The Dilemma
In the wake of our Government-in-Exile's adoption
of a “Give and Take” policy in settling the Tibetan
issue with the Chinese authorities in Peking, our organization
made a contact with the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission
of the Taiwanese government and signed a three-point agenda proposal
in Banglore, India. While seeking the consent and views of His
Holiness, conceived as an appropriate way, our representatives
at once received a very adverse response from the Dharamsala
government. An apologetic appeal dated January 6, 1994, from
our leaders to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to express their deep
regret for having caused His Holiness upset and also to solemnly
reaffirm, on behalf of all the Khampas dead and alive, their
faith in His Holiness and no one else as single leadership, was
submitted through the private office of His Holiness, but it
did not reach its destination and was returned back to our leaders
by the private office. As directed by His Holiness, our leaders
approached the Katsok (Cabinet-Chairman) on February 4, 194,
to explain and try to mitigate the issue, but the Katsok did
not budge an inch from what they had already decided to do. Later
that evening, a sincere attempt was made again through two Dhotoe
Standing Committee members of the Assembly to forestall the planned
Katsok campaign, which was then seen by our leaders as more harmful
than helpful, by promising to do everything the Katsok might
demand, except for the resignations by two signatories of the
proposal from their respective posts, which in accordance with
the bylaws has to be done in the General Meeting, but the Katsok
did not was to trade for anything the golden opportunity to crack
down on our organization. So it was flatly rejected by the Katsok.
A second attempt was made to withdraw the agenda proposal, the
bone of contention, when six representatives of Densa Sum - whose
three main seats, Drepung, Sera, and Gaden represented the Dhotoe
people in those monasteries - agreed to act as mediators. As
demanded by the representatives, a joint agreement of declaration
to withdraw the proposal was signed on June 24, 1994, to their
satisfaction, but the Katsok not only objected to their deed
but severely scolded them for their efforts. In spite of our
best efforts to resolve the problem ourselves without much unnecessary
overreaction to create negative effects, unfortunately the Katsok
never did give our organization any chance to do so.
Thus the end result, according to the declared
Verdict of the Kakyi (Cabinet-Assembly) dated August 2, 1994,
was that 99.6% of the Khampa population signed against the proposal,
which the Kakyi proudly used as an important instrument to crush
our organization. On the other hand, this actually meant that
99.6% of the Khampa population did not accept an agreement in
which His Holiness the Dalai Lama was recognized by Nationalist
China as head of Tibet both politically and religiously. Although
the actual number of Khampas who signed against the proposal
agreement was less than 30% of the population, still this is
the unfortunate backfire of the Katsok's signature campaign and
is being held responsible for it. The above-mentioned verdict
said that through the signature campaign of the Khampas carried
out by the Kakyi, the agenda proposal agreement reached by and
between Taiwan and Chushi Gangdrug would be null and void. It
also said at the end that by making the announcement of the verdict,
the Chapter of Taichu (Chushi Gangdrug's chapter in Taiwan) issue
would be closed once and for all and, therefore, everyone was
advised not to raise the issue again to create public disturbance
in the future. However, the Dharamsala administration henceforth
vehemently carried out vicious campaigns against the organization
and its members. Labeling our members as anti-Dalai Lama and
traitors, it relentlessly acted by dissuading all aid organizations
from any dealing with our organization. It took upon itself the
task of preventing our organization from having any meaningful
contact with the commission. It disenfranchised, ostracized and
persecuted our members as punishment for committing no worse
a crime than making Nationalist China acknowledge the institute
of the Dalai Lama as supreme head of Tibet both politically and
religiously and to recognize and safeguard the system of Tibetan
self-rule in the event of a democratic reunion of China. Our
exile administration went to the extent of setting up a fake
Chushi Gangdrug in Dharamsala to challenge our Central Chushi
Gangdrug using its registration number, which is an illegal act
on their part. In short, the Kashag left no stone unturned to
crush our organization. However, in spite of all the odds against
our organization, it was due to our sheer determination in our
belief and the confidence of our people in the organization that
we stood our ground and carried on with our work. Logically speaking,
as long as independence of Tibet is given up and the struggle
for it has ceased, it should make no difference whether it is
the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in Taipei or whether
it is the Republic of China in Taiwan, because MTAC is part and
parcel of the ROC, and the Taiwanese government is made up of
eight ministries and two commissions, of which MTAC is one. By
the same logic, if ever Taiwan becomes a sovereign state, then
Tibet will have no association with it except culture and religion.
Ironically, our Dharamsala government could
easily abandon the struggle for independence of Tibet at the
advice of some defeatist circle in the administration, but it
could not forgive Chushi Gangdrug for making the Republic of
China acknowledge the institute of the Dalai Lama as temporal
and spiritual head of Tibet. It is the fervent wish and the aspiration
of the Khampas dead and alive to restore the status and the power
of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as supreme religious and temporal
ruler of Tibet in its entirety as it was prior to the Communist
Chinese aggression and never to be separated from Him but always
to be like head and shoulders. If this thinking is perceived
as wrong, then there seems no point in being right.
