Thursday, March 14, 2013

Tibetan Uprising Day Reminds Us


(HuffPost)


Rajiv Malhotra
Author- 'Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism'

More than a half century ago, on March 10th, 1959, Tibetans revolted against the Chinese military occupation of Tibet that began in 1951. The revolt ended badly for the Tibetans who suffered from a brutal Chinese crackdown. This caused the Dalai Lama, with the help of the CIA, to flee with his supporters to India. On March 31, 1959, after a grueling 15-day journey across the Himalayas on foot, the Dalai Lama escaped from the Chinese and crossed over to India along with 80,000 Tibetans. Ever since then, March 10th has been commemorated as Tibetan Uprising Day with worldwide protest marches to mobilize support for the Tibetan cause.

Even as desperate self-immolations among Tibetans still living in Tibet have increased in the past few years, there seem to be no signs whatsoever of China relenting on its cultural genocide there. At a time when movements like the Arab Spring get mainstream media attention, it is unfortunate that the struggle of the Tibetans seems to be slipping from public consciousness.

Unlike the hot spots of the Middle East, Tibet lacks a natural resource like oil that powerful nations would fight over. The peaceful nature of the Tibetan struggle, unlike agitations in the Islamic world, has certainly generated goodwill for the Tibetans. But since they do not pose a security threat to the rest of the world as exporters of terror or nukes, it seems safe to simply look the other way. China's growing clout and persistence has gradually worn down the uprising, and Tibetans' support base among Western leaders is muted. Tragically, today's youth in the West seem generally less passionate to get involved than the youth of the 60s.

One wonders what lies in store for this movement. With the Dalai Lama aging, the Chinese know that time is on their side and are willing to wait it out. Without a new Tibetan leader of comparable charisma, they hope to accentuate internal clashes among rival Tibetan groups, offer carrots to some ambitious leaders, and use classic divide-and-conquer tactics to finish off the movement. Meanwhile, in Tibet, the land and sacred geography are being rapidly turned into secular tourist attractions under the ultimate control of the communists, and repopulated by the ethnic Han Chinese. Tibetan culture is becoming transformed by China, and "digested" into Mandarin identity.

While this should be a concern for the entire world, India and the U.S. should worry the most. India's mightiest rivers (Brahmaputra, Ganga and Indus) all originate in Tibet, and China has started an ambitious project of rapidly building at least 20 hydroelectric dams in Tibet, each with the potential to divert water away from India and into China. Quenching China's thirst will come at the expense of India where droughts will result in many areas. I had predicted this scenario many years ago before it was fashionable to consider it, but only recently has this suddenly become a hot topic.

Tibet is also the military base for China's nuclear arsenal aimed at India, giving China the ability to reach India within minutes from launch. Tibet is the route through which the China-Pakistan links are transporting military and other goods through modern highways, railroads and pipelines. This enables China to gain access to the Indian Ocean ports that are located in Pakistan, and Pakistan gets instant assistance from China in any conflict with India. Indeed, if Tibet could be neutral, autonomous and demilitarized, the India/Pakistan security situation would have the potential to be more easily resolved as a bilateral rather than trilateral one.
For the United States, China is its main rival and competitor in all spheres, a fact known and understood to both. While China has never hid its intentions, the U.S. has lacked a determined plan to address this. Tibet is China's path for the critical trade routes of the Indian Ocean, the Central Asian oil and gas reserves, and the rich ASEAN countries to the south.

As an example of its myopic foreign policy, the U.S. isolated Myanmar for many years on the grounds of human rights violations, which hurt mostly the poor people of Myanmar rather than the military junta. This played right into the hands of the Chinese. Had the improvement of human rights been the honest motive, the U.S. would have adopted similar measures against China where the human rights violations have been on a far larger scale. Myanmar was simply an easy target to get rid of American guilt and to show muscle. Thus China got a decade of monopoly in Myanmar which it used to solidify long term strategic control over Myanmar's resources and privileged access routes to the Indian Ocean. Tibet is again strategically located to make this possible.

The Tibetans themselves can also do much more than they have. For one thing, they must urgently initiate the rise of a new face on the world stage under the mentoring of the Dalai Lama. The Karmapa is one such young, charismatic leader with a deep grounding in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and sharp intellect. Unfortunately, he remains largely confined in India. According to some sources, the Indian government is unsure if he a Chinese plant -- like a Manchurian Candidate. This matter needs to get urgently resolved rather than after the Dalai Lama is gone from the scene. It is best to let the next generation of leadership become active internationally, and be tested in all respects while the Dalai Lama is able to mentor and watch over the transition.

We should not count on a change of heart among the next generation of Chinese. For China has done a good job in its education system to indoctrinate its youth to view Tibet as an integral part of China, and to demonize the independence movement as a conspiracy by hostile foreign powers with the top Tibetan leaders as co-conspirators.

The odds against Tibet are indeed heavy on such a loaded chessboard. But many other struggles also seemed hopeless in the past. I wish the Tibetan movement finds new champions among the youth of all countries.

Germany bans three Salafist groups as anti-democratic

(The Star Online)


German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich addresses a news conference after a meeting with German state Interior Ministers in Rostock December 5, 2012. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry said wanted to overturn democracy and install a system based on sharia, or Islamic law.
The ban, which took effect in the western states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the early morning, is the latest step taken by German authorities who have increased surveillance of Salafists who espouse a radical version of Islam.

The ministry said it has banned the organisations "DawaFFM" and "Islamische Audios", as well as "An-Nussrah", which is part of the "Millatu Ibrahim" group that was outlawed in June.
Some 20 people were searched and assets belonging to the organisations were seized, said the ministry.
"Salafism, as represented in the associations that were banned today, is incompatible with our free democratic order," Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said in a statement.
"(The groups) aim to change our society in an aggressive, belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law."
Germany is home to roughly 4,000 Salafists. They make up only a tiny proportion of the total Muslim population of about 4 million.
Friedrich said the step was part of efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right government to promote a tolerant and respectful relationship with the large number of peaceful Muslims in Germany.
Last year a series of violent clashes between police and Salafists, sometimes goaded by far-right anti-Islam protesters, near the western cities of Cologne and Bonn raised fears about growing militancy among an underclass of Muslim youths.

Profile: Pope Francis

(BBC)


Gavin Hewitt looks at the life and work of the new Pope
Born in Argentina, Pope Francis is the first Latin American to lead the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the first Jesuit.

"It seems my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world" to choose a pope, he told the crowd in St Peter's Square in his first address - a joke which belied his image as the cardinal who never smiles.

Up until 13 March, he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.

Analysts did not see him as a favourite for the job of succeeding Benedict XVI and his advanced age - at 76, he is just two years younger than Benedict at the time of his election in 2005 - may have surprised those expecting a younger man as the 266th Pope.

However, he appeals to both Church conservatives and reformers, being seen as orthodox on sexual matters, for instance, but liberal on social justice - through far from being a "liberation theologist".

Humble lifestyle
He was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, of Italian descent.

According to his official Vatican biography, he was ordained as a Jesuit in 1969 and went on to study in Argentina and Germany.

Continue reading the main story
Who are the Jesuits?

The Society of Jesus is a male order of the Catholic Church, with 19,000 members worldwide
It was established in 16th Century Europe as a missionary order and members swear vows of poverty, chastity and obedience
The order became so powerful that it was suppressed at the end of the 18th Century but later restored
Have reputation as expert communicators
He became a bishop in 1992 and Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. At the 2005 conclave, he was seen as a contender for the papacy.

His election took many by surprise in his home city, where many had thought his age ruled him out, says the BBC's Marcia Carmo in Buenos Aires.

But any surprise soon gave way to the jubilant blaring of car horns on the streets.

As Cardinal Bergoglio, his sermons always had an impact in Argentina and he often stressed social inclusion, indirectly criticising governments that did not pay attention to those on the margins of society, our correspondent says.

Francesca Ambrogetti, who co-authored a biography of him, told Reuters news agency that part of his public appeal lay in his "sober and austere" humble lifestyle.

"That's the way he lives," she said. "He travels on the underground, the bus, when he goes to Rome he flies economy class."

In Buenos Aires, he lived in a simple flat in the building of the Archdiocese.

When in Rome, BBC Latin America analyst Eric Camara writes, he often preferred to keep his black robe on, instead of the cardinal's red and purple vest he is entitled to wear.

He is also said to have re-used the cardinal's vest used by his predecessor.

Continue reading the main story

From a humble background in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has risen to the head of the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Francis. We look at key moments in his life and career so far.
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According to a profile in the UK's Guardian newspaper, when he was appointed a cardinal in 1998, he urged Argentines not to travel to Rome to celebrate but to give their money to the poor instead.

'Balancing force'
According to Ms Ambrogetti, he is a moderate in all things.

"He is absolutely capable of undertaking the necessary renovation without any leaps into the unknown," she said.

"He would be a balancing force. He shares the view that the Church should have a missionary role, that gets out to meet people... a church that does not so much regulate the faith as promote and facilitate it."

For the Church establishment, it will be a novelty to have a Jesuit in charge - members are supposed to avoid ecclesiastical honours and serve the Pope himself.

Continue reading the main story
Pope Francis

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 (age 76) in Buenos Aires, of Italian descent
Ordained as a Jesuit in 1969
Studied in Argentina, Chile and Germany
Became Cardinal of Buenos Aires in 1998
Seen as orthodox on sexual matters but strong on social justice
First Latin American and first Jesuit to become pope, the 266th to lead the Church
As a Jesuit, he is a member of perhaps the most powerful and experienced religious order of the Catholic Church, known as expert communicators, writes David Willey, the BBC's Rome correspondent.

It appears that few who know him doubt his conservative credentials.

This is how Monsignor Osvaldo Musto, who was at seminary with him, described him in a BBC News article back in 2005: "He's as uncompromising as Pope John Paul II, in terms of the principles of the Church - everything it has defended regarding euthanasia, the death penalty, abortion, the right to life, human rights, celibacy of priests."

His views have been put to the test in Argentina, the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage with a President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who promotes free contraception and artificial insemination.

When he argued that gay adoptions discriminated against children, the president said his tone harked back to "medieval times and the Inquisition".

However, she welcomed the election to the papacy of a fellow countryman, noting his choice of name appeared to be "in reference to St Francis of Assisi, the saint of the poor" and boded well for unifying "all humans as equal, with fellowship, with love, with justice and equity".

Aside from his universal significance, the former cardinal appears to be a strong Argentine patriot, telling Argentine veterans of the Falklands War at a Mass last year: "We come to pray for all who have fallen, sons of the Homeland who went out to defend their mother, the Homeland, and to reclaim what is theirs."

Junta years
One subject of controversy is his role under the Argentine military dictatorship of 1976-1983, and particularly the abduction of two Jesuits secretly jailed by the military government, suspicious of their work among slum-dwellers.

As the priests' Provincial Superior at the time, he was accused of having failed to shield them from arrest. It is a charge his office flatly denies.

Quoting his official biographer, Sergio Rubin, AP news agency writes in its profile of the new Pope: "Both men were freed after Bergoglio took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action to save them. His intervention likely saved their lives."

Another accusation levelled against him from the "Dirty War" era is that he failed to follow up a request to help find the baby of a woman kidnapped when five months' pregnant pregnant and killed in 1977. It is believed the baby was illegally adopted.


Here is Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a priest in 1973
The cardinal testified in 2010 that he had not known about baby thefts until well after the junta fell - a claim relatives dispute.

"Bergoglio has a very cowardly attitude when it comes to something so terrible as the theft of babies," said the baby's aunt, Estela de la Cuadra. "He doesn't face this reality and it doesn't bother him."

Like other Latin American churchmen of the time, he had to contend, on the one hand, with a repressive right-wing regime and, on the other, a wing of his Church leaning towards political activism on the left.

During Argentina's economic crisis of 2001, Cardinal Bergoglio protested at police brutality during the unrest which saw President Fernando de la Rua swept from power.

"We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least," he was quoted as saying by the National Catholic Reporter at a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007.

"The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers."

One issue for the Vatican may be the state of the new pope's health. He lives with only one lung, since having the other removed as young man because of an infection. Nonetheless, he is said to be in good shape.

He is said to be a football fan, supporting Buenos Aires team San Lorenzo de Almagro.

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