India Must ‘Liberate’ Its Tibet Policy, Raise Human Rights Violations On The ‘Roof of the World’

In 1951, a tragedy was played out on the Roof of the World, on the most peaceful people on Earth. With Galwan clashes fresh in memory and the negotiations over disengagement moving at a snail’s pace, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Tibet in July this year ruffled many feathers in India. In the book ‘Meltdown in Tibet: China’s Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia’, Michael Buckley writes “the mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland’s thirst for power, and the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China’s industrial complex.” As part of its ongoing 14th Five Year Plan, a super dam over Yarlung Tsangpo has been approved, triggering debates about China soon starting hydropower potential of the great canyon of the mighty river. The US has passed The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, which says “The Secretary of State shall make best efforts to establish a branch office in Lhasa, Tibet, of the United States Consulate General in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet.” In the Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, this demand has another caveat that “The Secretary may not authorize the establishment in the United States of any additional consulate of the People’s Republic of China until a United States consulate in Lhasa, Tibet, is established under subsection” In September last year, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China said: “The Chinese government and Communist Party are also expanding campaigns to “sinicize” Tibetan Buddhism, compelling religious institutions and communities to support the Party and its policies. Chinese authorities assert that they have sole authority to select and recognize reincarnated religious figures, including the future 15th Dalai Lama, and have disappeared the Panchen Lama since 1995, making him one of the world’s longest-serving prisoners of conscience.” The US TPS Act clearly says, “Decisions regarding the selection, education, and veneration of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders are exclusively spiritual matters that should be made by the appropriate religious authorities within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and in the context of the will of practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.” The Chinese government has zero tolerance for political dissent that invites violence, arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture.