37th TIBETAN NATIONAL UPRISING COMMEMORATION IN BRUSSELS

MARCH 10, 1996

Prof. SAMDHONG Rinpoche

Chairman

Assembly of Tibetan People's Deputies

I am extremely happy to be present here today amongst you all for the commemoration of the 1959 national uprising of Tibetan people against the illegal seizure of our territory and its continued occupation by the Chinese military forces. The uprising of the entire people of Tibet was the climax of the resistance movement which began after the Chinese invasion of 1949. This peaceful uprising was the people's expression of rejection of Chinese attempt to annex Tibet in violation of international law and against the will of the people of Tibet. This day, therefore, has a great significance for each and every Tibetan, living in and outside Tibet.

I am very much moved and overwhelmed to see here this enormous gathering of representatives from all the countries of Europe and beyond, to express their sympathy and solidarity with the Tibetan cause and to protest the communist Chinese misrule and colonization of Tibet. I have no words to express my inner feelings adequately. I am here to thank you all on behalf of the six million people of Tibet and on behalf of the Tibetan Parliament, their legitimate representative. We all are fully aware of the fact that your selfless and sincere support and solidarity has immeasurable value for all of us because your support reflects your faith in human values and moral responsibilities. I do not consider that the Tibetan supporters are merely pro-Tibetan. Neither, are they anti-Chinese. They are in fact projustice and anti-injustice, pro-love and compassion and anti-violence and suppression, prohuman dignity and moral values and against violation of human rights and immoral activities. You support Tibet for the sake

of humanity without any expectation of material gains. Unlike any other country, Tibet has nothing to offer you now or even after regaining its freedom which may benefit you politically or materially. Inspite of knowing this fact, you are working ceaselessly and tirelessly putting in your invaluable time, energy and money, shows that you are upholders of humanvalues and human dignity.

You all are very much aware of the facts and situation in Tibet. I need not recount the suffering being faced by the people. But, I simply would like to remind you very briefly of three basic points to refresh your understanding about the Tibetan struggle. These are:

I. The status of Tibet today;

II. The nature of the Tibetan struggle and its commitment;

III. The present policies of the Tibetan;

Government-in-exile:

so that your initiatives in support of Tibet could be enhanced and consolidated in consonance with the well defined policies of H.H. the Dalai Lama and His Government.

I. When China's military aggression took place in 1949/50, Tibet was a sovereign and independent state, possessing all the attributes of statehood required under international law. The invasion was an act of aggression and illegal seizure of Tibet's territory, in violation of the UN charter and the Pact of Paris. The so-called "17 Points Agreement" was imposed by the Chinese authorities under duress, including force and threat of force against the State of Tibet, in violation of the Vienna Convention on the law of Treaties. This agreement was therefore never validly concluded. The repudiation of this agreement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at the earliest available opportunity, in 1959 was a reaffirmation of this fact. Since then, nothing has happened which has altered the legal status of Tibet by transferring the sovereignity of Tibet to China or by legitimizing the Chinese rule by an act of the will of the Tibetan people. Until today, Tibet is neither a part of nor a region of China but remains a territo

ry under illegal occupation. This fact imposes on other states and the international community an obligation not to engage in acts which may amount to endorsing Chinese attempts to annex Tibet.

For the sake of argument, even if the legal and historical factors are not taken into consideration, the legitimacy of a state has to be judged by the performance of its government. The government of a country has three fundamental functions: namely, (1) protection of the people (2) promotion of their social, economic, cultural and spiritual welfare, and (3) representation of their interest externally. China has failed to perform any of these functions with respect to Tibet. On the contrary, it has indulged in massive and brutal violation of human rights, population transfer, repression of culture and religious freedom, racial discrimination, environmental destruction and gross economic exploitation. It has adopted a policy to destroy the culture and national identity of the Tibetan people through so-called cultural revolution and massive population transfer. It has also misrepresented the Tibetan people's situation and aspirations before the international community. Above all, the persistent resistance move

ment all over Tibet, as acknowledged repeatedly by the communist Chinese authorities, irrefutably proves that they lack legal, moral and political legitimacy to govern Tibet. On the other hand, H.H. the Dalai Lama is the symbol of Tibetan people's common will and His Government-in-exile, which is the continuum of the Gaden Phodrar~g Government established by the 5th Dalai Lama, is the repository of the legal, moral and political legitimacy to govern and represent the people of Tibet.

II. The nature of the Tibetan struggle is neither that of a confrontation between political ideologies, nor is it a clash between ethnic groups. The problem of Tibet cannot be perceived in isolation. You have to see it as a symptom of pervasive human problem, a struggle between truth and falsehood, justice and injustice, morality and immorality, right and wrong. The people of Tibet aspire for freedom not merely for the sake of a political identity alone. Political freedom, for us is only a means to perform our legitimate duties towards all sentient beings. It is not an end in itself. The people of Tibet have inherited for centuries a responsibility to preserve, promote and disseminate a unique culture, spiritual and innerscience traditions for the benefit of all sentient beings. To enable the people of Tibet to fulfill these duties, we require a conducive social, political, economic and environmental situation. Human intelligence cannot awaken to its fullest extent in an atmosphere of oppression and terror.

Also an uprooted cultural heritage cannot properly grow through replantation elsewhere or anywhere. Therefore, political freedom and independence is an indispensable means.

H.H. the Dalai Lama's teachings of Universal Responsibility has made us conscious of our duties towards all the sentient beings, humanity in general and the people of China in particular. We do not have any ill feelings or hatred for the people of China. They deserve our love and compassion. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said, "Hate the sin not the sinner". We oppose the action of the Chinese government but not the people of China. In this spirit, we are carrying on our mission to achieve our goal and adopted pure means to achieve it, too. In a nutshell, we Tibetans have three irreversible commitments in our endeavours for regaining the freedom. These are:

1. The Truth,

2. The Non-Violence, and

3. The Democratic system.

III. The Tibetan people and their Government-inexile are pursuing a consistent policy as regards the above mentioned commitments for the last thirty seven years. It was on 17th April, 1959 that H.H. the Dalai Lama arrived in India alongwith His Government and launched the struggle to regain our independence through non-violent and democratic ways. And the effort is unceasingly continuing till today. At the same time, we believe that for solving the problem of Tibet the only effective way is peaceful negotiations with China. In 1979, the Chinese leader, Mr. Deng Xiao Ping stated that except independence everything can be negotiated and resolved. His Holiness responded to this invitation with an open mind accepting the frame work proposed by him. In a sincere effort to start a negotiation process, His Holiness announced a broad frame work for negotiation in the form of a Five Point Peace Plan in 1987 and He further elaborated it in a detailed plan popularly known as Strasbourg proposal, in 1988. Fourteen long

years have gone by in our attempt to start a process of negotiations with China but without any response. Finally, His Holiness proposed a referendum to decide the future course of action by the people of Tibet in his 10th March statements of 1994 and 1995. At the moment, the implementation of such a referendum is in progress and hopefully it would be completed within a reasonable period of time. Thereafter, the direction which will emerge as a result of referendum, will be binding on us. Till such time, the Governmentin-exile's policy to continue our freedom struggle, will continue as before. And at the same time, His Holiness' middle path approach remains a possible basis for negotiation at any time without any preconditions. We have still not given up the hope that the Chinese authorities would respond to logic and reason and come around to the negotiation table sooner or later. But it does not mean that we are giving up activities before arriving at any agreement acceptable to the people of Tibet. This p

osition must be clear beyond any doubts to all the Tibetan supporters.

Today is a very memorable and significant day to all the people of Tibet to have such a large demostration in our support. The years 1994 and 1995 have caused us great anxiety. The Chinese repression in Tibet has reached its worst form. There is the ban on His Holiness' photographs; the recalling of Tibetan children receiving education outside Tibet; the renewed commitment to fight the Dalai Lama and his 'clique' as the "enemy nr 1" of the Peoples Republic of China; the reinvigoration of the policies of militarisation, nuclearisation and sinocisation of Tibet. This has caused deep hardship for the people of Tibet by turning them into a powerless minority in their own land. These repressive measures climaxed with the imprisonment of the innocent six year old boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, whom His Holiness recognised as the true reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. With him and his family, many innocent monks of Tashi Lhunpo monastery were arrested. Imposition of their own choice for a rival Panchen Lama is ano

ther ugly face of Chinese paradoxical repressive action. It explodes the myth held up by China that Tibet is in real sense autonomous. I take this opportunity to thank all our friends and supporters in Europe, in the European Parliament and many other legislative bodies around the world for condemning the illegal acts of China and to support His Holiness' choice of the Panchen Lama.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in His 10th March anniversary message, expressly describes the present situation in Tibet. I don't need to repeat it; as the copies are being distributed to you.

The present day world polity is guided by economic and security interests instead of morality and justice. The western countries look at China as a big market and the eastern countries are awed by China's might, and think of it as a security threat to their territorial interests. These elements of 'greed and fear' prevent most Governments of the world to speak the truth and act judiciously. Therefore, individuals and groups of people who are concerned with morality and peace. freedom and liberty, universal responsibility and environmental protection are bound to raise their voice for justice. Yes, there are people who think that only effective solution to any problem is through violence. This is so because non-violent movements are unable to attract the attention of the world community. This is the biggest cause for continued violence and disturbance. There is, therefore, the need for solidarity and support to the principle of nonviolence and actions that flow from it.

I would conclude with a personal remark. As you all are aware, the struggle for Tibetan freedom is quite different from freedom movements of other nations. The act of sinocization through a massive population transfer policy is aimed at annihilation of the basic identity of Tibet. The time is, therefore, running out. There is great urgency. The time has come to do or die. Irrespective of the results, the people of Tibet must now rise up to resist the Chinese misrule. And therefore, we are contemplating to launch a "Satyagraha Movement" inside Tibet soon after the proposed referendum is over. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel rightly said that "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented". I am convinced that keeping silent against any sin amounts to taking part in it. Therefore, to die gracefully and willingly in opposition of a misdoing is of greater significance than to live tolerating the misdeeds. We are well aware of the limitations: the size of our p

opulation, the Chinese might and its ruthlessness. Our Satyagraha may prove to be a suicidal act. Yet we are willing to opt for it, because, that is the only choice left for us.

At this juncture, I have no appeals to make, nor to seek anything from you. Your conscience would be the best judge of your action. I once again, express my gratitude for your sympathy, support and solidarity.

I pray for all sentient beings to be happy and peaceful.