It used to be just another t-shirt slogan for me. Something akin to "just do it" but more recently I've begun to think a little more about t-shirts that say "free tibet". Do the people who wear these shirts actually understand what they are passively demanding? I have my reservations. On a related note, my complete contempt for the Communist party of India (and all their splinter groups and parties) has always been evident, none more so than now, blocking India's progress in the name of defeating "imperialism". More recently, Prakash Karat (who makes me grind my teeth in frustration everytime he spews his rubbish on TV) said that Indians must be careful about advocating "free tibet" due to simmering nationalist sentiments at home. Of course this was a speech that seemed to be scripted and faxed from Beijing but there was a grain of inadvertent truth to what he said.
Many supposedly liberal Indians vociferously put down China's human rights record in Tibet, forgetting completely our own history of suppression, intimidation and neglect of our own peoples. At a recent seminar, I was asked by a lady from Brookings, "Tell me Aaabhijeeet, what exactly is the north east of India?! Is it all one big state?" I wanted to tell her that it might as well be. The north - east is but one example of how India's development policy continues to foment trouble there.
Lets rewind to post 1947 and the States Reorganisation Act. India used force then to amalgamate the princely states. India uses force today to suppress (illegitimate?) separatist movements in the North East, not to mention Telangana. The Nagas fought for a separate homeland whereas Telangana is fighting for a separate state within India. In both cases, there are continuing examples of India using force to crush separatist sentiments. I will not quote Kashmir here as I feel its a wholly different kettle of fish.
Keeping this in mind, India and Indians need to be careful what they advocate. Carving out parts of existing nations into separate nations is almost impossible to do today. The case of Tibetans may be stronger than the case for Telangana or the Nagas but there never will be a "free" Tibet. At best there will be a region called Tibet with a chunk of the population being Tibetan. What India and Tibetans should fight for is preserving cultural identity and religious independence. Something China is loth to do and hence, China should rightly be hung out to dry in global diplomatic circles. Seen in this light, the case of Telangana, Nagas, ULFA, Bodos etc loses much credibility when contrasted with Tibet. All the former already reside in a democracy which promises to preserve their cultural identities. This situation is reversed for Tibetans in Tibet. We must switch from "free Tibet" t shirts to "Save Tibet"and that pretty much, is all we can hope for.
Labels: culture, politics
