London, Aug.22 (ANI): A resigned anger and long-term hopelessness seems to have replaced the violence that was visible of a couple of months ago among Tibetans living on China's western border with Tibet.
There is a view that this is because of the glamour surrounding China's sporting success in hosting the Olympics in Beijing, but critics says that this feel good factor may not last for long.
According to The Times, the ethnic Tibetan town of Tongren in China's Qinghai Province is a case in point that substantiates this view. For most of this year, it has been the site of violent confrontations between unarmed Tibetans and Chinese security forces.
But with the beginning of the Olympics the violence suddenly receded, as it seems to have done over much of the restive area that is Greater Tibet. The paper claims in its report that this is perhaps due to the presence of so many foreigners, which has made the authorities self-conscious about the blatant displays of force.
The paper quotes Jigdal, a Tibetan Buddhist monk as saying: "Maybe things will go bad again. Maybe the police will hurt us again. We don't know. But our future is poor; our future is nothing."
In Tongren, the tension is evident in the reluctance of many monks and people to talk about what had happened and in the columns of armed police, sporting bulletproof waistcoats and travelling in armoured vehicles, who patrolled the streets by night.
In the past each stirring of defiance attracted a ferocious response from the Chinese.
There is a view that China is too powerful for foreign governments to jeopardize a relationship with Beijing over the issue. (ANI)
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