Tsewang Rigzin, president of the TYC’s Central Executive Committee tells iSikkim.com on the sidelines of Tibetan government-in-exile’s Prime Minister elect Lobsand Sangay that Tibetans would never accept Chinese occupation of Tibet.

(In the pic: Tibetan government newly elected PM Lobsang Sangay (in suit) on his visit to the Jantar Mantar. On his left is Mr. Rigzin.)

Was there any progress in approaching the Chinese Embassy with respect to the hunger strike being carried out at Jantar Mantar in protest against a clampdown by Chinese authorites at the Kirti monastery in southwest China’s Sichuan province?

There has been no response from the Chinese Embassy but we have met other major embassies here. An official of the British High Commission came here last Friday. Some officials of Polish Embassy came here on Wednesday.

We are trying to lobby in the United Nations for their support and intervention to pressure China to ease the situation.

Everything is going on in India. What is the stance of government of India?

We are grateful to the government and people of India. We have written to the Prime Minister of India. We have also met many lawmakers including former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha. He directly called foreign minster S. M. Krishna to do something about it. The Indian government is keeping an eye on the situation in Tibet.

Do you believe the Chinese will respond?

We have to do our part. We know about many countries where struggle for independence took many many years. In our case also it’s more than 50 years long. But we will not give up.

The Tibetan Youth Congress supports an independent Tibet and the His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been campaigning for an autonomous Tibet and so does the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Yes, the stance of the Tibetan Government in exile is, as you said, the middle way i.e. an autonomous Tibet. While we respect their stance, we completely disagree with them. We strongly believe that independence is the only solution. We have History on our side. We have truth on our side.

If you notice what China has done to Tibet in the last 52 years of its occupation, that’s all meant to destroy the Tibetan nation and the Tibetan people. Therefore independence is the only solution. We can never live under China.

Probably there is not a single country today that supports anything that goes against one China. And China has been pumping 35-50 billion dollars every year as aids and donations to developing countries with just one foreign policy objective ‘One China’.

We Tibetans believe that it’s not a matter of international community supporting us. We strongly believe that this is the struggle of our country. This is the struggle of our people. And as long as we keep our faith in ourselves and we believe in ourselves that’s what would matter most.

Look at what happened to Russia. It was one of the world’s most powerful country when it got divided into 14-15 parts. See what happened to India. What it was 200 years ago and what it’s today. While we appreciate and try to garner international support for the Tibetan cause, we have to fight our battle on our own. We have faith that if we keep the fire inside us burning, we will be in good shape.

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