Where has Tibet gone?

(c) Sirensongs

This time last year, it was difficult to go a day without hearing mention of Tibet. Walking down the road it was not rare to see flags flying, in some countries even on civic buildings, and ‘Free Tibet’ signs stuck up in windows. Today, however, these signs are sun-spoilt or fell down long ago and the flags, if they are still up, are torn and faded. Google ‘Tibet news’ and over half of the hits are from 2008. Where has the problem of Tibet gone?

In the lead-up to the Olympics communities across the world were galvanised in their support of the plight of the Tibetan people against their Chinese oppressors. Protests broke out in major cities and world leaders refused to attend the Olympic ceremonies. However, the marking of the fiftieth anniversary early this year of the failed uprising that led to the exile of the Dalai Lama made few waves in the press, smothered as it was by rising tensions between North and South Korea and incidents in Pakistan, amongst other headlines. Peaceful protests which marked the anniversary, however, saw a clamp-down by the Chinese government on dissidents in Tibet and resulted in arbitrary arrests and human rights violations including detention without trial and torture.

Certain concessions granted by the Chinese government, such as the reopening of the Himalayan region of Tibet to foreign tourists in April, may suggest a liberalisation of government actions. However, injections of Han Chinese into Tibet is a continued policy which has as its aim to stifle the ethnic Tibetan population. It is difficult to go so far as to condemn this as cultural genocide, but it is certainly a tactic reminiscent of the colonial policies previously adopted by so many Western European countries.

Reports are emerging of young Tibetans who are increasingly turning away from Buddhist principles and towards violence. This reflects the desperation of oppressed minorities that is oft repeated; most recently, we have seen this in Palestine. Norman Finkelstein’s assessment of the legitimacy of Palestinian violence in terms of Gandhi’s teachings would perhaps be even more relevant in the case of Tibet, with the underlying pacifist principles of their society. In our culture of disposable news, some violent action might be the only way to get Tibet back in the headlines. The international community must learn that prevention is better than cure, and that out of sight should not necessarily mean out of mind.