China says 'door open' for Dalai Lama's return to Tibet

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Vol 1 No 19       Page 1                May 25, 2011

China says 'door open' for Dalai Lama's return to Tibet

Beijing, May 24: China's top Tibetan official last Thursday said "the door was open" for the return of the exiled Dalai Lama, but repeated its charge that the spiritual leader was a separatist bent on Tibetan independence.

    In China's first high-level comment since the Dalai Lama retired in March as head of Tibet's government-in-exile, Padma Choling said the spiritual figure was welcome to return to Tibet as long as he ended his separatist activities.

"If he wants to come back, the door to China is always open," Choling, Tibet's highest-ranking official, told reporters, AFP reported.

"If the Dalai Lama really does retire as he says he has, if he stops his separatist activities, stops disrupting the stability of Tibet and really concentrates on Buddhism, then this will be good for Tibet," he said. "The key is if he really gives up Tibetan independence."

China has made similar statements before but Tibet-watchers believe Beijing will not allow his return due to its potential for causing political instability in tense Tibet, the report said.

China has for years insisted the Dalai Lama wants to establish an independent Tibet, charges the 1989 Nobel laureate has long denied, saying he only seeks "meaningful" autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Following his March retirement, Tibetan exiles elected Harvard academic Lobsang Sangay, 43, as their new prime minister and handing him the daunting task of assuming the political duties of the Dalai Lama, a global icon.

Beijing has long been seen as playing a waiting game, believing that the Tibetan exiled movement will splinter and collapse after the eventual death of the 75-year-old Buddhist monk.

Choling, who was speaking on the 60th anniversary of China's "peaceful liberation of Tibet," further accused the Dalai Lama of seeking to restore the Tibetan theocracy that existed for centuries before China's 1951 takeover.

"Since he went into exile in 1959, he has never done anything good for Tibet, everything he has done since he left is to struggle for the restoration of feudal serfdom," he said.

He further reiterated Beijing's stance that the exiled Tibetan government was "an illegal organisation," and said any future negotiations on the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet would be with the Buddhist leader and not the exiled government.

The newly elected prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile recently predicted that the 75-year-old Dalai Lama will return during his lifetime to the homeland he fled five decades ago.

"He will live very long. I believe we will see he will return to Tibet in his lifetime," Sangay said.

Sangay will be sworn in on May 30 in Dharamsala.

Nepal party split ahead of CA term expiry
RP Sharma

Kathmandu, May 24: Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta, Co-Chairman of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal (MJF-N), today announced the launch of a separate parliamentary party backed by 13 Constituent Assembly members, throwing a spanner in the ruling alliance’s plan of sidelining the Nepali Congress and extending the CA term with the support of a two-thirds majority.

MJF-N, which emerged as the fourth largest party after the CA elections in 2008, is now left with only 12 members in its fold. MJF-N is part of the current coalition with its leader Upendra Yadav, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the government.

The unexpected split in MJF-N has come at the most inopportune time for Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, as it can upset the government plans to secure the two-thirds majority (397 votes in 596-member CA) to get endorsed the Bill to extend the CA term through the ninth amendment to the interim constitution.

With just four days left before a potential constitutional meltdown, Nepal's communist-Maoist government today clamped prohibitions near the parliament building, banning all protests and rallies within a 50m radius.

Security forces swung into action in the morning, removing by force the various pressure groups which had been holding peaceful demonstrations before parliament for days, demanding the promulgation of the new constitution within the stipulated May 28 deadline.

Quake could cause Himalayan glacial lakes to inundate populated areas

Himalayan News Network

New Delhi, May 24: Earthquakes could lead glacial lakes in the Himalayas to cause serious hazards to population centres, scientists have said. 

The BBC quoted them as saying that past records indicate the region could experience a large quake in the future.

According to reports, many glacial lakes are said to be growing, and some of them are alarmingly, because of melting glaciers.

Some are at risk of rupturing, could flood downstream areas, they said.

"Such a disaster is very much possible, more so, when we are expecting a big earthquake in the region now. If the acceleration is very high in the epicentre of the earthquake, everything will be in the air as things will not be stable. So, naturally the liquids like waters in glacial lakes will burst out," Sushil Kumar, a geophysicist with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in India, said.

Reports also suggest that a number of these lakes are located near seismic faults.

"Given the location of the lakes, if the epicentre of the earthquake happens to be nearby them, they will certainly explode," Pradeep Mool, a glaciologist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) that works on mountain issues in the region, said.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has shown that at least 35 glacial lake outburst took place in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and China during the last century.

Editorial

INDIA’S HIMALAYAN POLICY

Perspectives Have Changed

India’s policy towards the former Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Sikkim and Bhutan had a similar thrust of retaining the core British strategic framework of keeping these kingdoms as an integral art of India’s defence structure, while shedding off its imperial and colonial façade. Emerging aspirations of people in these countries for democratization were responded to within this framework, i.e., without sacrificing the security interests. This was evident in Nepal as this was also evident in Bhutan and Sikkim.

An important aspect behind India’s support to monarchies in Sikkim and Bhutan, related to its security interests has been that the resistance movements and forces of democratization in both of these countries had a strong ethnic character. In both Bhutan and Sikkim, democratization demand was raised by the Nepali groups and the monarchies have been Bhutias and Lepchas in Sikkim and Drukpas in Bhutan; having closer cultural and religious ties with Tibet. As a result, supporting democratic movements would have amounted to favoring one side in the ethnic divide and as a consequence, alienating the other one.

Indian policy makers did take into account the possibility, howsoever remote, of the ruling Mongoloid ethnic groups in Bhutan and Sikkim seeking China’s support in case of India leading its weight with their Nepali protesters. Political instability precipitated in the process would surely have been exploited by China. Ironically, it is Nepal, with its dominant Maoists supporters, which is inching closer to China than Sikkim or Bhutan. In the light of these developments New Delhi needs to take a fresh and realistic look at its Himalayan policy.

Sikkim CM on 36-day tour of State

Himalayan News Network

Gangtok, May 24: On the eve of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front’s completion of 17 years in power last week, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling embarked on a historic 36-day whirlwind tour of the State to find out the “problems and grievances” of the people first hand.

On the fourth of day of his tour, which began on May 17, Chamling said his dream of turning Sikkim into a “model state” would be realized if the people and government worked in tandem.

Ever since he came to power in 1994 promising to restore unity, harmony and freedom and democracy in the State, Chamling has been stressing that he did not get the much-needed cooperation from his legislators and bureaucrats to fulfill his promises made to the people.

It is also significant to not that the Chief Minister called all the heads of departments before his marathon tour to state that he expected civil servants to be more responsible and accountable to the people, indicating that he would not tolerate inefficiency and corruption in the administration.

Meghalaya for revision of Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty to check influx

P. Ghosh

Shillong, May 24: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is likely to offer “suggestions” to the Centre to ensure that the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Friendship, 1950 is made non-applicable to Meghalaya.

"The matter concerns both countries. The state government would give some suggestions on the provisions of the treaty," Sangma told representatives of some organisations here. The organisations, including the Khasi Students' Union (KSU), urged the Chief Minister to take appropriate measures to “check influx” in the State.

The Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 is a bilateral treaty between Nepal and India establishing a close strategic relationship between the two South Asian neighbours. The treaty allows for the free movement of people and goods between the two nations and a close relationship and collaboration on matters of defence and foreign affairs.

The organisation representatives described as alarming the figures of the recent census showing the decadal population growth of the state at 27.82 per cent, much higher than the national average of 17.64 per cent. The representatives attributed the reason for the “abnormal growth to unabated influx of outsiders” arguing it has posed a threat to the identity of the locals.

On the demand of the organisations to implement the Inner Line Permit in the State to check infiltration and disturbance of the tribal demographic structure, Sangma said a mechanism would be worked out even as the state was trying to project Meghalaya as a tourist destination, which would open up employment opportunities to the youths.

The organisations have also demanded that 1971 be made the base year for determining citizenship status of “non-indigenous” residents in the State.

Referring to the proposed “work permit system” in the State, Sangma said the labour department has been asked to implement the proposals within three months.

FASHION

  Will Prabal Gurung replace Galliano at Dior?

Kunga Chukie

Christian Dior, the luxury goods group that is the main holding company of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is looking at nine possible candidates to replace John Galliano.

Designer Prabal Gurung who had a good outing at the Autumn/Winter collection at the New York Fashion Week this year is said to be a frontrunner, according to ibnlive.com

LVMH's Bernard Arnault has insisted that Dior is in no hurry to name Galliano's successor, but his advisers have reportedly submitted a list of suggested candidates.

According to Women's Wear Daily, the list includes: Riccardo Tisci, Tom Ford, Hedi Slimane, Olivier Theyskens, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Alber Elbaz, Haider Ackermann, Prabal Gurung, and Sarah Burton.

Gurung is showing at the upcoming Audi Fashion Festival on May 14 where he's presenting a line with Atelier Swarovski.

Prabal Gurung launched his first eponymous collection during New York Fashion Week in February 2009 with a presentation at the FLAG Art Foundation in Chelsea. For Fall 2010, he staged his first runway show in the Tents at Bryant Park.

Gurung was born in Singapore and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was in New Delhi, India that his design career truly began. While studying at New Delhi’s National Institute of Fashion Technology, he apprenticed at several local production and fashion houses and designed with Manish Arora.

Gurung’s travels took him to Melbourne and London, where he assisted stylists for various fashion shows and international publications. In 1999, after seven years of traveling, Gurung moved to New York City. He began his career in New York interning for Donna Karan while attending Parsons School of Design. In his first year, he was awarded the 'Best Designer' title at the annual Parsons/FIT design competition.

Since the launch of his collection, Gurung has dressed leading ladies, including Michelle Obama, Demi Moore, Zoe Saldana and Oprah Winfrey, to name a few.

Dior, one of the biggest brands within luxury goods group LVMH, sacked Galliano earlier this month following publicity over a video of him shouting abuse in a Paris bar and saying he loved Hitler. Dior Chairman and Chief Executive Sidney Toledano said the company was studying possible replacements and the brand's creative development had not been interrupted.

Fashion magazine Elle reported that Dior might not announce Galliano's replacement before the autumn.