Unrest in Tibet

By Dawa Tsering

The second mass uprising in Tibet against the Chinese occupation leading to violence has aroused the conscience of the world community from Sydney to Washington. Beijing has deployed army to quell the protest, and according to BBC World at 3 p.m. (IST) on 16 March 46 protesters have been killed, 186 monasteries have been blockaded and Capital Lhasa has turned into a ghost city. The Dalai Lama has demanded the UN to intervene to end what he called "urgent human rights violation" by China in Tibet. The Dalai Lama's statement followed by the government-in-exile demand shows that the Tibetan leadership in India is under pressure from the exile community to stand up to China.

With the war of words between Dharamsala (headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile) and Beijing turning hot as Lhasa burns, the Dalai Lama is now realising the futility of peace talks with the Chinese. Meanwhile the Bush administration has sent two high-profile American visitors-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Hollywood star Richard Gere to show up in Dharamsala to express solidarity with the Tibetan activists who are trying to turn their protest into global movement against China's "occupation of Tibet". China is determined to crush dissent in any form which would lead to a boycott of the Beijing Olympics scheduled for August by many countries. The Chinese may continue to feel the heat of Tibetans' anger for the next few months.

China's forceful occupation of Tibet in early 1950s leading to mass exodus of people reminds us as the worst kinds of colonial mindset of Beijing. One, it is total integration, second, the so-called the autonomous region is militarily very important as watch tower to peep into southeast and Central Asia. Tibet has been developed as a great military hub and China's strategic nuclear and missile command is located here because in this hilly terrain, in case of a war, it would be difficult to launch retaliatory strikes against the offensive Chinese assets.

In terms of economic development China cannot afford one-eighth of the country's total land area remaining in absolute poverty. But the development strategy is directed at destroying the ancient Tibetan culture and way of life. One hundred twenty one monasteries have been destroyed and monks have been forced to marry Chinese girls, and Chinese settlers have been given special incentives to marry Tibetan girls. In the process Tibet has suffered not only ethnic genocide but also its cultural and religious roots have been destroyed.

History has been forgotten and if the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) regime is willing to welcome back Tibetan exiles from India, Mr. Hao Peng, Deputy Chairman of TAR, minced no words: "Chinese people haven't forgotten that part of history (1959). We have a policy towards Tibetan compatriots overseas. As long as they hold a patriotic attitude towards their homeland, they are welcome back. Even those who've undermined national unity, if they vouch for patriotism are welcome back." And does that include the Dalai Lama? "He is a political exile engaged in separatist activity in the name of religion. His separatist activities have never ceased. He, therefore, lacks the basic foundation to come back," Mr. Hao said, settling the matter once and for all (BBC World report 16 March 2008).

This Tibet is a crucial part of China's new social and economic fabric, a plan the Chinese government has undertaken in right earnest only in the last five years. Within this short span, Tibet has been linked by road, air, rail and telecommunication, affording it a hitherto unknown access to the outside world. From a single road between Potala Palace and Norbulingka in 1951, the total length of highways in Tibet, including rural roads, stretches up to 41,302 km linking Lhasa with Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Xinjiang and Nepal. More than 600,000 vehicles today traverse the length and breadth of Tibet.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway has opened up limitless possibilities for the tourism industry all along the majestic route. The once "forbidden zone of flight" over Tibet now has regular traffic between Lhasa and major metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai while Kathmandu provides Tibet with an international connection. With the remotest pastures and settlements linked through telecommunication, Tibet is completely wired today. And no view of the Tibetan grassland or the Gobi desert is complete without electricity poles in the frame-any nature photographer's bane-which actually signal how far and wide power has touched the Tibetan countryside.

Given this infrastructure, tourism has become a natural sunshine sector. Today, there are more than 200 travel companies operating out of Tibet and close to 200 hotels with over 7,500 rooms catering to international tourists. The tourism industry, directly and indirectly, employs around 75,000 Tibetans. Showcasing Tibetan culture is of vital necessity to this project because if local customs and flavours are lost, Tibet would no longer be attractive to those who long to visit the roof of the world to experience that very special Tibetan way of life. In another tourist-friendly move, aware of the restrictions that the special permit currently required to tour Tibet imposes on the average tourist, the Chinese government is now considering doing away with the irritant altogether. All in all, China is getting more comfortable with outsiders visiting its weaker spots.

For local Tibetans, transportation and telecommunication have meant the opening of industries that now complement Tibet's traditional farming and animal husbandry sectors. With increasing modernisation and integration of farming and herding, Tibetans are now being encouraged to produce more than their self-sufficiency limits in a way that they become totally self-reliant. Sketchy statistics suggest that over 1.33 million Tibetan farmers and herdsmen are involved in state-run forestry projects that have greatly enhanced their annual income.

But all these developmental activities have come at the cost of basic freedom which Tibetans cherish. Indians know how British imperialists developed basic infrastructure to perpetuate their rule but could not hold the country in slavery beyond August 15, 1947. But the only difference between the British rulers in India and the Chinese occupation forces in Tibet is that of there is no Mahatma Gandhi in Lhasa to lead Tibetans towards their goal of freedom from China. INAV

In throes of change

By Ramesh Kanitkar

Do at least some north Indian states no more envy the prosperity of southern and western India? Haryana is targeting 12 per cent growth in gross state domestic product (GSDP) this fiscal, a substantial 3.4 per cent higher than the anticipated national GDP growth. Gujarat is a beaten (and superficial) investment boom story. Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand, the states carved out of large laggards in 2000, have benefited variously (and differently) from their smallness. Uttarakhand is doing particularly well-its share in national capital investment has nearly doubled since the statehood. The hilly state's law and order is good (even as north-central region of the country is seriously insurgency-infested); its industry is growing at a scorching 20 per cent; it has attracted large amounts of investments in food processing, hydro power and tourism; its capital Dehradun tends to be of metropolitan mien.

Rajasthan has moved fast on social wholesomeness. It has also more or less kept pace with the (economic) fast movers in the region. Northwestern India has somewhat come out of the morass of sheer backwardness of the past, Punjab, hit by all-round corruption, is left behind as Haryana surges ahead. Rajasthan and Haryana are ahead in ICT (information and communication technologies) sector. Himachal has not fully benefited from the tax sops for the setting up of industries there because of its transportation problems.

Foreign direct investment and rampant cross-border movement of people have helped north India globalise. More technical and professional education institutes are producing more numbers of migrants to foreign countries. The states which are more urbanised are also the more globalised ones.

It is time to rejoice for some north Indian states like Haryana. On the contrary, they ought to be penitent because the rapid expansion of their economies doesn't get adequately reflected in the lives of people at large. It is a genuine fear that the high growth, visible in industrial towns bolstered with malls and multiplexes, may not be structurally equipped to reverse the historical incapacitation of large sections of the people.

Governance in large states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are in a shambles, as they have always been. Service delivery by the government continues to be a poor spectacle. In using their natural resources these states are not anyway near harnessing their true strength.

Policy tools like special economic zones and industrial parks supported by government-funded infrastructure are under the threat of being hijacked by unscrupulous dealers. However, these projects have contributed in good measure to enhanced income levels of a section of the society, including the traditionally under-privileged. This is reflected in the rapid urbanisation of certain pockets of the states.

Infrastructure development is gathering pace in certain states, but the situation is not at all that happy in some other states. The policy of attracting funds for infrastructure building through public private partnership (PPP) model is hardly an unqualified success. It is becoming clear that in the absence of certainty of remunerative returns (read freedom to fix commercially viable user charges) the PPP model would not solve the problem of dearth of private equity capital. And most states lack the expertise to plan and finalise the financial matrix for PPP projects. Gross under-utilisation of the Union government's budgetary outlay for 'viability gap funding' in the infrastructure sector bears testimony to the dismal situation on the ground.

In some states like the November 2000-born Uttarakhand, output has grown in tandem with improving the quality of life. A recent Ficci-KAF study says the pace of the state's industrialisation in the last few years leaves everyone awe-struck. The gross domestic product growth that descended to around 0.8 per cent to 1.8 per cent in the years prior to the separation jumped to 10 per cent or more, above the national average. The moot point is that since 2000, Uttarakhand has been witnessing increased government spending, especially in the social and economic services sectors. Transport, energy and horticulture received the largest shares of government spending. The results are there to see. The state's literacy rate is about 73 per cent and almost all girls are enrolling themselves in primary schools. Uttrakhand's industry secretary, P.C. Sharma says, "When the state was formed in 2000, industrial activity was virtually non-existent. Now, helped to a large extent by special packages of the centre and state governments which includes the tax sops, capital investments to the tune of Rs. 26,650 crore have been made in the state since 2001, as against just Rs. over Rs. 5,000 crore in the decade ended 2001."

The mineral-rich and power-surplus Chattisgarh has major steel and power projects on the anvil, but the present state of unemployment and poverty is catalysing naxal activity. Half of the state is affected by violence by Maoist rebels. Increased air connectivity, a host of new universities, new towns-the state's accomplishment due to some administrative efficiency achieved after its separation from Madhya Pradesh.

Among the three new states, Jharkhand is the dawdler. Hamstrung by the moral turpitude of its political leaders, the state's major industrial projects are in a limbo. Its roads are in a shambles, healthcare infrastructure is puny. So, being a small state per se wouldn't ensure holistic progress, unless accompanied by socio-political revamp.

It is nevertheless clear that the famous north-south divide is getting redefined. The average per capita incomes of south Indian states are higher than north India's. But more economically prosperous north Indian states-Haryana, Gujarat and Uttarakhand-are producing more wealth than the southern states. They however continue to perform less impressively in distributing the new riches. Connectivity, enabled by a private sector-driven ICT boom, may be part of the solution. Physical infrastructure, more arduous to be built, is another thing. But most of all, the socio-political change. INAV

Punjab, HP chalk out regional cooperation

By B.K. Chum

When volatility is becoming a norm in almost every sphere of life, politics is least expected to throw up positive and welcome surprises. The outgoing week witnessed two such surprises. One was the string of agreements signed by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal and Prem Kumar Dhumal to resolve some of the outstanding inter-state disputes. The other was the cricket match between the teams of MLAs of the Congress and the Akali-BJP alliance played in Mohali.

The first event has broken the ice in the relations of the two states which, in the past, saw intermittently developing strains generated by the unresolved inter-state disputes. The second event has, at least for now, calmed the frayed nerves of Punjab's ruling Akali-BJP combine and Opposition Congress whose increasingly confrontationist attitudes both outside and inside the Assembly had started further lowering the standards of public life.

Punjab and Himachal Pradesh's agreements are a case of better late than never. Not only the two states but also Haryana have remained embroiled in inter-state disputes, a legacy of the composite Punjab's reorganisation in 1966 which resulted in the formation of Haryana and saw Punjab's hilly terrain merging with Himachal. It is not for the first time that friendly parties are in power in the two states or the two states have not earlier seen simultaneous rule of a single party (Congress). It may be the present ruling parties political compulsions or wisdom belatedly dawning on their leaderships that they took the welcome initiative of resolving at least some of the major inter-state disputes the most important being the one on power sharing.

Under the agreement Himachal and Punjab would give assured power to each other during their respective peak summer and winter seasons when the two power-starved states ardently need more power. Other agreements signed by the two Chief Ministers include starting of work on the Chandigarh-Baddi road which will considerably reduce commuting time and distance to Himachal's industrial belt and completing the much-delayed Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi ropeway project.

The political compulsions of the BJP and the Akali Dal arise from their realisation after the BJP-led NDA came to power in the late nineties that for capturing power and retain it, they will have to end their pre-NDA now-friends-now-foes attitude. Their "sink or swim together" relationship would help them particularly in the states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh where Akali Dal and BJP have the potential of coming to power. Even if the agreements are intended to convey the political message about the advantages of the unity, these can act as a guiding light for resolving the intricate inter-state disputes which have adversely affected the tempo of development in the involved states.

Last week's development mark the beginning of a new era of regional cooperation at least in the north western region if the spirit behind Mr. Badal and Mr. Dhumal's welcome move is also emulated by Mr. Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. No doubt, Punjab and Haryana are embroiled in disputes more complex -like the sharing of river waters- than those of Punjab and Himachal. But unfortunately their successive leaderships irrespective of their political hues have failed to take even symbolic initiatives to amicably resolve them even when friendly families and parties like Badal-led Akali Dal and Om Parkash Chautala-led INLD were in power.

As a result, the momentum of development in the two states, particularly in the water-hungry Haryana, has been adversely affected. The tragedy of our politicians is that despite the spreading globalisation culture they have failed to see beyond their nose and continue to live with their parochial approaches and prejudices at the cost of inter-state and national interests.

When conflicting political interests and personality clashes start straining political relationships, sanity and decorum become a casualty. The phenomenon increasingly dominating the legislatures proceedings in the country also saw its eruption during the on-going budget session of Punjab Assembly. Sports, however, has provided a respite, even if temporarily. MLAs of Punjab's ruling Akali-BJP combine and the Opposition Congress were last week bitten by the infectious cricket bug. But, unlike the recent brief spats between the Indian and Australian cricket teams, the game helped create an atmosphere of bonhomie between the otherwise feuding political rivals.

The newly formed Akali-BJP combine and Congress MLAs cricket teams headed by their non-playing Captains Chief Minister Parkash Singh and the Opposition leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal played the twenty-20 match at Punjab Cricket Stadium at Mohali. Though the Akali-BJP team won the tie, the outcome did not percolate to political arena with the victors not claiming any political one-upship. Instead, the spirit of sportsmanship that marked the tie created an environment of bonhomie during the Assembly's next day's proceedings with the two sides praising each other's outstanding players and promising to hold such matches periodically. The durability of the post-match bonhomie between the ruling combine and the Opposition in the House is difficult to guess. But anybody who thinks that the bonhomie can be extended even briefly to their outside-the-House behaviour lives in a make-believe world. Such a belief is the very antithesis of the games of power politics and functioning democracy.

Bonhomie and regional cooperation have become a rare phenomenon in these times of political confrontations and unresolved inter-state disputes. Last week's events mat open a new chapter in the history of inter-state and political relations of not only the north-western region's states but also of other states. (IPA)