YEARNING FOR INDEPENDENCE
was quite evident among the Tibetan diaspora all over the world, when, following the bloody demonstrations inside Tibet in March this year, spirited demonstrations were held in various cities of the world to stall the march of the Beijing Olympics Torch. Though Tibet is recognized as an integral part of China by many countries of the world, including India, several European countries and even USA, it is also true that there has been widespread sympathy among democracy lovers in the world towards the Tibetan national movement, mainly emanating from Dalai Lama, the spiritual cum temporal head of that community, taking refuge in India since 1956. Although it is also true that China has more valid claim to the ‘title of Tibet’ than India has for Kashmir or Nagaland, the scenarios are different in the two countries. Unlike in our relatively open democratic setup, in the closed state socialist, or state capitalist, system of China it becomes extremely difficult to gauze the actual situation in the contentious territory. No title deed however valid can hold against the express aspirations of the inhabiting communities of a territory. It seems that this time the protests inside Tibet have been far more widespread, and the Tibetan national sentiment more acute and articulate than ever in the past. Up to the Eighties the Chinese themselves used to stress that “Countries want independece; nations want liberation and people want revolution,” which saying may be more true nowadays. As such it would behove well for the Chinese regime to quickly take remedial steps to protect the Tibetan national identity and also for some real devolution of power to assure their autonomy. And for that the Chinese should immediately start negotiating with Dalai Lama and other leaders of the Tibetan national movement §§§
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