My Appeal to the World by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Author:His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-941312-02-5
Publisher: Hay House
Published: 2015-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

MARCH 10, 1992

Optimism

AS WE COMMEMORATE today the thirty-third anniversary of the March 10 Uprising in 1959, I am more optimistic than ever before about the future of Tibet. I feel certain that within the next five to ten years some major changes will take place in China. The collapse of totalitarian regimes in different parts of the world, the breakup of the Soviet empire and reemergence of sovereign, independent nations reinforce our belief in the ultimate triumph of truth, justice, and the human spirit. The bloody October Revolution of 1917, which controlled the fate of the Soviet Union for seven decades, came to an end in the bloodless, nonviolent August Revolution of 1991. The present Chinese leadership today has two choices. The first one is to start an enlightened political process for a smooth transition toward a fully democratic society and allow the countries they have forcibly annexed and occupied to become free and equal partners in a new world order. The second choice is to push the country to the brink of bloody political struggles, which in a country populated by a quarter of humanity would be a great tragedy.

There has been growing world concern and support for our cause. I was very encouraged by the genuine interest and sympathy shown by political leaders I met during my travels in 1991. We consider these favorable changes in the attitude of governments not to be anti-Chinese, but pro-justice and truth. The indomitable courage and determination of our people of Tibet has been the strength of our movement. The unique feature of our struggle has been its nonviolent nature. While we continue to strive for our legitimate rights, we must not deviate from the path of nonviolence. I have no doubt that one day our people, as well as the peoples of Inner Mongolia and East Turkestan, will be reunited in full freedom in their respective countries.

Meanwhile, in exile, we are preparing the ground for a fully democratic Tibet in the future. An official document to this effect has been brought out recently, entitled, “Guidelines for Future Tibet’s Polity and the Basic Features of Its Constitution.” This document states that the present Tibetan Administration will be dissolved the moment we return to Tibet, and that I will hand over all my traditional political power to an interim government. The interim government, it explains, will be responsible for drawing up a democratic constitution under which the new government of Tibet will be elected by the people. It assures that there will be no political recrimination against those Tibetans who have worked in the Chinese administration. In fact, because of their experience, the Tibetan officials of the existing administration in Tibet should shoulder the main responsibility.

The future Tibet will be an oasis of peace in the heartland of Asia where man and nature will live in perfect harmony, not only benefiting Tibet and Tibetans but also helping to create the basis for a more cordial relationship between India and China. When a genuinely

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.