Many resistance movements go through periods of change as peoples are oppressed, seek to negotiate a resolution then begin to resist in structured and strategic ways. One of the key points in the development of a movement is when people start to organise civil disobedience.
A video about the effectiveness of civil resistance movements
Civil disobedience is what led to Gandhi achieving Indian independence against all odds, to Martin Luther King leading the civil rights movement to success and which has recently been used to topple the regime in Tunisia. And in 2011, it became clear that Tibetans have started to organise a civil resistance too with the emergence of the Lhakar movement, where Tibetans are boycotting Chinese vegetable sellers to counter discrimination, wearing Tibetan clothes and using Tibetan language to counter the sinofication of Tibetan culture. Alongside targetted protests against gold mines, language laws and the dropping of banners and photos of the Dalai Lama off government buildings, it’s become clear that Tibetans inside Tibet are leading an increasingly diverse movement against Chinese state control. China is throwing extra resources, troops and propaganda at the issue, but this hasn’t stemmed the growing tide of Tibetan national and cultural pride.
Lhakar: the home grown Tibetan resistance movement
Meanwhile in exile, Tibetans are keen to support their countrymen in Tibet, also marking Lhakar or ‘White Wednesday’ every week by wearing, speaking and eating Tibetan and becoming more politically active in becoming leaders of the Tibetan cause. Tibetans living in exile can take part by posting on Lhakar diaries.
Thousands of Tibetans have been involved in the Lhakar movement so far, and it continues to grow. This is the future of the Tibetan resistance, and as the recent flooding of Tibetan areas with troops shows, the Chinese government will find it increasingly difficult to deal with unless it drastically alters it’s oppressive attitude towards the Tibetan people.
