TIBET AND THE DALAI LAMA NO 2 - Essay Example

The figurehead for the religion is the Dalai Lama who has been attempting to negotiate some sort of autonomy for Tibet that would allow them to keep their culture intact. This force for continuity is in direct conflict with the changes in farming, education, and politics that the Chinese government has implemented since its invasion of the area. The efforts that the Dalai Lama finds himself with to act as a force of continuity are limited. Being in exile in India, the Dalai Lama is unable to directly affect any sort of policy change in regards to the Tibetan people, so he must appeal to western powers and point out human rights abuses in hopes that something will be done: “The exiled Dalai Lama finds himself standing on the sidelines unable to impede or reverse changes in his country that he deplores, and the frustration engendered by this impotence has seriously heightened the danger of violence“ (Goldstein, 1998).

For instance, the Chinese government initially implemented agricultural policies that lead to widespread famine and deaths throughout Tibet: The Chinese Communist Party restructured Tibets farming and nomadic pastoral areas into communes, and…placed Tibetan traditional culture and religion under severe attack. Between the rebellions, food shortages, and struggle sessions against "class enemies," Tibet suffered substantial privation. The full loss of life is still not clearly known, but the damage to Tibets culture was substantial (Goldstein, 1997, pg. 59). In response to the Dalai Lama’s pleads to the western media, China responded with modernisation efforts meant to improve the quality of life for Tibetans.

There were many different aspects to China’s modernisation efforts, which was known as the China Western Development plan. Part of this effort was to build the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Along with economic reforms, China instituted agricultural reforms, as many of the deaths were a result of the lack of food that could