Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Seventeenth Anniversary of the Tibetan
National Uprising Day, 10 March 1976
Seventeen years have passed since the Tibetans began their just
struggle for their inherent rights of Tibetan national independence. On
this Anniversary Day, I remember with gratitude and reverence all those
Tibetans who have sacrificed and who are continuing to sacrifice
everything they hold dear for this supreme cause.
Realisation and promotion of the national interest and the national
aspirations of the broad masses in Tibet is the cause and objective
determining our struggle for Tibetan freedom. Being subjected to
coercion and restrictions under enemys rule, the large masses of
Tibetan people have no freedom of movement. Physically, they are
afflicted with gnawing hunger and thirst, and the situation is such
that when they meet and converse, they invariably first talk of food
difficulties. However, the Tibetan people, not content with the sweet
Chinese slogan of “equality and progress” and unmindful of the
oppression and suppression, hunger and thirst unleashed by the enemy,
are locked in waging an unceasing revolt against tyranny and
oppression. With courage that knows no frontier of defeat, and
sacrifice of their very life-breath, our people are continuing to
create a situation of desperate tension and crisis for the Chinese.
They are doing this for the fulfilment of the cherished goal of Tibetan
freedom.
If our brethren in Tibet are waging such a glorious struggle, and that
too against such odds and risks, surely it behoves those of us who are
in exile to work with greater zeal and perseverance and without regret
so that our brethren in Tibet are speedily emancipated from the
anguished torments, and the common cause of the Tibetan freedom, which
is a cherished goal of all Tibetans, is realised. Doesnt it become all
the more emphatic when we realise that those of us who are in the free
countries of the world are free from the sufferings to which our people
in Tibet are being subjected?
In this twentieth century, the world has witnessed the rise of the sun
of equal freedom. People of many nations are enjoying the warmth of
freedom which they did not have before. In ancient times, we Tibetans
were known for our high degree of civilisation and courage in all Asia.
Should we always remain slaves of the barbarous, suffering under their
cruel domination?
The snowland of Tibet is blessed with a bountiful natural wealth, and
rich natural beauty. Should this country of ours be converted into a
war-machinery manufacturing fortress, and the Tibetan people, its
rightful owners, reduced to the status of criminals perpetually
subjected to oppression and humiliation?
By virtue of our secular Karma, we Tibetans have been endowed with
priceless mineral resources of gold, copper, iron, oil, gas, coal and
lead. Do you wish to allow the barbarous brigands who have no right
whatsoever, to plunder and cart away these resources of ours as they
are doing now?
My countrymen, beware of the yawning chasms! Forgetting the enemy who
invaded and wrested the country, you indulge in squabbles and
factionalism. Discarding the thoughts and motives to promote the
interest of the larger masses of ones own people, you seek and work to
promote your own interest only. Refusing to recognise the grave
economic situation that the Tibetan people are in, you desire and
emulate luxury life-style of other rich people. These are unhealthy
trends and matters of serious concern. So, give a thought to these
seriously.
Turning to the situation that the enemy is in, a time has now come when
they are being reluctantly forced to admit the one and hundred acts of
omissions and commissions they perpetrated in utter violation of their
own documentary and oral commitments, their own principles and
ideology.
All worldly phenomena are characterised by the inherent nature of
arising, developing and passing away. Does it not behoves us to wrestle
with greater vigour and determination for the recovery of our rights,
taking advantage of the ripe conditions and the timely opportunities?
Every year we commemorate the March Tenth Anniversary Day. This we do
neither for gay pageantry and pleasure nor is this forced upon us by
others. This solemn occasion is a time for uplifting ones spirit for
rethinking and summarising the present plight of the Tibetan people.
Reminding ourselves of these, we should strive with renewed dedication
and determination for freeing the Tibetan people from the present
plight, and for realising the ultimate objective of Tibetan national
freedom.
Banish the sense of timidity, lethargy and the effort to evade
hardships. Cultivate and develop the spirit of complete self-reliance.
Volunteer for challenges and hardships. Work with devotion and with
pleasure in the sense that it is in your own interest, and above all,
in unity for achieving the goal of national freedom of the Tibetan
people.
The Dalai Lama
March 10, 1976
