Column: Sharing Tibet's dream

Antara Dev Sen is Editor of The Little Magazine, an independent publication devoted to essays, literature and criticism on social concerns and issues neglected by mainstream media (www.littlemag.com). Sen has earlier worked as a senior editor with The Hindustan Times and The Indian Express, among other assignments. She can be contacted at sen@littlemag.com

Phew! The Olympic Torch relay went off okay in Delhi — no snuffing out the flame like in Paris, no major ruckus like in London, no misleading the people with decoys like in San Francisco. Delhi just closed almost every road near Rajpath, where the Olympic Flame was to be paraded, pulled out all the stops in security arrangements, kept the general public at bay and heaved a huge sigh of relief when it was over.

Unfortunately, this symbolic torch run gave out confusing signals. It was a claustrophobic little stroll, cocooned in three layers of police and securitymen, spanning just over 2 km, with each torchbearer allowed barely 40 steps. There was no cultural festivity, no thrill of sport, no joyous cheering or excited chattering of children craning to get a glimpse of the historic flame.

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Last time, when the Athens Olympic torch blazed through Delhi in 2004, we had all this and more. We had our fill of the spirit of the games, as the flame proudly paraded the 33 km stretch, we turned it into a magnificent cultural event with hundreds of singers, dancers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, sportspeople, politicians and others.

There was even a theme song for the Athens Olympic torch relay, Lau se lau jalti hai (one flame lights another). With lyrics by Gulzar, music by L Subramanium and sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy, it reminded us that nothing is impossible for the human spirit: Saat samundar tair ke jaanaa, tez hawaa se haath milaanaa / ghoomti machhli, aankh nishaanaa, ek ungli par globe ghumaanaa (to swim the seven seas, to join hands with the mighty winds, to aim for the eye of the spinning fish, to spin the globe on one finger…). The Olympic flame illuminated the splendour of the human spirit, it inflamed our passion to break through mortal barriers.

Unfortunately, this year the theme for the Olympic torch seemed to be fear, frustration and limiting the human spirit. There were 17,000 security personnel guarding the flame, and practically no audience. Several Tibetans were arrested for trying to get close to the flame, but there was very little violence, with only two protestors nursing bad injuries. All in all, it was a successful Olympic Torch run for the Indian government.

But it was even more successful for the Tibetan protestors, who had a parallel torch run — called the Peace Run. It started with a dignified little ceremony in Rajghat, at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, where a Flame for Tibet was lit and mantras for peace chanted by members of various religious groups gathered there — Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Parsi. Then the flame travelled to Samta Sthal, where hundreds had gathered and there was some celebration of Tibetan culture and identity — complete with Yak dances.

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Many of us took part in this peace march, organised by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee. Marching in solidarity was former Defence Minister and evergreen activist George Fernandes, 78, wrapped in a Tibetan flag and holding aloft an Indian flag, refusing the car cruising along, eager to pick him up so he didn’t get too tired by the time the crowd gathered for the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s designated space for protest. At one point, he had to give in and climb into the car that kept pace with the marchers. Other marchers included Members of Parliament of the Dalai Lama’s Government in Exile, like Tsering Youdon, apart from Jaya Jaitly, Nafisa Ali, Kirti Azad, Sonal Mansigh, Vandana Shiva, Sonia Jabbar and numerous other sympathisers. Huge crowds of Tibetans in ‘Torch for Tibet’ T-shirts rent the air with slogans in Tibetan and English, demanding peace and freedom in Tibet.

And because the Olympic torch was out of bounds, many of the marchers held aloft sturdy old Eveready torches — lending a touch of steel to this determined protest. It also added a light touch to this otherwise grave demonstration against terrible human rights abuses in Tibet. With banners, posters and paintings highlighting the plight of Tibet — many asking for a Free Tibet — and ardent slogans, it was a peaceful but passionate protest.

Which was important for India — the home of 100,000 Tibetan exiles, the country privileged to host His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a nation founded on democratic principles which allows dissent, and a country clearly terrified of China. It was important that the Olympic torch relay went off peacefully, showing off India’s muscular security. And it was equally important that the protest march went off peacefully, showcasing India’s heart of democracy, where dissent is not only allowed, but made space for.

It is clear that the Olympic torch relay across the world has been a victory for the Tibetan people. The relay of the holy flame has belied its theme, ‘Journey of Harmony’, the fear and panic clouding it has not allowed us to connect with the slogan ‘Light the Passion, Share the Dream.’ It has brought nothing but trouble for China. The holy Olympic Flame has bathed the host country in an unholy and terrible light.

Unfortunately, as it darts through other countries, shrouded in paranoia, the flame will probably not ignite immortal desires in the human spirit, or showcase China as a new superpower. It will probably continue to illuminate China as a repressive regime and underscore its enormous human rights violations, its ‘cultural genocide’ in Tibet, its sponsorship of the genocide in Darfur, its support for the brutal Burmese junta, and its predilection for threatening Chinese democracies like Taiwan, trampling human rights and free speech, and stifling democratic freedoms. Besides, we have our own issues of Aksai Chin, China’s territorial claim over parts of Kashmir and all of Arunachal Pradesh.

This furious protest was expected, anyway. And not just because of the powerful Tibetan diaspora around the world. If China had free speech, then any ‘cheap and best’ Chinese PR firm would have advised the leaders to not take the torch around as a worldwide flame of shame. But repressive regimes tend to be blind. Maybe this experience preparing for the Olympics will help clear their vision a bit. Maybe it will help them loosen up and allow some democratic freedoms — in Tibet and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, we need to carry on the torch of freedom and fundamental rights. Celebrities may carry the Olympic torch, but civil society is the eternal torchbearer of conscience and human rights. And we need to carry on the flame till it lights up a new future for Tibet, a future with democratic freedoms and peace. Till then the slogan of the exiled Tibetans at the peace march will ring in our ears — Loto, loto, Bhuela loto! (Return, return, return Tibet!)

As people privileged to be free citizens of a flourishing democracy, we owe it to the thousands without a country, who remain exiled from their motherland. The Olympic torch will run its paranoid course, but the Tibet torch is now in our hands. We need to ‘light the passion and share the dream’ and find a solution to the messy problem of Tibet.

The views expressed in the article are the author’s and not of Sify.com