Tibet's fight for freedom

It’s amazing that how easily we forget and ignore issues that are not affecting our daily life even if the concern is about oppression and annihilation of a country, its citizens and its culture.

For all these years we have chose to ignore Tibet and its demand for freedom from China. To be seen as a politically correct democracy our leaders have time and again said that they have done their bit by granting asylum to the Tibetan refugees. But does granting asylum absolves India of its responsibility that responsibility which comes when you are celebrating 60 years of democracy that responsibility which owes its existence to the freedom struggle that India itself witnessed and that responsibility which becomes due when you call yourself a south-Asian superpower ?

China has for long using its economic and political power to arm twist the international community in toeing its line that what is happening in Tibet is not a freedom struggle but a violent separatist movement. Sadly every country, including India has nodded its head in approval and they have arrived at an international consensus that Tibet is China’s internal matter and it should be left untouched to be dealt by China itself.

Feeble voice have been raised in various forums, voices that has words like ‘restraint’, ‘constraint’ but not even one of them has ‘condemned’ or ‘condoned’ the senseless killing of protestors.

In India the picture is no different. The Left which prides in calling itself the crusaders of human rights has remained shamefully mum in the parliament. These pseudo politicians, the so called intellectuals are the best example when it comes to the dirt that surrounds the Indian political system. The hypocrisy that they practice is too hard to swallow even in the Indian context. Yesterday when the Congress and the BJP MPs were raking up the issue of Tibet in parliament the Leftist were still crying over the nuclear deal.

When it comes to the third world countries there are ‘n’ numbers of laws and norms that govern their conduct. But when the greater countries are in question than the same laws are thrown out of the window. 

Earlier it was the US who shocked the world community by ignoring UNs call for not attacking Iraq and now it’s China. The world community too has done its bit by rewarding China with the opportunity to host the Olympics as to show gratitude to China for its effort in strengthening peace and restraint.

We have the Universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) and we have the International covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR) but history has time and again proved that these for the weak and not for the powerful.

China, often called the role model for the developing country is a neighbor that one wishes was not there. Simply put when it comes to China, India lacks the political will to stand up and protest the human rights violation.

We may call ourselves and Independent country, a south Asian giant but in the midst of all this euphoria we tend to forget we are also on the fore-front when it comes the shrinking our responsibility whether its been Tibet or Iraq.

Freedom for Tibet - Standing Up To China
Published at: http://desicritics.org/2008/03/18/103355.php