Free Tibet: Boycott Beijing 2008 Olympics

Free Tibet: Boycott Beijing 2008 Olympics

China obviously had two ways of dealing with the peaceful rallies of Tibetans – peaceful talks with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or go the Myanmarese way. As the religious head of the Tibetans, Dalai Lama could have been the only one who is in any position to pacify the protesters not only within Tibet but all over the world. China did not do that. Instead it sent hundreds of troops in Lhasa and filled the streets. By so doing, it has chosen to relive the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 and as a consequence it will soon lose whatever credibility it has – leading to, maybe, even the boycott of the Beijing 2008 Olympics by the international community led by US.

Lonely Warrior

China is no Myanmar. China is a global power and should not have dealt with the Tibetans in the way that it did. When the western world is always very skeptical of its human rights records, this should have been their chance to silence off the skeptics. One would have expected the Chinese authorities to exercise more restraint in its dealings with the protesters keeping in mind the Games is only a few months away. China has no such plans and only wants to squash the protests and show them who the master is.

The Dalai Lama in a press conference has accused the Chinese of unleashing “cultural genocide” in Lhasa and the Indian government of “too cautious”. I am ashamed to say my government has once again decided it best not to interfere in the “internal matters” of China even when hundreds of Tibetans are dying. Not surprisingly India’s stance whether in Myanmar or Tibet is one of “principled” foreign policy and the price will be paid by the Tibetans and Burmese and most unfortunately by DEMOCRACY. And this “principled” policy stemming mostly from its unwillingness to confront China, whether in Myanmar or Tibet will definitely cost India its credibility as a democratic state.

The US had boycotted the Moscow Olympics of 1980 to protest against Russia’s occupation of Afghanistan. The same story may well repeat this time as well for China.