By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, September 4: The newly formed pro independence group of the Tibetan Diaspora, the Tibetan National Congress, has said that Tibetan government in exile’s new policy of “Partial middle way” renounces democracy. “The Middle Way was a compromise between occupation and independence. Now, the Partial Middle Way is a compromise between occupation and the Middle Way,”the organization said in an interview posted on its website on the eve of the 54th Tibetan Democracy Day.
“The new Partial Middle Way doesn’t even promise autonomy. It just seeks a Communist Party- controlled Tibet with more ethnic Tibetans in the government, which at the higher levels could mean just more Party hacks like Raidi, Legchok, and Pema Choling,” said TNC in a statement on its website. “Chinese government has no desire to compromise, and the Partial Middle Way depends on China’s desire to compromise for its entire premise. All the power is ceded to Beijing and the Tibetan side is left permanently waiting and waiting.”
The group further stated that there is no hope for autonomy given the nature of the Chinese government and that only independence can guarantee Tibet’s future.
TNC also said that many self-immolators have called for independence (rangzen) or freedom (rangwang), but none have called for autonomy (rangkyong) and continued communist rule. Since 2009, 131 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet protesting against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies.
“Our first obligation is to listen to what Tibetans in Tibet are saying,” TNC said. “Isn’t it wrong for Tibetans on the outside to use the crisis to justify imposing a policy that not a single self-immolator has actually called for, and which actually betrays what most of them are calling for?”
The pro-independence group also clarified that advocating independence does not mean it is anti Dalai Lama and that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has publicly encouraged independence advocates to present their case to the Tibetan people. “Furthermore, the Middle Way actually depends on the existence of a viable Rangzen alternative, or else there is nothing to be in the “middle” of. There is no antagonism, since the Middle Way depends on Rangzen for its very definition.”
TNC further noted that supporting independence does not condemn the failure of Middle Way and called upon Tibetans to strengthen its internal capacity and renew Tibetan freedom struggle.
