Por Tenzin Dorjee
Tibetan Political Review
10 December 2012
Beneath the wave of self-immolations that, understandably, has come to dominate current discourse on Tibet, a less dramatic background of resistance is transforming the landscape of Tibetan activism. This new force is the pan-Tibetan, the popular self-confidence movement known as Lhakar.
The first signs of the Lhakar – the name is usually translated as White Wednesday and sometimes as Pure Dedication – appeared in 2008, following the nationwide uprising against Chinese rule. Four years after his birth, The Lhakar has produced a paradigm shift in the way Tibetans conceptualize activism., thanks to three key elements: the de-collectivization of activism, the “arming”” to culture, and the adoption of non-cooperation.
1. De-collectivization of Activism
Lhakar's main appeal lies in its simplicity. Focuses on the fundamental elements of freedom, the most mundane decisions people make in their everyday lives – when to visit the temple, what kind of music to listen to, in which restaurant to eat, in which store to buy food, what language to speak at home – instead of bigger decisions that carry a higher price tag.
In the decade of 1980, It was common for Tibetans to crowd Jokhang Temple every week by the light of butter lamps., burn incense and secretly pray for a long life for the Dalai Lama. These rituals, mostly religious and symbolic, They took place on Wednesday, a day considered auspicious for the Dalai Lama. But China's indiscriminate repression of 2008 radicalized the entire nation and politicized a new generation of Tibetans. There was almost no family in Tibet, that has not been touched by her, even those who stayed home and waited for the uprising to end, they had some degree of separation from someone who was imprisoned, missing or murdered.
As China eradicated all forms of collective expressions of dissent, Tibetans responded by de-collectivizing their activism. Through personal actions, such as wearing traditional clothing, eat tibetan food, listen to independent radio, teach your mother tongue at home; many Tibetans began to use their individual space to assert an identity that has been repressed for decades.
In this period of strong political charge, the rituals that used to be cultural, suddenly they became politicians, not so much because they gave the people a Tibetan identity, but because they were given an identity that is not Chinese. In a zero-sum game of identity politics, ser tibetano se convirtió en sinónimo de "no ser chino". This phenomenon gave rise to a series of practical measures that go beyond mere symbolism., and , over time, beyond Wednesdays.
Emphasizing individual acts of resistance rather than public acts of protest, the Lhakar has decentralized the resistance. When treating your homes, Workplaces and computers as battlefields of resistance, Tibetans are managing their limited personal options and daily activities as a wedge to leverage social space, more open political and economic. A Lhakar practitioner does not expect freedom from a change in politics or a change in the heart of Beijing, but from your own thoughts, daily decisions and actions, a parallel world of freedom is favored that will overcome China's superstructure of repression.
So, through the de-collectivization of activism, Lhakar sustains resistance by empowering the person. Thus, It has become a gateway to activism in general.
2. “Arms” to Culture
Having grown up in exile, The first thing we have learned about our culture is that it was in danger of extinction in the country and of assimilation in exile.. There was a belief that culture can survive only at the mercy of politics, and the politics of Tibet left little hope for survival. My generation of Tibetans had a sinking feeling, that Tibetan culture was like a fragile flower: beautiful to look at, but unable to defend herself.
However, the Lhakar is reversing this perceived disempowerment of culture. Since the rise of the Lhakar, A growing number of Tibetans have begun to reclaim culture as a tool to fight for greater political rights.. They are using art, to literature, Tibetan poetry and music as a vehicle to express their faith in the Dalai Lama, his love for his country and desire for freedom. Songs with politically charged lyrics or videos featuring images of the Dalai Lama became instant hits., selling tens of thousands of copies. This increase in public consumption of Tibetan music and poetry has led to a modern revival of art and literature across the plateau.. For the first time in decades, maybe centuries, Tibetans are rediscovering how culture can save politics, instead of waiting for politics to save culture.
This transformation is reflected most colorfully in the revival of public enthusiasm for studying Tibetan.. In various parts of Tibet, the elderly and children undertake to speak pure Tibetan, removing Chinese terms from your vocabulary. En Sertha en Kham (chino: Sichuan), the elderly give free dictionaries to the young. Writers and musicians in eastern Tibet, many of whom preferred the dominant Chinese language as an artistic medium, now they compose and perform in Tibetan. In restaurants and cafes, The owners serve customers only when they order in Tibetan. Weibo users write messages in Tibetan every Wednesday; Renren and Facebook users regularly post images and poems that carry political messages.
These are just a handful of stories that show how the actions of the Lhakar multiply throughout Tibet., from Lhasa, from Ngaba to Rebkong, from Sertha to Nangchen. in art, poetry and literature, Tibetans are able to paint a gray area that does not exist on the black and white canvas of politics.
For a generation that grew up under the myth that it could never match the power of China, Nothing is more empowering than realizing that the inexhaustible reservoir of our culture is finally being “armed.”” with a powerful set of nonviolent tools. The Lhakar has transformed Tibetan culture from frozen assets into liquid capital, of a sacred scepter on a golden spear.
3. Embrace non-cooperation
More than a millennium has passed since Buddhism domesticated Tibet, but our warrior instincts are still. We rush into battle before calculating profits and analyzing risks. In almost all Tibetan legends, bravery and action overshadow planning and preparation. The space of strategy occupies an insignificant place in the Tibetan imagination.
For decades, The predominant tactic in the Tibetan resistance has been street protest. Despite an effective and low-risk tactic in exile, the cost of street protests in Tibet is unsustainably high. The simple act of protest carries the possibility of being shot and the certainty of being imprisoned. However, through Lhakar's emphasis on strategy, Tibetans have come to appreciate the power of non-cooperation, a tactic that lends itself both to the most daring, as well as for those most reluctant to take risks, being less expensive, but often more effective than acts of protest and persuasion.
From 2008, Many Tibetans have started eating only in Tibetan restaurants and shopping only in Tibetan stores., which led Chinese companies to close in several cities. This “undeclared boycott” to Chinese-owned businesses, is a poetic response to “undeclared martial law”” of China in Tibet, which invokes Gandhian principles of economic non-cooperation.
For many years, Tibetans in Nangchen (chino: Nangqen) They had been buying vegetables at astronomical prices from Chinese grocers, whose monopoly on the vegetable market was indisputable. But at the beginning of 2011, a group of Tibetans began to boycott Chinese vegetable stores. Their power as consumers multiplied when others followed their example. Barely two months had passed when many of the Chinese grocery stores closed due to lack of customers.; instead, new Tibetan vegetable vendors appeared.
For the first time in recent history, Tibetans are seeing how their individual actions can change their collective future. The discourse of resistance is changing from a victimized condition to one that emphasizes creativity and strategy. until recently, most conversations began and ended with Tibetan helplessness in the face of Chinese cruelty. Today the salons and tea houses are brewing discussions about resistance, strategy and action.
Strengthened by the tangible results of non-cooperation, Tibetans no longer view nonviolence as a religious principle that restricts effective action, but rather they see it as a strategic weapon that unleashes our potential. As demonstrated time and time again in other revolutions, nothing can more effectively remove the pillars of a dictatorship, that a widespread and sustained campaign of non-cooperation.
The future of Lhakar
Last fall the Chinese authorities in Sershul, eastern tibet, Tibetan woman arrested for wearing Chuba on Wednesday. almost at the same time, Hundreds of Tibetans arrested for participating in a language preservation group, and many others for promoting vegetarianism (Older Tibetans like to imagine that the good karma accumulated by reducing collective meat consumption, will add more years to the Dalai Lama's life).
The Chinese government may have found a new enemy in the Lhakar. But by declaring the Lhakar his enemy, China has focused on a concept, an abstract name, that does not have the weapons to destroy. The essence of Lhakar is not in the chuba one wears, but in the intention with which it is carried. True Lhakar is a movement of the mind, and therefore invisible and untouchable for any number of troops, tanks and bullets. China's crackdown on Tibetan speakers, wearing certain clothes or becoming vegetarian is a reflection of their falling confidence and growing insecurity and will have a counterproductive effect on the regime and will end up strengthening the Lhakar in the long run..
A more serious threat to the Lhakar, ironically, it could come from within, of the misinterpretation of the strategic concept of nonviolence. We should not think that just wearing a chuba or speaking pure Tibetan fulfills our personal quota of Lhakar activism., or that not dressing her or speaking another language somehow violates it. Premature narrow definition could drown Lhakar; an open and inclusive definition will give Lhakar room to grow and mature. If there are a thousand different ways to observe the Lhakar, ¿How is the Chinese government going to challenge all of them??
Those who have a passion for writing could spend at least an hour a week editing Wikipedia to ensure that Tibet-related entries reflect the truth., Those with unlimited phone plans could allocate an hour on Wednesdays to call Chinese consulates and embassies and harass them about their government's treatment of Tibetans., and those who are learning Tibetan could read their news in Tibetan at least once a week, those based in the West could tune into Radio Free Asia's Tibetan language services, the Voice of America, o Voice of Tibet every Wednesday, Shopaholics could spend a couple of hours every Wednesday persuading stores and retailers to replace Made-in-China products with Made-in-China products.[your own country of residence], Students could dedicate every Wednesday to covering their campuses with flyers to highlight an aspect of the injustice taking place in Tibet… These are just a few among the results of actions that people can take according to their abilities., capabilities and interests.
Social movements are nourished by positive reinforcement and die by self-regulation. Actually, Lhakar has gained its wide appeal precisely because it is voluntary, flexible and one size fits all for all types of movement. We must allow each person to contribute to the movement freely, in her own way and according to her own preferences instead of forcing her to comply with certain rules and appearances. Lhakar needs cheerleaders, not police.
During the Civil Rights movement in the United States, Many black professionals and wealthy businessmen were calling for Martin Luther King Jr.. stop the campaign for equality. "No hagan olas", they implored him. "Si presionamos demasiado, podríamos perder incluso lo poco que hemos ganado". (Fortunately for all of us, The Civil Rights Movement continued to make waves). In our case too, some people will try to save a softer version of the movement from China's claws, promoting a smooth Lhakar. They will try to perpetuate a soft version, toothless of the Lhakar insisting that it remain a cultural movement, not political.
But such arguments are based on a psychology of defeatism that makes us unable to imagine Tibetan power outside of Chinese parameters.. It establishes an activism carried out in fear, and fear is the most efficient prison ever built by the oppressors for the oppressed. ¿What other type of prison or detention center can imprison us even in exile??
Now is the time to intensify Lhakar by amplifying its philosophy and multiplying its practice, not at a pace dictated by China, but one established by the Tibetans. This is not the time to divide Tibetans into activists vs.. pacifists, politicians vs. cultural, religious vs. secular. We must erase the lines between the cultural, the political, the social and the economic, because such compartmentalization does not exist in real life, we inhabit all these areas at the same time.
The day is not far when the Chinese government sees every Tibetan as an activist and every action as subversive.. That is when we will know that China has lost the battle for Tibet.-
Known as Phuntso
OFFICE DEL TIBET NY
Email: phuntso@igc.org
