N.Ram, Chairman of Lasturi & Sons Limited (The Hindu) and famous Indian journalist, delivers a speech at the Forum on the Development of Tibet, Aug.12th, 2014, Lhasa, capital of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. [Photo/China Tibet Online]   

N.Ram, Chairman of Lasturi & Sons Limited (The Hindu), is a famous Indian journalist who has great attainment on the study of Tibet.

Having been in Tibet for three times respectively in 2000, 2007 and 2009, it is the fourth time for Ram to be in Tibet, attending the Forum on the Development of Tibet and presented his research paper named "The Political Dimensions of Sustainable of Tibet".

Truths and lies

Speaking of the beginning of his attention on Tibet, Ram said it was because of the 14th Dalai Lama's campaigns in India.

"The 14th Dalai Lama who lives in India does a lot of propaganda in India and abroad. They claimed one million Tibetans were killed by the Chinese government, the Hanization of Tibet, and Tibetan Buddhism and monasteries were suppressed and Tibetan culture was destroyed. Looking at all it and there are a lot of campaigns against China." said N.Ram.

As a journalist, Ram was very interested in it and was eager to dig out the truth.

In April of 1978, Ram visited China and met with some Tibetan leaders in Beijing.

This is a good chance for a journalist to find out the truth by reality testing.

Visiting China for more than 25 times, Ram saw huge changes people can imagine happen in China and the very impressive development of Tibet.

For the previous three visits in Tibet and other Tibetan areas, what Ram saw were all Tibetans, and some Hans also there to help Tibetans, to lead them in some aspects.

In Feb. of 2009, Ram visited Tibet for the third time and checked out the effects of Lhasa 3.14 riots in 2008 on people's life, work and development..

Ram said the Lhasa riots incited by the 14th Dalai people caused seriously damage, but the economy recovery was very quick thanks to the support of the Chinese central government.

After he wrote the details about the truth of Tibet in his magazine and daily newspaper (Tibet Reality Check, title of his article), the 14th Dalai Lama people was very angry, because lot of details and truth about Tibet were given to the public.

Tibet has entered a stage of leapfrog development

In his paper presented at the forum, Ram wrote that "The economy of TAR is on a roll: it has been visibly transformed by double-digit GDP growth over two decades without a break and has entered a new stage of development, which the Chinese government has termed 'leapfrog development'. Notable defining factors behind Tibet's overall development are the massive financial and resource support provided by the central government, its preferential policies for Tibet, rapid infrastructural development, and the building of a comprehensive modern transportation system, the highlight of which is the Qinghai-Tibet railway, an engineering marvel. As a result of this development, Tibet's interaction and integration with the rest of China has deepened and its isolation from the rest of the world has decisively been ended."

Since the year 2014 marks the 20th anniversary for other provinces to aid Tibet, "the special policies and support given by the Chinese government to Tibet, such as the pairing up program, is a brilliant move by sending cadres to help build Tibet. It has application in India," said Ram.

Life of "Tibetans in exile"

As a journalist from India, Ram knows the actual situation of these "Tibetans in exile" better.

"Estimated 150,000 Tibetans are abroad. They are called themselves Tibetans in exile, it is actually self exile. Because they are Chinese citizens, but live in different places. They are not technically called refugees in India, because they are Tibetans who live there," said Ram.

"They are doing OK in India. But it is not like this development in China. They are quite hard-working. Their prospects are not as good as if they will be here. I met some Tibetans who lived in India for many years came back to Lhasa and other Tibetan areas of China. They do business, travel agency, hotels, doing very well and become rich. Some of them speak Hindi and Tibetan." Ram added.

So, what are choices for these 150,000 "Tibetans in exile"?

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1978, the Chinese government formulated the policy of "All patriots belong to one big family, whether they rally to the common cause early or late" and "Let bygones be bygones with freedom to come and go" to overseas Tibetans. In 1979, many overseas Tibetans started to come back to the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan inhabited areas for home visits, business, sightseeing, and Buddha-worshipping. The government released special brochures explaining the related documentary work of resettlement of overseas Tibetans, the problems they may come across and the responding solutions regarding housing, economic allowances and employment.

What are choices for the 14th Dalai Lama?

"The remarkable is that after the 14th Dalai Lama has incited and done many separatist activities, the Chinese government still opens the door and would like to talk with him. The communication door is always open," Ram said.

"But even if the 14th Dalai Lama said if there was a solution, he would dissolve his government in exile and claimed that he was a simple monk. He had no intention of coming back," said Ram.

"Because he has spent his whole life fled, from 24 years old when he was immature, and now considered as a wise man over art of happiness and meditation. It is not doubt that he is more a political leader than a monk. He knows how to play on the emotions, which fools the world. Even the Hollywood stars think he is charismatic." Ram added.

What about the future?

What about the future, including the future of 150,000 Tibetans in self-exile who are spred across India and several other countries?

Ram put forward his ways in his paper as follows:

Tibet's development can proceed 'along the fast lane' in the knowledge that it can do even better if a negotiated political solution that ends the separatist campaign and activities can be found and a substantial number of Tibetans who find themselves in self-exile return home. But in any event, fast-rising China, with its 1.39 billion people, its high growth rates sustained over an extended period without precedent, its burgeoning resources, internal and external, its international clout, and its focus on reform and building a harmonious society, is eminently capable of enabling Tibet to achieve 'leapfrog development'. Seldom does a great country get such an opportunity to transform the lives of three million of its citizens, accounting for 0.22 per cent of the national population, dotted across 1.23 million square kilometers.