I was in Switzerland at the beginning of this month and gave a slideshow and talk at Zurich on Saturday the 5th, “Was Tibet an Independent and Sovereign State?”, based on my essay Independent Tibet – The Facts, but with a more polemical title. The talk was well attended by Tibetans. In fact the auditorium …
Kyegu, On My Mind
When I saw photographs of the tough, determined looking monks digging through the ruins of Kyegu town, I was struck by a sense of helplessness and frustration. Probably, some of you readers felt that way too. I wanted to be out there with those monks, helping to find survivors in the rubble, or at least …
The Great Earthquake at Jyekundo
To read something insightful about this terrible tragedy, and also respectful of Tibetan history and culture, readers should to go to http://www.rangzen.net/2010/04/16/to-die-with-dignity-in-your-own-land/ Webmaster Christophe also compiled a high-resolution satellite image of Jyekundo City prior to the earthquake of April 14, 2010, from around one hundred Google maps screenshots. This image of 12212 x 5596 pixels …
Cult of Victimhood: Two Studies
From the Gaza strip to Dharamshala, the cult of victimhood is embraced from a shortsighted perception of the advantages it seemingly confers on weaker parties in their disputes with more powerful foes
Waiting for Mangtso III
ONE SMALL STEP FOR DEMOCRACY… . Some of you may have noticed. One reader pointed it out in a comment on Phayul.com. The title of this three-part essay was borrowed (and tweaked) from Samuel Becket’s famous play, Waiting for Godot – probably the ur script in the theatre of the absurd. A quick summary of …
Unleashing the “R” Word
I may be getting paranoid but it seems to me that in most academic discussions and scholarly forums on Tibet, these days, a conscious effort is being made all round to avoid mentioning the word “rangzen”. Sometimes, of course, it happens that the term just has to be used and there is no judicious way …
Ecocide on the Third Pole
. MELTDOWN IN TIBET A personal take on the politics of water in Tibet. A film by Michael Buckley Wild Yak Films reviewed by Jamyang Norbu . Al Gore has come out with a new book (Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis) nicely timed to be in the stores before the Climate …
Obama Should Meet Who/Hu First?
When the announcement was made that President Obama would not meet the Dalai Lama on the latter’s trip to the USA last month, the disappointment in the Tibetan world was palpable. I felt a little better after seeing this AFP headline “West Appeasing China on Tibet, says PM-in-exile”[Wednesday, September 16, 2009 17:43]. The report also …
The Jewel in the Ballot Box
In 1949, Lhalu, the Governor-General of Kham, arranged to speak to the Dalai Lama’s tutor, Trichang Rimpoche, at Lhasa over the radio. Robert Ford, the Tibetan government radio operator at Chamdo, wrote in his book, Captured In Tibet, that he wondered what the protocol would be for this somewhat unique situation.
Waiting for Mangtso II
I am not saying that personalities don’t matter in politics. I am all for finding an honest and competent person to be the prime minister of our exile government. But first of all we have to put in place that one indispensable (but missing) institution in our incomplete democratic set-up, the lack of which makes the role of our current Kalon Tripa resemble that of a chanzoe (manager) of a monastery or labrang, and not the prime minister of a democratic nation.
