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Reflections on the Situation in Tibet Before entering into a reflection on the ongoing events in But what is Gandhi’s noble philosophy? To sum it up in one word it is satyagraha. According to Gandhi “its root meaning is holding onto truth, hence truth-force. I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In the application of satyagraha, I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and sympathy. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent, but on oneself.” Applied to politics it is manifested as civil disobedience. Gandhi described civil disobedience as “not only the natural right of a people, especially when they have no effective voice in their own Government, but that it is also a substitute for violence or armed rebellion.” The trouble with the events in Tibet is that no matter how minimal the violence it will contaminate the resistance as a whole and diminish its effectiveness and legitimacy while at the same time offering the oppressor a free hand to up the repression. Those voices and activists supporting the burning of cars and looting of stores in defense of Tibetan independence are doing great harm to the cause. The Dalai Lama has appealed “to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence.” The Dalai Lama is not calling on Tibetans to cease their protests but to protest and resist non-violently. The media seems to find the two ideas (nonviolence and resistance) to be in contradiction. Mahatma Gandhi on the other hand finds no contradiction stating that “civil disobedience does not admit of any violence or countenancing of violence directly or indirectly.” To those advocating a Tibetan Intifada today they should recall Gandhi’s observations during the Indian struggle for independence from Britian that “popular violence is as much an obstruction in our path [to independence] as the Government violence” and “what senseless violence does is to prolong the lease of life of British or any foreign rule.” As it applied to As observers to this ongoing conflict we should call on
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