A solitary cycle rally across Europe

[icy]

See what a Tibetan man outside Tibet does for Tibet:


DHARAMSHALA, March 19: A Tibetan man has embarked on a solitary cycle rally across Europe to appeal for Tibetans inside Tibet and in solidarity with their sacrifices.

Rinpo, a Tibetan man from Minnesota in US will appeal to the leaders of the European Union and the people of Europe during his cycle rally to “support the young and ordinary Tibetans inside Tibet who are sacrificing their lives for the freedom of Tibetan people and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet.”

“The repressions do not seem to show any signs of improvement,” said Rinpo. “The overall situation inside Tibet is becoming increasingly tense and urgent. The Chinese government is hell bent upon suppressing the unrests while totally overlooking the causes of these drastic acts of protests.”

Rinpo further called upon international community to stop the repressions and pressurize the Chinese government to resolve the issue of Tibet once and for all.

“The Tibetans are living under constant fear of arrests, persecutions, tortures and even deaths,” he said.

On behalf of the Tibetans inside Tibet, Rinpo plans to appeal leaders, intellectuals, students and citizens of Europe to urge China to review its failed hard-line policies in Tibet; address the genuine grievances of the Tibetan people by resolving the issue of Tibet through dialogue; and allow world media and international fact-finding delegations to investigate the real cause of self-immolations.

The rally began in Brussels on March 17 and will travel to over 150 towns and cities in 13 European countries. At the end of this campaign, Rinpo will submit a signed petition to the leaders of EU and its member states.

[Ensapa]

My question is, how many of these rallies actually work and convince China to give back Tibet to them? None of them work. so why do  they keep doing it? Is it because of insecurity about their identity and culture, that they have to resort to having such rallies to try and enforce it and remind them of their culture and identity? I dont understand what are these rallies for when they have little or no effect on the real world situation when the best thing for CTA to do is not be hypocrites to the Chinese and enter into actual dialogue with China on the Tibet situation without bad mouthing China or releasing poor me stories.

[vajratruth]

Rinpo's cause is noble just like many others who have exerted themselves to draw attention of the world to the plight of the Tibetans. But it is not lack of awareness that is the problem. In fact it would be difficult to find anyone in the modern world who has not heard of the Tibetan situation. It is after all over 50 years of constant publicity.

The world media, especially in the west have portrayed China to be a ruthless oppressor and although we cannot get away from the fact that China did annex Tibet, the solution lies not in examining history and debating China's right, but to find practical means to engage the Chinese with. The fact is, China too prefers to find a workable solution instead and being tarred and feathered on each news regarding Tibet. And it is here that attention must turn to the Tibetan government in exile, the CTA.

First the CTA need to clearly define its course - is it pursuing independence or autonomy? A divided people rob themselves of the power that can only be harnessed in unity and it is here that the CTA has failed in its duty. The CTA's history is littered with evidence that this self-proclaimed champion of the Tibetan people have done more damage to Tibetan unity than China ever could. In fact when the Tibetan exodus happened from 1959 and onto the following years, the people were strong in will and determined to be together as a nation. We don't see that anymore today and we must enquire into how this have come about.

The answer is simple. Perhaps seeing Tibetan freedom as a long shot if not a lost cause after years of unsuccessful attempts at lobbying world governments to take up the Tibetan fight, the CTA pursued instead a system of politics designed to meet the officials' own interest rather than the collective interest of the people. What government in their right mind would impose a religious ban on its own citizens knowing that it will create the kind of rupture that would undermine their collective national interest. And that is precisely what the Dorje Shugden ban is about.

The Shugden ban in now entering its 17th year and its results are dire, not that there is any significant impact on the practice. You cannot after all ban a Buddha. The CTA is a government that insists it is a democratic one and yet it refuses to do what is necessary to create harmony. This is hardly the fault of the Chinese. So why is it that no Tibetan has turned to the CTA and demand answers as to what it persists in dividing the people along so many different lines - the Dorje Shugden ban; their hand in creating the Karmapa controversy and the refusal to listen to the people's wishes on their demand for independence.

No doubt the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay will get himself into the news to congratulate and thank Rinpo. This, along with more speeches on how the Chinese have robbed them of their country. Lobsang Sangay may have a point albeit a tired one but he need to also acknowledge that it is the CTA who have robbed the Tibetans of their hopes and strength in unity, not the Chinese. How can the Tibetans hope to reach the shore of independence when their own captain keep puncturing holes in an already rickety boat?

[Ensapa]

Rinpo's cause is noble just like many others who have exerted themselves to draw attention of the world to the plight of the Tibetans. But it is not lack of awareness that is the problem. In fact it would be difficult to find anyone in the modern world who has not heard of the Tibetan situation. It is after all over 50 years of constant publicity.

The world media, especially in the west have portrayed China to be a ruthless oppressor and although we cannot get away from the fact that China did annex Tibet, the solution lies not in examining history and debating China's right, but to find practical means to engage the Chinese with. The fact is, China too prefers to find a workable solution instead and being tarred and feathered on each news regarding Tibet. And it is here that attention must turn to the Tibetan government in exile, the CTA.

First the CTA need to clearly define its course - is it pursuing independence or autonomy? A divided people rob themselves of the power that can only be harnessed in unity and it is here that the CTA has failed in its duty. The CTA's history is littered with evidence that this self-proclaimed champion of the Tibetan people have done more damage to Tibetan unity than China ever could. In fact when the Tibetan exodus happened from 1959 and onto the following years, the people were strong in will and determined to be together as a nation. We don't see that anymore today and we must enquire into how this have come about.

The answer is simple. Perhaps seeing Tibetan freedom as a long shot if not a lost cause after years of unsuccessful attempts at lobbying world governments to take up the Tibetan fight, the CTA pursued instead a system of politics designed to meet the officials' own interest rather than the collective interest of the people. What government in their right mind would impose a religious ban on its own citizens knowing that it will create the kind of rupture that would undermine their collective national interest. And that is precisely what the Dorje Shugden ban is about.

The Shugden ban in now entering its 17th year and its results are dire, not that there is any significant impact on the practice. You cannot after all ban a Buddha. The CTA is a government that insists it is a democratic one and yet it refuses to do what is necessary to create harmony. This is hardly the fault of the Chinese. So why is it that no Tibetan has turned to the CTA and demand answers as to what it persists in dividing the people along so many different lines - the Dorje Shugden ban; their hand in creating the Karmapa controversy and the refusal to listen to the people's wishes on their demand for independence.

No doubt the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay will get himself into the news to congratulate and thank Rinpo. This, along with more speeches on how the Chinese have robbed them of their country. Lobsang Sangay may have a point albeit a tired one but he need to also acknowledge that it is the CTA who have robbed the Tibetans of their hopes and strength in unity, not the Chinese. How can the Tibetans hope to reach the shore of independence when their own captain keep puncturing holes in an already rickety boat?

Now that you have put it that way, it is quite clear to me that CTA is self sabotaging themselves and not doing anything that is truly productive to their cause. If CTA wants independence, or maybe even a chance of dialogue with China, instead of rallies that highlight the Tibetan cause (which, whatever steps that anyone else has took forward by other Tibetans than the CTA is always undone or nullified by the CTA and their methods and selfishness on self immolations etc) so the best way for CTA to go about this is to stop their hypocrisy and be more transparent, and of course, end the Dorje Shugden ban.