Matt April 24th, 2008

Seeing how a certain country has been doing a swell job of keeping Tibet in the news lately, I bring to you this work of “journalism” done by Columbia student Christina Liu. Please note, I am pasting the entirety of the story in this post as the story has been retracted, for obvious reasons.

If You Want a Free Tibet, Know What You’re Fighting For
Free Tibet. If it is not ubiquitous now, it will be by tomorrow morning. The flyers and headlines are everywhere. I hear them everyday, from the television, from across the table. They are questions of independence, of righteousness, and of humanity. Columbia Students for a Free Tibet, in conjunction with NYU, staged a protest last week in support of the cause. Another event is already set for later this week. The Columbia Web site featured a link last week to a professor specializing in Tibetan affairs. The Dalai Lama recently graced the cover of Time. CNN.com featured over 100 articles relating to Tibet in the last month alone.

In light of recent violent confrontations between the Chinese army and Tibetan citizenry, the Western world has offered its support to the Buddhist territory. While the conflict in Tibet has been ongoing for some years, escalating acts of violence have forced it into the international limelight. Student groups and media outlets demand independence for a place and a society of which they have little understanding. The associations are only natural. What could a monk seek but peace—what could a religious figure preach but love and acceptance?

Many Western supporters of the Tibetan cause identify the Dalai Lama as a figure to be revered, and with good reason. The Dalai Lamas have taken care to craft an image of monastic bliss. The 14th Dalai Lama was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Yet while the Dalai Lamas have received much praise over the years, the history of the title is far from pristine. One Dalai Lama has admitted to having sex with a hundred men and women, knowing all the while that he had AIDS. His predecessor was abusive, forcing his students to perform acts against their will. The public praise and the private follies of the Dalai Lamas of the past and present construct a troublesome and hypocritical image of the Tibetan leader.

Supporters and protesters brazenly argue for the Tibetan people’s right to live under their own rules and beliefs, but these beliefs are not all peaceful. Ritualistically, women were seen as impure, inferior, and a temptation for monks. Many monks participated in the dismemberment of female bodies. As a result of these beliefs, orders of nuns were often unable to develop, and remain subordinate even today.

Until recently, the Tibetan legal system was plagued with cruel and unusual punishment. Since killing was forbidden, jailors often resorted to torture. Prisoners could serve any number of punishments, including the loss of the eyes, tongue, and other limbs. Major monasteries also contained dungeons comparable to those of the Middle Ages, often decorated with human limbs. As the legal system functioned on wealth and status, an offender charged with murder could provide the surviving family with monetary compensation, allowing the wealthy to escape a physical sentence.

While the teachings of the Dalai Lama promote peace, the history of Tibet itself is far more sinister. The clash itself remains complicated and ambiguous. Both sides rely heavily on the use of historical facts as the foundation of their arguments: Tibet should be independent because it has always been so. Tibet should not be independent because it has never been so. China dates sovereignty over Tibet back to the Yuan Dynasty. Tibet, on the other hand, believes that China stole their independence in the 1950s. The differing views lead to violence and riots that have no doubt incited much suffering and pain.

Whether Tibet deserves independence is up for debate. What is not, however, is having a complete understanding of the side one takes. The effects of this dispute make one thing brashly clear. Suddenly, freedom is not a prized value but instead a knee-jerk reaction. In the Western nations’ hasty move to remake the world in the name of freedom and democracy, we find that people often suffer more than they gain. The international community is still buzzing in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion. “Freedom must be had,” the US government cried as it charged into the Middle East. No one is charging this time, but the battle cries can be heard loud and clear.

The central conflict lies between China and Tibet, but the moral conflict rests with foreign supporters of Tibetan independence. We, as outsiders, have the responsibility not to unwittingly follow the banner of liberation, the same banner that led us so recently into the Middle East. Columbia Students for a Free Tibet address each other as “freedom fighters.” The insurgents in Iraq also share this revered name. While America remains knee-deep in the atrocities of Iraq, we seem no more hesitant to cry for freedom. In the Iraq war, our ignorance was imposed. With Tibet, our ignorance, to whatever degree, will be deliberate.

Independence alone does not put right those who fight for it. The complications of Iraq and similar situations prove that ideals of liberation and independence demand careful consideration. Using them blindly as banners unnecessarily jeopardizes lives, and devalues what should be our most prized possessions. The invasion and subjugation of Tibet may not be justified, but neither is unquestioning support of a society yet to be fully understood. It is simply not enough to know what one is fighting against, but also what one is fighting for. Whatever side of the line we choose to fall on, we should choose with understanding.

Believe it or not, Liu is majoring in American studies not English Lit - a waste of talent as she sure knows how to tell a story.

Even better? Some Dalai Lama slash fiction posted as the first comment:

Removing this article is the outrage, here. Years ago, on a trip to Tibet, I was at a small local tavern frequented by sherpas. Outside were tied the yaks and, inside, I sipped a warm mug of fermented yak milk by the fire as the playful sherpas frolicked and gamboled about.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I felt a tug on my elbow and I turned to find a small, shriveled man in an orange robe staring intently at me with his dark, smoky eyes. After a few minutes of chitchat, we quickly worked out a deal where I would go back to his palace.

In an austere room, the Dalai Lama and I made sweaty, passionate love on a wooden pallet, me caressing his smooth, shiny head and him using his rough, gnarled hands to stroke my flaxen tresses with the strength of a raging yeti.

After he summated my Everest, we both lay there on our backs on the hard wooden make-shift bed, panting and listening to the howling winds outside. Then he handed me my clothes and said, “Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga.”

“Hey, Lama, hey, about a little something, you know? For the effort?” I asked.

And he just looked at me and said, “Oh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.”

It wasn’t until I got back to the States that I discovered I had contracted HIV from him. But at least, on my deathbed, I’ll receive total consciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice.”

Manny

In case you missed a few of Manny’s references (as this person is clearly a masterful commentator) these should help.

Thanks for the tip, Fipi Lele!

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