The Tibet Movement - A Perspective

The recent protests all over the world regarding the Tibetan freedom movement have led me to question my own opinions on the matter. First and foremost I think that the freedom of speech and expression being an inherent part of any democracy, any Tibetan or pro-Tibetan has a full right to display his or her displeasure at the alleged Chinese atrocities/conquest/domination of Tibet. For example, I am aghast and entirely against the ban on pro-Tibet rallies in Bengal. They make no sense, except if one assumes (rightly so?) that the Indian communist has always been more pro-China than anything else.

However, the freedom of speech and expression, in my opinion, do no entail the freedom to pressurise and strain protection and regulation forces anywhere you please. Neither does it include the right to threaten and endanger the integrity of worldwide events such as the Olympics. It is one thing to protest along the pathway of the Olympic torch- it gets you some (perhaps much needed) attention in front of the world's eyes; but it is another thing altogether to violate and intrude upon Olympic ceremonies and endanger institutions like the Olympic flame.

Why should Tibetan freedom be so important and high placed that the Olympic flame needs to be extinguished to save it from zealous protestors and instigators? Why should police and security forces in places like France, U.S.A., and India have to work to maintain peace and order along the Olympic flame's path so as to protect it from pro-Tibet protestors? What gives them the right to stretch authorities like this? Is this using the rights of democracy or abusing them?

Will this not set the wrong precedent? Does this mean now that Kashmiris or Tamils or Khalistanis or Israelis or Palestinis or Native Americans or Chechneyans or Taiwanese or etc. or etc. can intrude and invade any international event they please? Should the people seeking freedom in Kashmir now create troubles for Commonwealth 2010 in New Delhi? If they do, how different will they be from the pro-Tibetan miscreants (forgive the term) that are passionately disrupting Olympics ceremonies the world over? If a bunch of eager 'Khalistanis' intrude into a Commonwealth ceremony in New Delhi will that be justified? And are they permitted to disrupt Commonwealth related ceremonies the world over so that they can get international attention?

Agreed, the Kashmir, Khalistani, and Tibetan issues are all different and incomparable. But the point I am trying to get across that in the expression of the right to speech and protest there is a line which should not be crossed. By disrupting ceremonies of an international and historic event like the Olympics, the line is being blatantly crossed, and pro-Tibetans are exploiting the sympathy and empathy that they recieve from various quarters of the globe.

A lot of us are shocked at the apparent brutal way that China is squashing protests within its own borders, and agreed that it has never been good at handling dissent. But how many of the nations like France or U.S.A. or our beloved India have spotless human rights records? The other day I read a report in the paper about how a dalit woman was forced to eat human excreta (that's right) because she had the audacity to enter a temple. Does the caste-emancipation movement not deserve nationwide attention? Or are we more held up by providing Tibet a freedom that, the more realistic of us know, it may never achieve?

I feel that supporting the Tibet movement has become a sort of hip pop culture like talking about Syd Barrett of the Pink Floyd (even thought he was truly a part of the band for only 4 years) or sporting marijuana motifs on one's clothes and accessories. "Free Tibet" shirts seem cool and funky alright but a free Tibet does not mean that it's diaspora all over the world is free to do what it pleases to strain any nation's security forces and cause trouble.

To conclude, I think we need a reassessment of our entire stance on the Tibetan freedom movement. The way its supporters are making themselves heard by piggy-backing on the Olympics movements is not acceptable. China's dismal and discouraging human rights records do not steal from it to host games like the Olympics just like India's absolute disregard for its lower strata of society does not take from it the right to host the Commonwealth or even the Olympics at some later point- we need to gain a more objective point of view. If we feel that Tibet deserves its freedom then let us work towards that throught the right political channels, and let us allow China the dignity that any nation hosting an international event like the Olympics deserves.