‘ Tibet needs more friends in India’

The Tibetan political movement is at a crossroads following the Dalai Lama’s recent acknowledgement that his Middle Way approach — of negotiating for Tibetan autonomy within China — has failed.  An emergency meeting of Tibetans in Dharamsala is debating various options. Tibetan journalist-theatreperson-novelist-blogger Jamyang Norbu, who has long criticised the Middle Way approach, is in Dharamsala advocating a non-violent strategy for political independence. In a telephone interview to Venkatesan Vembu, the former guerrilla warrior who in 1962 participated in a CIA-funded insurgency for Tibetan independence, explains the dream.

Is Independence for Tibet a realistic option?
Of course. A revolution is happening inside Tibet: people have been turned away from the Chinese government’s policies, and even Tibetan cadres within the Communist Party are fed up. My point is this: even if Tibet’s independence cannot be realised in the near future, what must be established in the eyes of the world is that the Tibetan plateau is an actively ‘contested’ area, and that the issue of Tibetan independence is far from closed. It’s not going to be easy. China is a superpower, and we’re very small — and ineffective. But I think it’s possible. I’m not a nationalist by nature; I’m an internationalist. But the Chinese are not going to give us anything — not independence, not anything else. Our only hope is that if Tibetans stick to this goal, we can take our case to the world and mobilise forces.

Can you chart out a roadmap?
We have to explore the possibility of non-violent activism the world over and redefine the question in a way that’s acceptable and even attractive to people of the world. We should not concentrate on just international bodies and governments, but work from the bottom up to get people in India and the West on our side and build a coalition. We’re working on a project to present the entire case for Tibetan independence: that it was an independent country in the past, and that China did invade Tibet. In the same way that Holocaust denial is a crime, that Tibet was once an independent country must not be denied.

Is a Soviet Union-like break-up of China the best-case scenario for Tibetan independence?
It has happened before in Tibetan history. The collapse of the Manchu Dynasty allowed the 13th Dalai Lama to free Tibet. I’m not saying China is 100 per cent going to collapse, but China is facing immense pressures, and will face more crises in the future – with the economy, job losses and social unrest. Tibetans in particular have been completely alienated… These are not isolated uprisings. It’s taking on the characteristics of a revolution.

Has there been a change in Beijing towards the Middle Way?
Beijing would have liked to see the Middle Way approach continue. The Chinese leadership has concluded that the Tibetan issue will be over once the Dalai Lama passes away. The idea was to keep the Dalai Lama hopeful of some resolution, and frustrate Tibetan nationalists. The Chinese called it tuõ yán zhèng cè — or a strategy of prolonging or ‘time-wasting’.  

But recently China became emboldened by the perceived ‘success’ of the Beijing Olympics and the economic downturn in the West, and it cut off the negotiations. That was a bad mistake (from the Chinese perspective). The Chinese did us a service: they woke us up. Tibetans may feel frustrated and confused for now, but China’s decision will serve us better in the long term…

Where does India figure in this?
There’s been a lot of soul-searching in India recently because of the failure of talks with China on Arunachal Pradesh. China requested the Indian government to stop this Dharamsala meeting, but the Indian government refused. The Indian government’s attitude on Tibet will get strengthened if Tibetans demonstrate that the Tibetan issue is not dead, and they can do something. Even if it doesn’t lead to Tibetan independence, as long as Tibetans do enough throughout the world to embarrass China, to weaken China a bit, I think it’s only realpolitik for India to allow Tibetans the leeway to do what they have to do. Since the demonstrations in Tibet and in India in March, the Indian government has taken a conciliatory stand on Tibet.

Won’t a call for Tibetan independence embarrass India vis-à-vis it’s relationship with China?
No. There isn’t a consensus on Tibet within the Indian body politic. A lot of people and institutions still sympathise with Tibet. Much of our efforts to promote the Tibetan revolution must be directed within India. We need more friends now within the Indian community — not just the friendship societies, but intellectuals, think-tanks, the media.