March 10th - 50 Years On – My Experience as a Supporter of Free Tibet

It was my first time lobbying my MP. In fact my first visit to the Houses of Parliament. There was a sense of excitement, action and solidarity as we entered Parliament. I was exercising my right to see my MP and my right of freedom of speech unlike the Tibetans in Tibet I am supporting.

My MP was interested in hearing details of the current situation in Tibet and moved by the life experiences of Tibetan people I had met in Dharamsala, India. I was however surprised that he was unaware that the British government had recently weakened its position on Tibet.

I left feeling that my concerns were heard and that I had been a part of a highly successful day of action and I am determined to continue working for a Free Tibet.

Vivienne Briscoe

As I put the phone down, I couldn't contain my excitement – my MP had just agreed to meet me. This was the first time I had ever felt someone in authority was really going to pay attention to the situation in my homeland, Tibet. Since being born in a refugee transit camp high in the Himalayas I have spent all my life in exile, living in other peoples countries, for which I am thankful, but it also means simply that I have never felt truly at home.

Tuesday March 10th was going to change that – 50 years on, someone was going to listen, some progress was going to be achieved. Perhaps naïve but that was what was surging through my blood as I entered the parliamentary lobby eager to see democratic government in action. Even the wait in the long queue outside in the stormy rain had not dampened my spirits.

My actual meeting with my MP lasted about 25 minutes. We discussed an independent investigation into human rights abuses, appointing a UK Tibet representative, creating a Tibet desk and the recent statement by David Miliband (Foreign Secretary) that the UK government now believed Tibet was part of China, contrary to history. My MP said that what perhaps the Foreign Secretary had meant to say was Tibet wanted to be part of China – this we debated heavily. I pointed out that the timing of his statement came before the largest ever meeting of exiled Tibetans debating whether to keep the middle way approach or not had reached their decision. Covering the ins and outs of Tibetan political history over the ages – in the end she agreed that she would write to David Miliband to clarify his statement and also to the EU and the UN for their support in the first point.

Thanking my MP for her time, I reminded her that if I as a Tibetan in Tibet tried to make these similar points I would be facing detention, torture or even death.

Well the excitement has now all drained away, and I am back to my normal life of insecurity and doubt. I am back in the waiting game, wondering if or when any of my dreams of progress for Tibet will materialise.

Ugyen Choephell

The Mass Lobby of Parliament on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising happened to fall on the day I was scheduled to travel back up to Scotland after ten days down south attending peace movement meetings. So I rejigged my travel plans to take the overnight bus and signed up to participate in the lobbying. At the age of forty-nine I don’t do too well on night buses, but the discomfort would be nothing compared to the ordeals that countless Tibetans have undergone in the past half century as they made the hazardous trek over the Himalayas in search of religious and cultural freedom. I had only once before been inside the Houses of Parliament, and that was at the age of twelve, so I was looking forward to seeing the inside of this seat of democracy.

My appointment was for 2pm but the police told me I would have to wait to be admitted with the rest of the delegation for half two. I was afraid I would miss my appointment. But Sophie, the Free Tibet organizer, came to my rescue and after a bit of back and forth I was admitted. We passed through security and the massive entrance hall, like a vast empty cathedral, and into the grand lobby. My MP, Alan Reid (Lib-Dem) came to meet me, and we went to the cafeteria for a cup of tea. I was amazed that he was prepared to give me half an hour. Back in the US only paid lobbyists have that sort of access to Congressmen.

Since he is a Liberal Democrat I had a hunch that Alan Reid would be sympathetic to the human rights of Tibetans, and he was. I briefly listed some of the many violations of fundamental human rights perpetrated by China during its fifty year occupation of Tibet: the destruction of monasteries, “patriotic reeducation”, the resettlement of so many ethnic Han that they outnumber Tibetans, policies amounting to cultural genocide. I pointed out that more than a thousand people have disappeared and two hundred died in the last year as China has attempted to repress freedom of speech, especially expressions of devotion for the Dalai Lama, and that despite all this the Dalai Lama has consistently called for nonviolence and asks only for autonomy for Tibet within China. When I concluded by quoting the Dalai Lama’s statement that the Chinese authorities have created a “hell on earth” in Tibet Alan Reid indicated that he shared my concerns and asked what substantial action he could take. It was then easy to ask him not only to sign the EDM, which he immediately agreed to do, but also to write to the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and call for the other three “Asks”.

Alan Reid was especially interested in the historical relationship between the UK and Tibet. Going back to the 1890 (?) treaty, in which the UK acknowledged China’s suzerainty over Tibet he indicated that the term was vague and did not purport sovereignty, and that in any case it would not be binding in relation to the People’s Republic of China. He also expressed his appreciation for the commitment of the Dalai Lama to nonviolence and his appreciation of the Free Tibet Campaign’s long peaceful campaigning. He suggested too that a successful resolution of this conflict through nonviolent means might serve as model for other similar situations, and indicated that he would write to the Foreign Secretary. He graciously brought me to the entrance to the visitors’ gallery, so I had the opportunity to observe the ongoing session of the House.

Back in the lobby I met a few friends and was encouraged to see how many people had come along to meet their MPs. Monks in maroon and gold robes mingled with English ladies in their best hats and gentlemen in suits. The aroma of incense floated on the air in that ancient hall. As I made my way back out to Parliament Square where a small band was maintaining a public vigil, with Tibetan flags flying I reflected that, with the help of MPs in the mother of all Parliaments, this dedicated band of dispossessed Buddhists, might one day see democratic freedoms and basic human rights allowed expression in that land which, perhaps more than any other, has kept the light of nonviolence and compassion shining through half a century of brutal occupation.

R. Brian Larkin