A rchive Date
[ 02-05-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Tibet ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Ian_Robinson/2004/05/02/444084.html
Dalai Lama needs to inflict a little suffering
By Ian Robinson - Calgary Sun
Sun, May 2, 2004
Maybe I'm the only one, but the adulation of the Dalai Lama bugs me.
I know, I know. He's saintly, the living embodiment of a people's god, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. You look at him for a while, see the beatifically beaming, lined face, listen to the snippets of wisdom that fall from his mouth with the frequency of rain, what's not to like?
If he'd only start speaking backwards, he'd be Yoda for crying out loud - except that he doesn't have puppeteer Frank Oz's hand lodged somewhere uncomfortable ... and he doesn't have a light sabre.
Which is the problem.
For 45 years, this man has wandered around the world claiming moral high ground in the hopes the brutal regime in Beijing will eventually see the light and end its ruthless occupation of Tibet.
There's not much to show for those 45 years. Occupying the moral high ground in contrast to Chinese communists isn't hard. Compared to the Chinese communists, pretty much everybody has the moral high ground, with the exception of al-Qaida and the people trying to sell you the extended warranty on anything.
In 1950, 40,000 Red Chinese troops swarmed across the Tibetan border and conquered Tibet's 8,000-strong army. Personally, if I was living next door to a thug like Mao Zedong I'd want more than 8,000 guys under arms. Even the Canadian Armed Forces does better than that, and it's the neglected red-headed stepchild of this nation. But maybe that's just me.
As Tibet was being conquered, the Dalai Lama, 16 at the time, was invested with all the powers of the head of state for Tibet. Eventually he fled and many tens of thousands of his people were massacred, holy temples destroyed, and an ongoing assault launched upon an ancient culture that lasts until this day.
Tibetans suffer under a brutal and vicious regime.
And since then the Dalai Lama has ... smiled. Shaken hands. Written a bunch of books. Given Richard Gere something vaguely wholesome to occupy his off-hours. Been widely quoted in late-night conversations that usually include the phrases: "Dude, it's like that Lama guy says ..." and "Man, I can't believe you scarfed down all the Doritos."
It's interesting to note the Afghan mujahadeen - infinitely less photogenic than the Dalai Lama and with fewer public relations skills than Michael Jackson - managed to muster enough non-moral support (read: AK-47s and shoulder-fired Stinger missiles) to successfully kick the Russian bear out of their country.
Nobody really thought they could, but giving guns to anybody who wanted to kill Communists made sense to Ronald Reagan. And to the mujahadeen, seizing the moral high ground just meant you had a nice perch from which to massacre your enemies.
It's also interesting to note Tibet - mountainous with lots of places for guerrillas to hide, with a rich, vibrant, unifying religious culture - looks a lot like Afghanistan.
In accepting the Nobel Prize, the Dalai Lama said: "The suffering of our people during the past 40 years of occupation is well-documented. Ours has been a long struggle. We know our cause is just. Because violence can only breed more violence and suffering, our struggle must remain non-violent and free of hatred. We are trying to end the suffering of our people, not inflict suffering upon others."
But what if inflicting suffering on others is usually the best and only real way to end the torment of innocent people - sometimes benefitting the people who've been doing the inflicting too?
Germany and Japan spring to mind. South African apartheid didn't end because that racist government decided spontaneously that it was wrong. It ended because decades of sanctions, guerrilla war and internal insurrection had inflicted sufficient suffering on the ruling elites that their way of life was no longer sustainable.
They'd still be feeding live human beings into wood chippers in Saddam Hussein's dungeons if the Americans, reeling from the aftermath of 9/11 and fear of weapons of mass destruction, hadn't used force to depose him.
The time for the Dalai Lama to be a useful, worldly instrument for his people's salvation is long gone.
Western nations are either pre-occupied with the terrorist threat or so economically entangled with Red China that the butchers of Beijing dared to lecture our own prime minister against receiving the Dalai Lama during his recent Canadian visit. Which is, of course, one of the hidden prices in buying cheap Chinese goods.
So what the Dalai Lama is left with is ... mere celebrity. He's admired for his pacifism and the fact this Yoda doesn't carry a light sabre.
Problem is, without his light sabre - and his willingness to use it - Yoda's just another muppet
Letters to the editor should be sent to: callet@calgarysun.com Home Page
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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