I just read an interesting article: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/unease-in-dharamsala/429052/
Lately I have been so focused on looking innocent for the IRB that I have kind of strayed from my original idea or question, which asked "Will Tibetans and Indians get along", and not "Why do they get along", which is what my question seems to have become. This article expresses some of the worries and issues going on between the Tibetans and Indians of Dharamsala. There really are a lot of issues, especially from the point of view of local Indians. They do not seem mad at Tibetans, but actually quite willing to mix with them. The problem they say is that Tibetans do not want to mix with Indians. This is just one of several issues, not to mention the whole deal with the Karmapa Lama (which thankfully seems it is being taken care of nicely without raising more issues).
My point is, I have focused so much on the good lately that I have kind of ignored any negative relationships between Tibetans and Indians, when this could really be a valid point to investigate. My only problem is that I am afraid the IRB will not like the idea of me investigating anything negative if it means negative comments will be attached to people's faces on film. I have tried to avoid this being a risk by deciding that the film should only be screened in the United States, but even still, I don't know if the IRB will see that as enough protection.
However, I also don't want to show Dharamsala as a paradise where everyone gets along if that's not really how it is. How do you determine how "accurate" you want to be versus how "safe" you want to be?
Maybe the answer is in the question that I ask. Maybe my question should be, "What are Tibetans and Indians doing to get along better?"
Tibet and Tibetan lamaism's influence cannot be separated. Tibet was not a "peaceful country" and Tibetans were quite agressive and internecine conflict was constant between lama sects, who owned all the wealth. Typical in communities large or small, when some own all the wealth and the rest are desititute, such as in Old Tibet, people resort to unorthodox means to make ends meet, like robbery, The highways were lined with robbers. Brigandry was common.It was like the wild west only worse, because they were really living in medieval times, not even the 19th c, and most who moved into the American west, brought much of their values with them. The Tibetans, both lamas and the ordinary people brought the 14 c and their habits with them. The Dalai lama once joked about How a Tibetan wasn't a man unless he was a thief.(He used to be more honest BEFORE the noble peace prize) Now the Lamas and the TGIE have brought their wiley ways with them, eventually irritating the ordinary Indians, as they fraudulently buy up land to build their kleptocratic monasteries, and the new refugees, are bring violence , illegal activities and thuggery and arrogance with them. At least the ordinary Tibetan is doing better in Dharmasala, but since they believe their own myths, instead of adapting to the country that took them in, they are alienating the local populations. So , if you hesitate, regarding this powderkeg you will be left out of what will be a "big story" in a few years, as the rest of the world catches up to what Himachal Pradesh has discovered about these Shangri-lai citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe Tibetans lamas along with their CIA, turned NED supporters (millions a year to the Govt in Exile) have have sacrificed the ordinary Tibetan as usual. They have discouraged Indian citizenship, which would have made them part of a democracy, because they wouldn't have been able to be still on the "world dole" they would have to fend for themselves, and the TGIE wouldn't have been able to skim off the biggest portion of the pie. The local Indians, for whom the honeymoon has been long over as far as Shangri-lai Tibet, resent the Tibetans, and see a new influx of arrogant, violent, potential Chinese influenced youth. They see them living as the "richest refugees in the world" thanks to the incredible naivite of the west. The patina of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetans' and you can't separate the two, because their was no culture separate from this feudal theocracy, is wearing very thin EVERYWHERE. The Shadow side of Tibet will not be protected from scrutiny anymore. If You don't show this negative side, out of fear to offend, you will be left in the dust, because I can assure you, in the next five years, many filmmakers and writers will be exposing it. So as you are hesitating, this thing will explode and you will have missed a great investigative opportunity to wake up the world. And no, this Karmapa thing IS NOT GOING AWAY, you have to dig, because the himachal pradesh govt was "humiliated" by the news handling so they are being very surreptitious in still going after who they see as a Chinese Karmapa, they have demanded just last week , to have Tai Situ, the lama with connections with China since the 1980's do "Prove the Identity" of this Karmapa, such as "where are those medical records when he first arrived that showed him as at least 10 years older, that have disappeared" and where is the 16 Karmapa's supposed letter, that recognized this one, the Situ has refused to subject to forensic scrutiny, this is still ongoing. They will never give up, because they believe and have always believed that he is at least an "agent of influence."
So if you hesitate, you are going to wish you hadn't. The political international world is fickle, and slowly , slowly , the Tibetan's Shangri La patina is beginning to wear off, even in the infatuated west.
Wow, great article. And some great questions on your part. One thing you can do is focus simply on reporting what people say, but then you have the ethical question of whether sharing their negative opinions increases their risk for having talked to you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know ... I know my comment here isn't all that helpful. I do, however, think it's important not to impose on your study the story that you want or expect. Somehow you need openness in your thinking and in your method, to allow for there to be another story besides your version.