Himalayan Times (1962)

July 15, 1962

Himalayan Times

Five

THE MYSTERIOUS TIBET

Dr. S. C. CHATTERJI

( Continued from .previous issue )

, About tea years ago
the doctrine of Pancha-
.• :.<•<•! recogniaed Cbineae
suzerainty over Tibet, but
Tibet'* regional autonomy
was also recognised. More-
over, the Communists
agreed that they would
not interfere in the reli
gious beliefs, oustoma and
habits of the Tibetans,
and "in matters related
to various rifoims in
Tibet, there will be no
compulsion on the pnrt
nt the oentral authority."
The Chinese however did
not keep any of these
pledgi a and completely
occupied Tibet in March,
1960. Whereupon, the
Dalai Lama fled from
Lhasa and came to India
as a refugee.

Tibet is still a feudal
country dominated by
religiou but its people
appear to- be happy. By
saying so I am not de-
fending the .perpetuation
of the prevailing social
& economic conditions but
tiuggesting a change.-witlun
the pattern of Tibetan
thinking. Religion has
atill a lone sway over an
average Tibetan, and mo
nasteries, winch are the
stronghold, of Lamaism,
are still wielding great

influenoe over the country.

The Tibetan Cabinet,
known as Kashang pre-
viously consisted of four
members, one a mouk
and three nobles; but was
later enlarged to six, two
of them were monks.
Each of thi m held one
or more portfolios in the
government, but the Dalai
Lama was in sole charge
of foreign policy, although
in 1942 a Bureau of
Foreign Affairs under the
State Prime Minister was
created, but it was subse-
quently dosed owing to-
Chinese objection. On the
secular side there was an
Accounting Office, com-
posed of four secretaries,
and the provincial Gover-
nors with their subordi-
nate prefects and a monk
and a layman were in
charge of ' the districts
(dzongs) into, whioh the
oountry was divided.

The religious countsr-
part of the Kashag was
the Yiktsang (Nest 'of.
Letters) entirely composed
of monks, usually four in
number. The Yiktsang
administered all the mo-
nasteries except Drnpong,
Sera and Ganden; but
the treasuries within the
Potala was in charge of

the ecclesiastical section
of the government.

The numerioal pre-
ponderance of the lamas
and their pervasive in-
fluence in religious and
non raligious spheres made
this class a heavy burden
on people. Realising the
political advantages of a
vast number of monks
the Chinese government
heavily subsidized various
monasteries.

On one hand, the
lamas form a superior
caste and their voice pre-
vails in all matters of
Tibetan administration. On
the other hand, the pro-
cedure of selecting (he
Dalai Lama combines
both aristocratic and de-
mocratic principles. Since
the Dalai Lama may be
selected, from the poorest
family (the great fifth
was the son of a poor
peasant), there is no class
distinction so far as the
Living Buddha is concer-
ned. His Office is uo
one's privelepe; and (he
manner of his choice com-
bines both conservative
and liberal practices.

Tibetan life is still
medieval and the religion
is what really matters to
an average man Its peo-
ple oan be classified as
nobles,' traders, peasants
and nomads. The nobi-
lity are comprized of
chiefly the descendants of
the early rulers or the
families in whioh a Dalai