cannot
swindle it b) Use the interest earned annually on rebuilding Tibetan life in
New Tibet. History is a witness that none of them supported Tibetan
independence or the Genuine Autonomy since the Chinese occupation in 1949. The
European guilt that ensured an independent homeland for the Jews in Israel in
1947 should be extended to us at least in the form of independence over New
Tibet. Are we asking too much?
For Tibetans to relocate is not an issue for most of the
Tibetans are or were nomads for centuries so to be on the move is nothing new,
and to relocate one big time is no big deal. Nearly three thousand Tibet
Tibetans on foot crossed over the 300km wide snow covered Tibetan Himalayan
borders in mid winter to Nepal and India every year from 1980 to 2008 with the
minimum clothing and no equipment whatsoever and majority of them walking their
way back through the same treacherous route after tasting Dharamsala for
awhile. Migrating to New Tibet in freedom should be an indescribable joy. The
fire that rages within the chest of every Tibetan including new comers inside
India, Nepal , Bhutan to migrate to the west at substantial personal
cost, sometimes incurring debt as high as $40,000 per person is true and
impressive from a business perspective. Moving to a stunning corner of your own
known familiar country with a certain future with your own folks in charge
should be even easier.
With each passing day we as a people are nearing extinction in
our own land. Ironically, the threat of extinction comes not only from the guns
of the Chinese troops guarding the Himalayan borders in the distance but also
from the police, informers and the millions of innocent looking Chinese
civilians in our villages and towns and cities. The Chinese population in Tibet
is now estimated at 12 million to 15 million and it will continue to rise rapidly.
Such massive Chinese population would engulf Tibetans in opportunity,
modernization, education, jobs, language, business, sports, administration,
trade, culture and politics and we will be forever at the receiving end in our
own land. Independence in New Tibet will rescue us from this imminent threat.
There are least 17 independent nations with less than 200 sq-km
of land. At a first glance, 100,000sqkm of land mass may seem small and
insignificant but this is not supposed to be the case when more than 110
sovereign nations and 29 non-sovereign nations with a population ranging from
1000 individuals to 50 million people who are not only surviving but
flourishing economically, politically and even militarily in a landmass of less
than 100,000 sq-km e.g. Hong Kong (1100),Taiwan (36,000), South Korea
(100,000), UAE (84,000), Switzerland (40,000), Singapore (700), Netherlands
(34,000), Kuwait (18,000), Israel (22,000), Ireland (70,000), Denmark (43,000),
Bhutan (39,000), Belgium (31,000), and Austria (83,000). Independence in New
Tibet with a population of less than 6 million Tibetans is no difficult matter
at all to succeed.
Tibetan love for nature is legendary. New Tibet is a fertile
land rich in minerals, flora, fauna, marine life, air life, fresh water with
moderate climate all year round except a little cold in winter but certainly
not colder than the freezing Dharamsala winter. With the development of Tibetan
instinct for business and passion for education over the years, we can in New
Tibet produce tens of thousands of sharp masters and brilliant Phd’s with
international exposure with a zeal for community progress and creativity, the
most important goal of learning and education. Focus on education and business
will eventually ensure our political brain power which is behind the fire power
that defeats overwhelming manpower as we witness in the Israel- Arab scenario.
Buddhism being central to the Tibetan life, Tibetan population
of less than six million will not see rapid rise as many Tibetans given the
freedom and free facilities will become monks and nuns quite happily.
Polyandry, unprotected sex, promiscuous sexual culture, aids, hepatitis B will
slow down our population growth. With the rise in career consciousness, our
population will increase slow and steady. Our population which was
estimated at 10 million in the 7th century, today after 1300 years, when it
should be 60 million, is only less than 6 million. With a small population to
take care of, the strain on New Tibet and its natural resources will not be
unbearable for some centuries.
Located in Tibet Autonomous Region with Lhasa in the North West
and Arunachal Pradesh in the South East, Kongpo is one of the most important
cradles of ancient Tibetan civilization having been settled as early as five
thousand years ago. It is famed for its ancient verdant mountainous terrain and
clear waterways. It is indeed a great location to practice and preserve our
identity, language, freedom, Buddhism and culture, and while at the same time
benefiting from the neighboring Chinese economic prosperity. This is the ideal
spot from where the Dalai Lama can realize his idea of spiritual sanctuary for
humanity in distress, a zone of Ahimsa (peace) from which the Dalai Lama can
inject reality into his dreams of universal responsibility and harmony of world
religions.
According to a renowned Tibetan historian Lobsang Shastri based
in New York, Nyatri Tsenpo- the first Tibetan king, and the 13th Dalai Lama
were born and bred in Kongpo! Also for the faith driven there are numerous
pilgrimage sites including holy hot springs, waterfalls, lakes and rivers,
sacred mountains, and the trails of Guru Rinpoche, Thangthong Gyalpo, Dorjee
Phagmo and also the famous Kongpo Ben Rock! Yarlung Tsangpo River also cuts
through the Kongpo making the famous Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon which is 496
kilometers long and is four times deeper than the Grand Canyon in America.
16,000 feet deep! It is, in fact, the deepest canyon in the world and this fact
alone can ignite a mega tourist industry for self sustenance, peace and
prosperity. 20,000 sq-km of the southern New Tibet can be declared a wildlife
sanctuary protecting world’s endangered species from wild yak (the symbol of
Tibetan freedom) to magnificent tigers, generating extra revenue through wild
life tourism while also helping the world become less poor and less ugly. What
a double contribution, one at local level and the other at global Dharmic
level!
Those who may feel emotionally betrayed because of the
perception that your local land is given up need not feel so. Whether it is
Siling in Amdo or Chamdo in Kham or Lhasa in Utsang, they all belong to all the
Tibetans and not just to the locals. Similarly, Kongpo and the adjoining areas
belong not just to Kongpowas or Pemakoepas or Zayulpas or Lobas but to all
Tibetans. What is given up to PRC and what is demanded from PRC belongs to all
of us Tibetans equally. For now the fact remains we do not possess control over
an inch of our land and the independence struggle for the whole Tibet has been
abandoned for four decades and no Genuine Autonomy in sight. Everything in
Tibet is Chinese for six decades now. The walls are closing in on us. No
amount of petty immature internal bickering will make this eventuality go away.
Find a way and adapt or die.
However beautiful and realistic New Tibet may sound, it will not
come about voluntarily. In politics, there is no such thing as free lunch and
we have to struggle for every scrap of it. And in the absence of a top down and
a bottom up struggle in the true sense of the word, not even one sq-km of the
barren Jangthang will be given to us for underneath that small piece of land,
perceiving no threat whatsoever from us to their economy and security, the
Chinese occupier has the luxury to claim seeing, regardless of whether it
exists or not, oil worth $10 trillion. A war between India, Japan, and the US
on one side, with China on the other side of the power spectrum can result in
any possibilities in our favor but for the foreseeable future such a mega war
is highly unlikely due to mutual vulnerability of nuclear proportions. Whatever
the case might be, we cannot afford to wait praying any longer.
The
birth of New Tibet will come about when each and every Tibetan recognizes the
necessity of fulfilling this realistic vision, it will come about when we
realize New Tibet is like the air we breathe, the first and foremost
requirement for our survival. That it will come about when we reject blind
faith and the emotional blackmailing from our leaders. That it will come about
when we reject apathy as bliss and cronyism as getting smart. That it will come
about when we embrace critical thinking, rationality, and problem solving
skill. That only through nonviolent action, hardship, sacrifice, militant action
and diplomacy can freedom be won eventually. In my final post on this, I
will share with you the practical ways and means to get there. Until then stay
glued!
NOTE— The author is a Tibetan American who formerly served
active duty with the US Armed Forces. He can be reached at milarangzen@gmail.com
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