Sandhong
Rinpoche is the Prime Minister-in Exile (Kalon-Tripa) of the Tibetan
Government. He was born in 1939 in Tibet and recognised at the age of
five as a reincarnation of Samdhong Rinpoche and enthroned in Gaden
Dechenling monastery. He fled from Tibet and came to India in 1959
after the Chinese takeover of Tibet. He was the vice-chancellor of the
Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies at Varanasi before his
election as prime minister-in-exile in 2001. He spoke to DAYAFTER
Correspondent in Dharmashala in an exclusive interview.
Asked about his election by an overwhelming
majority, Rinpoche said his was the "first experiment to elect someone
to the Diaspora. People do not know my political ideas but have trust
in me. I am a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi. It might have been
difficult to work in any other country but not in India. Our charter
is drafted in such a way as not to clash with Indian laws."
Referring to the culture and tradition of Tibet
being passed down to the younger generation he expressed his
satisfaction that the younger generation was assimilating it. Our
children live in the 21st century and look towards the West. I have
been working for 30 years to make children differentiate between
modern and traditional. Accepting a thing is not the same as
practising it; there is no clash with tradition.
Asked whether there had been a paradigm shift in
the attitude of the Indian leadership in the wake of the recent
bilateral talks with China, the Tibetan Prime Minister- in-Exile said
he did not feel that there had been any change. Vajpayee cannot commit
any mistake in regard to the Tibetans as he has been very sensitive to
the issue for long and knows the issue in depth. In fact it is a
victory for we Tibetans that the Indian Prime Minister did not utter
the words that the Chinese wanted to hear. The Chinese fed the Prime
Minister with the phrase that Tibet is an ‘inalienable part of China’,
but it did not have any effect on the Prime Minister.
Q: Did the Joint Declaration not weaken your stand
on Tibet?
Ans: The Prime Minister has only reiterated what
India has been stating for the last few decades. That there is a
change in the statement is mere speculation aimed at weakening our
stand on Tibet.
Q: It is difficult working in India and not hurting
the government of India. Is it because of that you have chosen not to
react negatively to the Indian Prime Minister’s statement?
Ans: I have always opposed decisions by the Indian
government which I did not like. I had protested the Pokhran
experiment and also the opening up of Indian market for globalisation.
Q: What do you think of the faction of the new
generation that is committed to the demand for complete independence?
Ans: They have all the right to demand complete
independence. In a democratic society every one has the right to
present his views. Even the elder brother of His Holiness disapproves
his middle path.
He added: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has
encouraged the democratic system and inspires people to speak out.
There is definitely no rift in our society.
Asked about future plans, the Tibetan Prime
Minister-in-Exile said: "We have to raise the mutual confidence level
between His Holiness and the Chinese leadership. We have to resume
dialogue and start negotiating with them.
We are ready to adjust our demands but we have two
conditions. First, the whole of Tibet should be considered as one and
second, the political system for Tibet should be a democratic one."
We asked whether delegations were being sent to
China and what was the response. He answered: "A team of Tibetan
delegates visited China this year from May 25 to June 8. The recent
response from the Chinese side has been warm. In many ways, I feel
that the present Chinese leadership is better than the one earlier
because it has been educated abroad and received some exposure to the
world. Besides, one of the present Chinese leaders, Hu Chin Thao, has
worked in Tibet for three years.
Q: What about the Panchen Lama? Does the Dalai Lama
trust the Chinese government?
Ans: No one knows what the Chinese have done with
the Panchen Lama. They showed photographs of him but they were fake;
it is difficult to trust the Chinese. His Holiness trusts humanity and
the Chinese are, after all, human beings. We can trust them till they
prove themselves unworthy of our trust.
Q: Do you face any hindrances, being a
democratically elected head, having to work under the Dalai Lama?
Ans: I have never faced any kind of difficulty working under His
Holiness. I have never seen a person with such moral and spiritual
powers and with such democratic views and a rational mindset.