The neglect of Tibet by South Asia's intellectuals is insensitive and ignoble. Even if they were to ignore the Tibetans in exile, what of the Tibetans within Tibet?
The 10th of March 1996 marked the 37th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation of their country. Tibetans and their supporters almost all over the Western world organised demonstrations, lectures, seminars, exhibitions and other activities to highlight the plight of their homeland.
Thousands of French, Italians, Germans and Hungarians converged on the Chinese embassy in Brussels to protest human rights abuses in Tibet and to demand Tibetan independence. Similarly, hundreds of Americans protested outside the Chinese embassy in Washington DC. In 25 European countries, 593 mayors flew the Tibetan national flag atop their city halls, and the cities of Berkeley, Montreal and Vancouver made similar gestures. People in countries as far apart as Russia and New Zealand expressed their support for the Tibetan cause.
In South Asia, however, the scene was quite different. As has been the case for several years, India, home to the largest number of Tibetan refugees, did not allow the demonstrators anywhere near the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. In Nepal, authorities arrested 100 Tibetans and five Nepali human rights activists who had planned a march to the Chinese embassy on 19 March.