The inaugural issue of India’s World magazine featured a well-researched article titled “Democracy in Exile: The Uncertain Fate of the Tibetan People,” authored by Mr. Ankit Tiwari. In it, he deftly outlines the challenges waylaying the Tibetan movement on its path ahead.
I, however, respectfully disagree with his deeply pessimistic conclusion that once the current Dalai Lama passes away, Tibetans may “descend into discord and disunity” and “ultimately lose the war.” This view not only underestimates the inherent strength and resilience of a just and righteous cause but also takes for granted the indefinite invincibility of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian regime.
When the Chinese forces invaded Tibet in 1950 and coerced the Tibetan government into signing the 17-Point Peace Agreement, China likely believed the Tibet issue would be settled within a decade or thereabouts. What followed, however, was widespread resistance to Chinese rule, culminating in the popular Tibetan uprising of March 1959 in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
