Kalon Tripa addresses Tibetan Swiss Friendship Association’s Annual General Body meeting in Zurich.

Dear Brothers and sisters,It
is a great honor for me to participate in the General Assembly of the
Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Association and have the opportunity to share
with you some of my views and experiences. Swiss-Tibetan Friendship
Association is one of the oldest organizations for the Tibetan refugees
which has played an important role over the last half a century in not
only looking after the welfare of the Tibetan refugees settled in
Switzerland but also in preservation and promotion of Tibetan cultural
heritage, in strengthening the Tibetan struggle for achieving freedom
and genuine autonomy for all the Tibetan people and in promoting
awareness of Tibet issue in the Western world.  I deeply appreciate all
the efforts made by the past and present members of this Association. I
take this opportunity to express our gratitude on behalf of 6 million
people of Tibet to all of you and through you to the international
community in general and people of Switzerland in particular.
Switzerland was the first Western country to invite a large number of
Tibetan refugees for resettlement and these settlers have been the
happiest among the Tibetan Diaspora. They are able to lead a very happy
life with freedom and dignity and also able to help fellow Tibetans
living in India, Nepal and Bhutan. We will never forget the kindness of
Swiss people and government for their help offered when we were badly
in need of it.I have been asked to say a few words on the
democratic system practiced by Tibetans in exile and about the Tibet
Support Groups¹ (TSG) contribution to the Tibetan struggle and their
relevance in the future. Both of these subjects are very important but
these are vast and complex. Therefore, I don’t know how much justice I
can do to these topics. However, I will try.1. As far as the
system of democracy being practiced by Tibetans in Diaspora is
concerned, democracy is not a new concept or system for the Tibetan
people. Our apparent opening up to democratic functioning was not
prompted by the Chinese occupation of Tibet nor was it prodded by our
interface with the outside influence. In the first quarter of the
Twentieth Century, His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama had made lots of
efforts to democratize the political system of Tibet, much before the
present People’s Republic of China even came into existence. But he
couldn’t achieve much due to various internal resistance as well as
external factors. The present, 14th Dalai Lama, since his childhood and
long before taking over the temporal power, had an unmistakable will to
democratize Tibet. But unfortunately, by the time he was given the
reins of the country half of its territory was already occupied by
People’s Republic of China’s military force. In spite of this, for nine
long years, from 1950 to 1959, he tried his utmost to introduce many
measures and reforms towards democratization but every time these moves
were systematically thwarted by the Chinese military junta. It is only
in exile that he got the free hand to implement his vision.There
was but uniqueness about this transformation so characteristic of the
leader and his people. In our case, the Head of the State advocated
democratization and consequent relinquishing of his authority but the
people refused to accept it. Just contrast it with some of the
authoritarian, dictatorships of 20th Century. During the last fifty one
years of life in exile, His Holiness has gradually persuaded and
educated his people to adopt a democratic way of life and translate the
ideals into implementation so that what is achieved is a genuine
democracy and not mere lip service.The model of Tibetan
democracy is fundamentally different from the modern democratic
principles. The modern political systems all over the world, by and
large, are governed by the economic ideology of Capitalism or
Marxism/Socialism. The political systems are derived from these two
ideologies. Both of these ideologies are based on the potential
conflict with humanity and not on the potential of co-operation or
collaboration of the humanity. Marxism laid its foundation on the
concept of class struggle and Capitalism laid its foundation on the
concept of so called free and fair competition. Today’s democratic
system is based on capitalistic idea of individual rights and market
oriented economy. Tibetan Diaspora governance system is based on basic
principles of equality of all sentient beings on the basis of their
potential for unlimited development. Such equality can be established
in day to day living only through co-operation and not through
competition. Competition invariably leads to a form of confrontation or
struggle. Love and equality cannot be achieved through competition.
Whether in political system or in economic system, it prevents genuine
co-operation and collaboration. Realizing this aspect of human nature,
the Buddha had advocated a democracy free from sense of competition.
Such system was practiced in various Republics in ancient India such as
Vaishali during Buddha’s lifetime. Truly speaking, awakening of human
intelligence is the ultimate objective of the society. It creates a
level of rationality, which leads to unanimity ­ a state of harmony.Although
we do not deny the possibility of multiparty systems of democracy for
Tibetans in future, we strongly believe that a party less democracy is
possible in which each individual has freedom to deal with every issue
according to his or her wisdom without any imposition or any conditions
from groups or ideologies. The Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies
(Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile) is a living example of party less
democracy. It represents all Tibetans equally. There are no group
ideologies, programs, majority or minority. Domination of majority over
minority too is a kind of imposition of its views against the will of
the minority, far from an ideal situation in a democracy.Decentralization
of decision-making processes and implementation processes makes each
individual responsible and sovereign to think and to act. It enables
the individual to think globally and act locally. In our view, when a
few persons live at the cost of others it is totalitarianism. On the
other hand, the principle of ‘live and let live’ is ordinary democracy.
But, where everyone lives for the other is a model of democracy, and
this is what we are trying to achieve.An ideal democracy has to have three basic components:1. An enlightened leadership,2. Right philosophical ideology, and3. Enlightened and responsible peopleWe,
the Tibetans, fortunately possess the first two components and we are
striving hard to meet the third criteria. Plato spoke of ‘the
philosopher king’ and Bertrand Russel talked about ‘common will’. Both
these factors are embodied in essence in the person of the present
Dalai Lama, and in the Buddhist philosophy of non-violence and
interdependent origination which presents the perfect right view. Now,
only our people need to mature to usher in the ideal democracy.In
June 1991, a Charter for governance of Tibetan Diaspora received the
assent of His Holiness after it was duly approved by the XIth Assembly.
The Charter made the people sovereign and every organ of the government
– executive, legislative, judiciary and even the authority of His
Holiness – derived its power through the provisions enshrined in the
Charter. Although our Charter was drafted under the guidance of His
Holiness, its draft carries the nature of polity as secular and
therefore the entire Charter was drawn on that basis. But during the
debate in the Assembly the word ‘secular’ was substituted by the word
combination of ‘dharma and polity’. However, the basic structure of the
Charter remained unchanged. Thus we have a Charter based on secularism
without the word of ‘secular’. In our Charter the Assembly of Tibetan
People’s Deputies is the supreme although there is demarcation of
authority among legislative, executive and judiciary. The Assembly
alone has the power to withdraw the powers and functions of His
Holiness the Dalai Lama as Head of State and Head of Executive.
Similarly the Assembly can impeach the Kalon Tripa or the Kashag or the
Chief Justice Commissioner or Justice Commissioners. The other check
and balance provisions are similar to modern democratic systems.In
the beginning the Charter provided His Holiness to nominate candidates
for electing members of Kashag by the Assembly and thereafter the
Kalons shall elect Kalon Tripa from among themselves. This provision
was amended in the year 2001 and since then Kalon Tripa, the Head of
the Executive, is being directly elected by the people and he nominates
his colleagues with the approval of the Assembly. Since 2001, the
entire administrative and the political decisions are taken by the
elected Kalon Tripa and His Holiness remains a kind of figurehead. At
the present moment, His Holiness is actively considering to withdraw
himself completely from the ceremonial duties of exile administration
in order to make the process of democratization reach its ultimate
stage. For this the basic structure of the Charter needs further
amendment. The proposition of His Holiness has obviously alarmed the
Tibetan people inside Tibet and in Diaspora. But on the other hand His
Holiness appears to be quite resolute. I think this development will be
of a very important nature. It will be a turning point in the history
of Tibet’s polity and governance.2. As far as the Tibet Support
Groups’ (TSG) contribution to the Tibetan struggle and their relevance
in the future is concerned, His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us
constantly that this expression of international support has become the
fourth refuge in the political vocabulary of the Tibetan people. To
explain what he means, when Buddhists pray, they say, ‘I take refuge in
the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha’ and because of TSG’s
whole-hearted support, they have become the political refuge in our
struggle for survival as a people with a distinct culture and national
identity. The worldwide Tibet support movement is one of the unique
international coalition movements in the world. Devoted to the
universal values of truth, justice and freedom and to the spirit of
non-violence and reconciliation, this movement continues to attract and
inspire the imagination of thousands of talented individuals across the
globe. Their dedication and enthusiasm to the support of the Tibet
cause makes the Tibet movement worldwide one of the great movements of
non-violence in contemporary times. Their sustained and concerted
campaigns over the years have resulted in promoting the awareness of
the Tibetan issue all over the world and kept it as a burning topic and
mobilized governments and parliaments around the world to speak up for
the people of Tibet.The efforts and dedication of TSGs have
inspired a new generation of committed Tibetans in Tibet. They are
risking their lives to preserve Tibet’s spiritual and cultural heritage
by their non-violent resistance. The Tibetan people are blessed by this
expanding network of friends and supporters around the world. No other
cause however just, no other struggle however long, has been as blessed
as the Tibetan people by the commitment of these Support Groups. Thanks
to the work of Tibet Support Groups, the political cause of Tibet, and
the preservation and promotion of Tibet’s rich cultural and spiritual
heritage, specially the Tibetan Buddhist and cultural centers, have
remained alive on the agenda of world community.The nature of
entire Tibet Support Group movement is voluntary participation,
inspired by love for justice, by using their own time, resources and
energy with full awareness that no personal, political or material
benefit, whatsoever, could be gained for their tireless and unceasing
effort. Therefore, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama always says that
Tibet Support Groups should not be considered as pro-Tibet or
anti-China. They are rather pro-justice and anti-injustice.The
Tibet Support Groups consist of multi-faceted groups of experts and
professionals in the fields of human rights, environment, development,
culture and religion and so forth. Some TSGs work for the overall
improvement of the human rights situation in Tibet. These include
efforts to highlight cases of individual prisoners of conscience and
their eventual release and documenting the atrocities committed on
them. Other TSGs produce a constant stream of high quality research
work on the negative impact of ill conceived development works in
Tibet, and on its culture and people. Some focus on the expanding
railway line, rampant mining, indiscriminate deforestation, forced
resettlement of nomads in permanent structures on the grasslands and
the growing expansion of Chinese settlement on the Tibetan plateau and
their negative impact on the fragile environment of Tibet.Then,
there is another aspect to the Tibet Support movement. This aspect is
the Tibetan Buddhist centers, academic institutions for Tibetan studies
and Tibetan cultural centers. These Tibetan cultural centers attract an
ever-expanding circle of devout friends for Tibet in every corner of
the globe, every year. This component is important for us because the
activities of these centers ensure that Tibet’s spiritual and cultural
heritage can and will survive outside of Tibet. These centers also
reflect the abiding relevance of Tibetan culture and spirituality. That
an expanding international civil society, beholden to no one, no
government, no sovereign, flourishes is an eloquent message of the
international community’s recognition of the universal values of
compassion and non-violence inherited by the Tibetan people from
ancient India. This I feel gives us the confidence to say that with or
without the Tibetan people, their culture and the values that underpin
it will be cherished by the world. This is because Tibetan culture
speaks not just the language of the Tibetan people. It speaks the
universal language of humanity.The Tibetan people’s movement
for our cultural survival is invigorated by the fact that an increasing
number of our Chinese brothers and sisters are embracing it.
Appreciation of the values of Tibetan culture is growing amongst the
Chinese, both in and outside of Mainland China. We are deeply grateful
to many brave Chinese individuals and organizations in China for
speaking up for the Tibetan people in the aftermath of the brutal
crackdown on the widespread and peaceful protests in 2008 that called
for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to
his homeland. Many of these individuals organized an open letter
expressing their support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way
policy and called on the Chinese government to stop its propaganda
against Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.Today most of the
state powers are only concerned for economic gains. People’s Republic
of China (PRC) is not only emerging as an economic giant but also an
unlimited market for every product. Therefore, usually state powers are
adopting a policy of appeasement towards PRC and consider Tibet issue
an unnecessary irritant in their relationship with PRC. If strong
public opinion in these democratic countries were not created by Tibet
Support Groups, all these governments of various countries would have
chosen to push aside the Tibet issue long ago and our movement would
have become difficult to sustain. Today, if most of the governments
have to entertain the Tibet voice, it is because their own public
opinion demands it. This, indeed, is an enormous, effective and result
oriented contribution the TSGs have made to the Tibetan struggle.I
have touched just a few important aspects of their contribution but
couldn’t recount exhaustively because it is so large and so varied.The
Tibet Support Groups remain more relevant than ever before since the
Tibetans are passing through a most difficult period ever since the
year 2008 uprising in Tibet. Coming few years will not only be very
critical but most important period for the future of Tibetan people as
rapid changes will take place in socio-economic and political spheres
of the world in general and PRC in particular. The repressive measures
adopted by the PRC authorities and the tolerance and patience of
Tibetan people both have reached the threshold of their limits. Thus it
is not a time to feel fatigue and give up. Each one of us who cares for
the just cause of Tibet must revitalize ourselves, sharpen our focus,
consolidate our action, repackage the whole movement and a final and
forceful push be given to achieve the desired result. It is for this
all the TSG’s dedicated themselves for over five decades.To conclude, I feel the following four-point program for Tibetans and Tibet supporters is important:1. To successfully generate a culture of non- violence within ourselves;2.
To be prepared to struggle for the Tibet problem, even if it takes many
generations before we succeed. Younger and new generations of Tibetans
and Tibet Support groups should be ever ready to carry on the
responsibilities until we regain our genuine autonomy;3. Should the
Tibet problem be resolved in the near future, to be prepared to
shoulder the responsibilities of rebuilding and sustaining a
non-violent new Tibetan society; and4. To maintain the sacred traditions and identity of Tibet in all circumstances.Thank you. Jai Jagat.