History was moving along nicely, it seems, towards its end with the most powerful capitalist-authoritarian regime ready to showcase its economic might by hosting the event of all events — the Olympic Games. But unfortunately for the Communist apparatchiks in Beijing, those prickly monks got in the way. From India to Greece, from the United Kingdom to Nepal, standing athwart history, they have yelled stop. But is anyone listening? In a news cycle dominated by the turmoil in financial markets, Iraq and Afghanistan, who has time for a bunch of robed priests in the foothills of the Himalayas trying to preserve their way of life, especially when their adversary is the economic behemoth of China, the centre of global attention today?

But as reports emerge of one of the largest protests in nearly two decades by the Buddhist monks in Tibet and elsewhere in China, the Western world will be confronted with some difficult choices. After having promptly recognised Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, all eyes will be on the West’s reaction to the present turmoil in the Middle Kingdom. So far, the West has been disappointingly silent.

The Tibetan monks have been driven to the brink by the uncompromising attitude of the Chinese authorities, who have refused to meet even the most basic demands of the Tibetans. The negotiations that have been going on for the last five years have failed to yield any substantive results even though the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, has openly acknowledged that independence is no longer an option for the Tibetans. Though he has attracted some criticism for taking this position from grassroots Tibetan activities, it is merely a recognition of the stark political realities on the ground. He has been asking for autonomy for his people within the framework of the Chinese constitution. Apparently even this is too much to ask for, as not only has his demands been rejected but he has been viscerally attacked by the Chinese governmental machinery. Indeed, for the Chinese government the Dalai Lama is merely an irritant, as the Tibet issue no longer exists, and the protesters have been referred to as “minor criminal elements”.

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