‘Soft Power not submitted to hostile forces blinded by ignorance’
On the occasion of the 90/or birthday of the Dalai Lama, the Kashag, or the Cabinet of the Tibetan government in exile, said that the Chinese authorities are strongly preventing the Tibetan population from carrying out all religious activities, even the most ordinary, to honor their leader.
“On this special occasion, while the Chinese government continues to prohibit our Tibet brothers in Tibet to devote themselves to the most elementary religious activities, such as the offer of incense and the raising of prayer flags in honor of the birthday of their main guru,” said Kashag in a note reported by Efe. According to activists and sources in exile, this prohibition is implemented through greater surveillance, the intimidation of local officials and the intensification of the “Patriotic Education” campaigns that aim to supplan the loyalty to the Dalai Lama by replacing the fidelity to the Chinese Communist Party. Faced with this repression, Kashag underlined “the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Shastra compassion, which represent the true soft power of the Tibetan people, who can never be submissive by hostile forces blinded by ignorance”.
This concept of “soft power” is in direct contrast with China’s strategy in Tibet, which is based on military control, massive investments in infrastructure and cultural assimilation. The declaration also underlined the success of the community in exile, which, he says, passed in 66 years from being a group of refugees who “knew only the sky above and the earth below” to be recognized as “the most exemplary community of refugees in the world”.
The Kashag declaration is the last move in a week of high voltage and follows the historian conclave of the Buddhist leaders who agreed a new comparison strategy with Beijing, after Dalai Lama said that his Gaden Phodrang foundation would have chosen his successor and that he expected to live another 30 or 40 years. The declaration ended with a message of hope, stating that “the sacred link between the master and disciple cannot be suppressed by the tyrannical power” and hoping that one day “we Tibetans in Tibet and in exile we will be able to celebrate freely and together the birthday of his holiness the Dalai Lama”.
