Kunsang Paljor
We talked with Kunsang Paljor, Senior Reporter for Voice of Tibet, at his home after a special Tibetan dinner prepared by his wife in honour of Buddha's birthday. She told us what it was called and I could hardly pronounce it, so I'm sure I can't spell it, but Larry and I jokingly called it Tibetan Macaroni and Cheese. Not really an accurate description, but it will have to do. Kunsang's son-in-law, Pema Dhondup, helped us translate the following conversation:
ITIM: Today has been a very special day. What do you think went on in Tibet today?
PALJOR: The traditional way of celebrating would be to do prostrations around the temple and burn incense and all these things. It would be happening in Tibet, but then occasions like this are the times when the Chinese military are alert. Also, because of the difference in the amount of Chinese population, the few Tibetans doing these things would not be very obvious. In the older days you would find the whole city celebrating. Also, because today is Wednesday and is known as His Holiness' special day, so the Chinese would be identifying Tibetans who would be doing celebrations on this day and then question them. So there is pressure against doing very obvious rituals.
ITIM: How do you see the role of the Tibetan media democratising the society?
PALJOR: The Tibetan media right now is in a infancy stage. What we are doing right now has been done hundreds of years ago by other countries. It is developing now, but it will take time. The media can contribute to the process of democratising, but now the media is in infancy and the people who have access and are affected by the media are also at an infancy. We never had anything like this in Tibet.
ITIM: What do expect out of the visit of Clinton to China?
PALJOR: There won't be any result of this meeting, and if anything is going to come out of it, it will be of the benefit of Jiang Zemin and China. Jiang Zemin will be very popular as the president of his country. He'll tell the people of China that look I am so powerful that the president of the USA has to come and visit me. He will bring that kind of image to his people which will reinforce his control over the country. Secondly, all the smaller countries will feel that China is getting more powerful because the superpowers are getting more attracted to China.
ITIM: What effect, if any, is the nuclear testing of India and Pakistan going to have on the Tibet situation?
PALJOR: I believe that it is going to help the Tibetan cause to a great extent. Now the Indians have developed this technology and it is obvious that the Pakistani's were helped by the Chinese. If the Chinese help Pakistan and meddle with Kashmir, it is very clear now that the Indians will talk about Tibet. Earlier the Indians where afraid of nuclear war with the Chinese, but now they possess the same technology, so there is an added power to negotiate.
ITIM: How is this testing going to affect the USA's role in this region?
PALJOR: The Americans, I think, are losing power and especially in this region. For example in South Korea, the USA has literally lost contracts with them because now Korea wants to do it all with the Chinese because they feel that it is better to have contracts with China then with a country so far away. This indicates that China is getting more and more powerful, and for that matter, the smaller countries in this area are getting more powerful and more input from China. It seems as if the USA is losing it's role in this part of the world.
ITIM: How has the hunger strike and self-immolation of Thupten Ngodup effected the consciousness of the Tibetan people?
PALJOR: It's effected much more than if it had been done earlier because we have good communication systems in the community. People are more informed and so they are more committed. The people of the exiled community are much more educated than before and keep track of what is happening.
ITIM: Something else that seemed different about this hunger strike was that the TGIE, the Tibetans and different groups were willing to support an activity that they knew His Holiness could not support.
PALJOR: It is very important that the ordinary people do their own thing, instead of saying that His Holiness said this or that. Even during my work when interviewing people, the first thing I ask is what do you think about rangzen (independence)? This will give people a chance to give their views about rangzen rather than basing their decision on other peoples views. I feel that ordinary people should speak about rangzen so that the Chinese will know that the ordinary Tibetan wants rangzen.
ITIM: His Holiness has asked many times for the Tibetan community to tell Him what they want, and for them to take responsibility for Tibet's future. It seemed that with the hunger strike people were willing to do that, and that it was not disrespectful to His Holiness.
PALJOR: Yes, this time they have shown that they can speak as they feel. This has shown the power of the ordinary people. Now, I think, Tibetans have regained their confidence to speak out and tell the world that they will do what they really feel even if it goes against His Holiness sometimes.
ITIM: An outsider might say that this is a strong sign of democracy starting to operate in the Tibetan community. Do you think that the Tibetan people will become more involved in the Tibetan government?
PALJOR: The democracy that we have in exile is not actually a democracy. It is just a means to organise and bring people together. But activities like this (hunger strike), where the president of the Tibetan Youth Congress took responsibility, now the people will definitely try to put him in the parliament. People like him who can speak, who can act, who seem to be committed when they come to the parliament then slowly changes will take place and become more democratic.
ITIM: We've been hearing a lot about the young people's frustration and impatience. Have you noticed this?
PALJOR: The young people's frustration is the same in Tibet as in India.There are two groups of young people. One is the group who are frustrated with themselves because they are lazy and don't want to do anything. There is another group who is frustrated because the system is not working because the Chinese are not responding. These are the people who would make changes and want to do something hard which would draw the attention of the world.
ITIM: Westerners are worried that if some of the young Tibetans become more aggressive or violent then the rest of the world will no longer be interested in helping the Tibetans. If westerners start to see that Tibetans are violent and aggressive like everyone else then they won't help.
PALJOR: The weakness of the Tibetans is actually their passive, compassionate and tolerant disposition. Whenever there is an emergency the world is attracted to that, so the cause of Tibet gets neglected always. The time we are losing is too dangerous. It could happen that the Tibetans here in India could get lazy and gradually over generations they may get less interested in the cause of Tibet. People in Tibet who are really spirited and really want to do something for the country get imprisoned and the rest are just ordinary people living their lives, so we are losing time. The number of people who are supporting us Tibetans do it out of their own compassion, and out of pity, but in a very concrete way there is no country, no political body which actually supports the Tibetan cause. So really if we lose this support of pity and compassion it doesn't matter. I think the more important thing is that we actually do something hard and bring the question of Tibet on the table of the world community so that it will be acknowledged.
ITIM: Over the years we have heard in private conversations many Tibetans saying they want independence, but publicly many won't say they want independence. Now that the hunger strike has happened do you think that what is in Tibetan's hearts will come out publicly?
PALJOR: Yes. I think it's time for people to come out into the open and say what it is they really want. One thing I feel is that people have this general attitude believing whatever it is that His Holiness says is the ultimate thing. We don't use our own minds, but just follow Him blindly. That was right and OK in Tibet, but now things have changed. It is very important for ordinary people to come out and say what it is they want.
ITIM: If the Chinese said, 'OK, you can have this autonomy that you want but you can't have your own passport, or flag, or currency, etc.' How do you think Tibetans would respond?
PALJOR: I'll be the first person to reject it! There is no point in getting something like that. It is better if we stay like this because now, at least, we have the commitment of fighting and saying that we are doing something. If we agreed to something like that we would have nothing to do.
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