07/03/2006, 00.00
INDIA - CHINA
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Indian bishop: "Lhasa railway a colonisation tool"

by Prakash Dubey

The bishop of Bettiah, who works closely with Tibetan refugees in India, has doubts about Beijing's professed desire to modernize Tibet. The Dalai Lama has approved the project as long as there is no hidden political agenda.

Siliguri (AsiaNews) – The Indian Church at work with Tibetan refugees "following the teachings of Christ, cannot approve the new railway linking the capital of Tibet to the centre of China, if its scope is that of colonising a now defenceless region still further." The Dalai Lama – the highest spiritual and political authority of Tibet – has however "backed the project, if there is no hidden political agenda."

Mgr Thakur, the bishop of Bettiah – a diocese in India that works closely with the refugees – gave AsiaNews his reactions to the new railway, inaugurated on 1 July, linking Beijing to Lhasa. The railway, with its 4,000km route, has been described by the Chinese president Hu Jintao, as a "miracle, a new wonder of the world".

The bishop said: "Apparently the rail link between China and Tibet could fetch some economic benefits. But history bears witness to the fact that the Chinese have been systematically plundering Tibetan culture and lifestyle since they invaded the region in 1949."

He continued: "So I doubt if China has a desire to actually modernize Tibet. If it has a different agenda to its stated one, then this railway line would unleash the worst form of cultural tyranny against the helpless native people, which I could never approve of, being a disciple of Lord Jesus."

There are around 150,000 Tibetan refugees who have lived in dozens of provisional Indian camps for 47 years. Lhakpa Gyaltshen, a young refugee born in a camp near Darjeeling, told AsiaNews: "With the railway, the hope of defending the culture, economy and natural resources of Tibet is gone forever. We followed the Dalai Lama into exile to escape total annihilation of our tradition, but if China enters Tibet in such a devastating manner, it will destroy everything. The railway project means that we will become completely subject to Chinese hegemony, in the worst possible way. This is deeply shocking for us."

Gsergyi Gyang, another Tibetan refugee from the same camp, said all Tibetan refugees – Buddhist monks and lay people – were holding rallies in Tibetan camps in India, including Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama and the seat of the government in exile. The rallies will aim to "oppose the brutal colonisation  of Tibetan by China's Han tribe."

"We know our protests won't cut much ice with the Chinese colonialists, but we want to tell the world at large how China is devastating our land under cover of modernization. However, we are optimistic that one day the Chinese tyranny will end and we will be able to return to our land. Our real fear is that by the time we go back, we will find only the ruins of our culture."

Tenzing Choeden, an activist of Students For Free Tibet, said the railway will "precipitate a massive flow of Chinese settlers into Tibet. This is cultural genocide because the Han tribe, helped by the government, will become ever more powerful and will marginalise the Tibetan people still further."

The perspective of the supreme Tibetan authority, the Dalai Lama, is different and "painful" for some activists. "If there is no hidden political agenda, the railway will be good for Tibet," said his spokesperson, Thupten Samphel. "This is why the Dalai Lama has declared his support for the project." However, he added: "But if it brings environmental damage to Tibet, if there is further colonisation, then it will have a disastrous impact."

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