The New Indian Express First Published : 28 Apr 2011 10:42:00 PM ISTLast Updated : 28 Apr 2011 11:38:59 PM IST
Though elections to the 44-seat Tibetan parliament took months, as polling was held in several countries, the results announced on Wednesday were as conclusive as possible. Lobsang Sangay, who was elected prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, received 55 per cent votes. The elections represent a watershed in Tibetan politics, since 1951 when China invaded Tibet forcing the Dalai Lama and his followers to flee as exiles to India. For the first time, the Tibetans will be led by a person, who was born two decades after the ‘invasion’ and has seen Tibet only in picture postcards. A Fulbright fellow who did his doctorate in law from Harvard University, India-born Sangay has all the credentials to lead the Tibetans. When he assumes office on August 15, he will have to go by his own leadership instinct, for he will not be able to lean on the Dalai Lama, who would have by then fully renounced the political leadership of the Tibetans.
Whether the transition, for which most Tibetans are still not ready, will be smooth or not depends a lot on Sangay’s leadership skills. He has also the difficult job of reconciling the differences between those who still have vivid memories of a free Tibet and those who were born in India and other places. Unlike most senior Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, who believe that a ‘free and sovereign Tibet’ is a utopia, and would, therefore, seek a one-state-two-ways system as it exists in the case of Hong Kong with modifications, the post-invasion generation is more abrasive in its assertions. India’s support to the Tibetans is limited to its role as a host and does not cover their political demands, for it recognises Tibet as an integral part of China. The new premier will have to evolve a policy that facilitates their early return to Tibet.
No comments:
Post a Comment