Columns/Reviews |
D’SHALA DIARY: The three editors of DIIR
Wednesday, 13 June 2007, 1:41 p.m.
By Thubten Samphel
Tendar la passed away last Saturday. |
ONE GAVE HIS life to his work at the Department of Information and International Relations. The other two were associated with the department indirectly, indirectly so far as Tibetan Review which both of them edited with such distinction was financed by the department in their days. All three passed away at a relatively young age. One was a distinguished academic, the other an acerbic editor and the third an unassuming but an outstanding translator. All three contributed to creating the public domain and civil space in which today’s Tibetan NGOs can air their views on the burning issues of the day, without fear or favour.
Because these days the small Tibetan community in exile is flooded with magazines, newspapers and Tibet-related Internet news channels, there is a tendency to forget the role played by Tibetan Review in pushing the limit of public debate on the concerns of the exile community. His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his wisdom granted the Tibetan exiles their democratic rights. It was Tibetan Review which pushed these rights to the furthest possible limit, sometimes to the outrage of Dharamsala. The fact that these days Tibetan NGOs or, for that matter, any Tibetan with a contrary and brilliant opinion on the hot topic of the day, can coolly express their views and be none the worse for it is because of the culture of outspokenness established by Tibetan Review.
Professor Dawa Norbu (read article) and Tsering Wangyal (read article), the editors of Tibetan Review, were legends in their lifetimes. Apart from his uncompromising editorship of Tibetan Review, Professor Dawa Norbu has many seminal books on Tibet to his credit. Among his many works, Red Star Over Tibet, Tibet: The Road Ahead, and his
Prof. Dawa Norbu passed away on 28 May 2006. |
masterpiece, China’s Tibet Policy will continue to inform generations to come of their understanding of the nature of Chinese rule in Tibet. Tsering Wangyal, or Editor as he was famously known, continued the fearless tradition of Dawa Norbu. Tibetan Review under his boisterous editorship continued to serve as a forum for some of the most riveting debates on issues of common concern.
Less well known is the role played by Tendar-la. This is because he was so self-effacing. But like Dawa Norbu and Tsering Wangyal, Tendar-la had the same vigour and passion of pounding on his computer keyboard. Under his management and editorship, the Department of Information and International Relations brought out some of its best publications.
Tsering Wangyal passed away on 24 November 2000. |
Along with his equally gifted colleagues, Tendar-la brought out the Department’s Tibet Under Communist China: 50 Years, a book which examines in detail all the pressing issues Tibetans in Tibet face. The book’s contribution to our understanding of China’s aims and purposes in Tibet is particularly rich in the context of Tibet’s use to the mother country as a source of raw resources. Tibet Under Communist China: 50 Years gives an exhaustive account of this change of attitude of Beijing to Tibet. Earlier communist China looked at Tibet more from a geopolitical and security perspective. Now coupled with this enduring reason for staying put in Tibet, an economically vibrant China looks to Tibet as the best source for coastal China’s galloping demand for energy, fuel and water. The devastating impact of this change of attitude towards Tibet is already felt in Tibet as Tibetans, enable to compete with the more skilled Chinese settlers, are becoming increasingly marginalised by the forces of globalisation. Having lost their country, Tibetans in increasing number are losing their jobs. All this is revealed in 50 Years.
Perhaps, Tendar-la’s best contribution to his work at the department was his skills as a translator. In fact, he was the department’s resident translator. His translation works from Tibetan into English include some great publications like Tibet and the Manchus, Tibet and the Mongols and From the Heart of the Panchen Lama, a collection of statements of the late Panchen Lama. It was not only the department which benefited from his skills as a translator. His service was widely sought within the community. The meticulous background research he did on any text he was translating, the choice of his words, the startling turn of phrase and the clarity of his interpretation of the Tibetan text, all made Tendar-la a great translator.
To all three of them, the Tibetan community in exile owe a debt of gratitude.