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Should The Tibetan Struggle For Independence?

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The Tibetan Struggle for Independence

Throughout history, struggles for land, and battles for independence have all been fought via the hand of war. Winners are decisive and quick, and disputes are fought and won at the cost of many deaths. War is gruesome, ugly, and never predictable. Does struggle have to always involve death and fighting? For more then 50 years one country has found a way to maintain a non-violent independence struggle. The people of Tibet have implemented non-violent tactics in the fight for independence, even after years of atrocities inflicted on them by the Chinese. For some they are a model, and to others they remain a joke. Many people wonder how a country with such a large populous of …show more content…

Today Tibet is moving in two different directions. The Dalai Lama’s "middle way" approach has shown us that violence is not always the answer. His policy of kindness has culminated in years of focus on gaining independence. and now, autonomy for Tibet. For the defenders of violence in Tibet, non-violent tactics have not gained sufficient results, yet they have done nothing except preach against the Dalai Lama. They claim that violent resistance is the only answer. They are ready to die, but know that war would be mass suicide. Would violence really change the Tibetans situation or make it worse? Support for war is growing, yet any violent protest would result in disaster for the Tibetans. Buddhism preaches non-violence, thus violent actions would be a direct assault of every ideal the Tibetan culture is built on. Past violence has resulted in many Tibetan deaths, and so will violent actions now. Fighting the Chinese would be mass suicide; the Tibetans would gain nothing in their freedom struggle. Also, Tibet lacks the support to face a country as big a China. The Dalai Lama is losing his political power over his people and the non-violent struggle he has looked to uphold for so many years. Yet it is his holiness's Buddhist ideals of non-violence that will be the only answer to the future independence of Tibet. If Tibet moves towards violent actions, the only outcomes will be negative.

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