These conditions cannot be acceptable to any self-respecting Tibetan. His Holiness has toned down his original demand by agreeing to accept autonomy for Tibet without insisting on independence. The Chinese are not prepared to make any concessions and are waiting for the day when His Holiness will be no more and they can proclaim the installation of the CPC-designated Dalai Lama and the end of the Tibetan problem
But, the problem is showing no signs of ending and it is unlike to end even if the Chinese succeed in their machinations. Despite undoubted economic progress in Tibet, the Tibetans’ devotion to His Holiness and their attachment to their culture, religion and self-respect remain as strong as ever. It is so among the Tibetans living in exile as well as among those living in China under severe Chinese repression. It is so among the older generation of Tibetans as among the GenNext.
The new generation of Tibetans growing to adulthood in exile as well as in the Tibetan areas of China, many of whom in China have never even met His Holiness, is determined to see that the Tibetan cause will not perish and that the Tibetans will once again be masters of their culture, religion and destiny. There is a rare unity among the Tibetan monks and the lay people in keeping the cause alive.
This is not an externally-motivated and orchestrated movement. It is a spontaneous, self-motivated and self-generated movement. The continuing reports of self-immolation by monks and lay people—many of them from the new generation— speak of the high level of self-motivation of young individuals. There have been 46 instances of self-immolation since March last year—most of them from Sichuan where the Kirti monastery, the epicentre of the neo-Tibetan resistance movement started— and some from the Gansu province and the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region. The latest to self-immolate on August 7 was a 26-year-old Tibetan mother of two children in the Gansu province. These are the young heroes of the neo-Tibetan resistance movement who have been bravely keeping the movement alive by sacrificing their lives.
For the Tibetan cause to prevail, it is important for it to have global support—moral and material. In a world increasingly dependent on China for economic prosperity and peace and harmony, this global support has been increasingly tentative and hesitant. The older generation, which used to support His Holiness and the Tibetan cause, remains steadfast in its support.
The older generation of supporters like me and countless others in India and other countries will soon be passing away. The new generation has to come forward to express its solidarity with the GenNext of Tibetans and encourage them in their attempts to keep their cause alive. In the Western countries, particularly in the US, many young people have been expressing their moral support to the Tibetan cause. But, unfortunately in India, the younger generation is showing dwindling interest in the Tibetan cause. This has to be reversed.