Dear Editor,
The Tibet problem can be solved if India plays pro-active role in it (ii)- TLHRC (also through President Trump / US Congress) should encourage Indian Organizations to work for Tibet solution (iii)- Registered organizations in India (political or otherwise), preferably through NHRC of India, can work for the solution of Tibet problem.
On June 21, 2017 Co-Chairs James P. McGovern and Randy Hultgren, and 19 other members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) of US Congress, were among the 37 Members of Congress who wrote to President Trump to urge him to quickly name the ‘Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues’ as given at https://
But as per information available on the website of US Department of State, this position is still vacant. This is not surprising because by merely appointing (as done earlier too) a Special Coordinator for Tibet, it does not solve the problem of Tibetans living in or out of China.
First and foremost TLHRC should realize that the human rights related problems in Tibet can be solved much easily if India plays pro-active role in it. TLHRC should further know that normally (i)- Government of India (GOI) does not and will not take much interest in solving HR related problems in Tibet and of Tibetans (ii)- Most of the Tibetans living in India (about half of Tibetans living out of China under the direct leadership of Dalai Lama) are also now not much interested in taking PAINS to solve Tibet problem (iii)- Like Tibetans in India the Tibetans in other countries too are giving only lip service to the cause of Tibetans in China and out of China (iii)- Tibetans out of China have lost much interest because nothing has happened during last 60 years to solve Tibet problem (iv)- Tibetans living in China are mostly the people who have will (and not merely wish) and eagerly want Tibet solution (even political).
Therefore TLHRC will succeed in finding solution to HR related problems in Tibet only when TLHRC is prepared to press (with US Administration / Prez Trump / US Secretary of State) even for political solution to Tibet problem. Fortunately there are many Indians who (even through political solution) are prepared to work for and even prepared to take pains for solving Tibet problem especially in the present situation as mentioned at http://www.
The TLHRC will be well advised to again approach President Trump not only to urge him to quickly name the ‘Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues’ but also to work (with US Congress & TLHRC) in supporting any registered organization in India (political or otherwise) preferably through NHRC of India, which will work for the solution of Tibet problem. Such Indian organizations will be able to constrain GOI also, to take pro-active role for the solution of Tibet problem.
Regards
Hem Raj Jain
(Author of ‘Betrayal of Americanism’)
Bengaluru, India
If the suggestions of Mr. Hem Raj Jain against all odds somehow were implemented, they would hardly amount to a hill of beans. Every past “Special Coordinator for Tibet Issues” in the US State Department has ended up taking direction not from the US Secretary of State but rather from the Tibetan exile Government in Dharamsala, India. Did any of these several Special Coordinators ever positively influence matters vis-a-vis China? The answer is “No.” They generally just made matters worse with their sanctimonious, holier-than-thou pronouncements. Would it make one scintilla of a difference if a new Special Coordinator together with the Tom Lantos crowd in the US Congress joined forces with their Indian counterparts? Again the answer is an emphatic “No.” India with its own human rights problems in Assam and elsewhere is in no position to point a finger at China. It furthermore is laughable to think for an instant that the US Congress possesses the power and leverage (short of war, which a President declares) to bring about social change of any sort in a foreign country. For heaven’s sake, Congress cannot even do it today inside the USA. For China this sort of approach would be water off a duck’s back and of absolutely no consequence. It is time to accept that while human rights is part of a long list of considerations that go into one country’s relationship with another, it rarely is the most important factor . . . unless hijacked by special interests of the sort Mr. Jain wants to represent. These special interests helped shape the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way Policy” which ironically has now lowered the probability he ever will be able to return to Tibet.