A few days back in the year 1959, a monk called Tenzin Gyatso, crossed the himalayas after a 15 day trek taking refuge in India. His flight against Chinese oppression would have gone unnoticed, if he wasn't the Dalai Lama who had to flee after the Chinese Red Army invaded Tibet.
2003, America invades Iraq with the promise of bringing democracy in Iraq and the middle east. With more than 30,000 civilian deaths iraq is no closer to democracy with the real chance of internal civil war.
1994, Jean Bertrand Aristide the president was overthrown in a coup allegedly supported by the CIA (like Pinochet and various other dictators). The election which Aristide won with a two-third majority was called the most honest election ever conducted in Haiti.
2006, Hamas wins elections in Palestine. Several United Nations observers testified it to be a fair election, however most of the western world has refused to recognize hamas as the ruling party.
There is no question that it is now a uni-polar world with America calling most of the shots, but it is surprising on how losely democracy is used and promoted based on need or usefulness.
I had visited McLeodGanj where the Dalai Lama and the tibetan monks are currently living in exile (missed meeting him by a day unfortunately), and though my definition of democracy doesnt seem to match with the policy makers in DC, but after 45 years, has Tibet earned the right to practice democracy?
2 comments:
Sadly, Tibet is not recognized as an independent country by any government, although resolutions requesting this have been often raised in the U.N.
On a happier note -- this is a great blog! Loved the ghazals. :)
thank you very much.. welcome to my blog readers club of 1 :)
Post a Comment