My friend Tenzin Tsundue, leader of Friends of Tibet in India, has penned a long op-ed for Phayul on the process and outcome of the Special Meeting in Dharamsala called by the Tibetan Government in Exile. The meeting’s aim was to discuss the future policy of the TGIE towards China, with the direct input of the Tibetan people – a daring foray into true democracy. Tsundue provides one of the more detailed write-ups of what happened at the meeting, as well as insight into the difficulties that existed in making it a useful and productive event.

When all opinions got collected, and the group leaders met to work out a final resolution, the true test of Tibetan democracy was at hand. The Dalai Lama had expressed distrust in the Chinese government but had not withdrawn his Middle Path policy. Therefore, the choice was still between the Dalai Lama’s Middle Path or Independence.

Then, exile government circulated the result of opinions secretly collected inside Tibet. Out of 17,393 people, 8,246 said they would follow whatever His Holiness says, while 5,209 voted for Independence, and 2,950 supported the Middle Path.

The Meeting resolved to follow the Middle Path as a public mandate but decided to suspend with immediate effect, sending delegations to China, as Beijing did not reciprocate appropriately to the dialogue process. If, in the short period they continued their policy of not responding to our efforts to find a negotiated solution, we would reinstate Independence as the goal of the Tibetan struggle and demand the right of Self Determination. And it would be us who would what “short period” would be.

The eight-point resolution received five standing ovations and brought tears in the eyes of many delegates as we rose to sing the Tibetan National Anthem, we felt once again reunited for one common cause under one leadership. Whatever we spoke for was all for the freedom of Tibet and our main concern was for our brethren inside Tibet who are living under Chinese occupation. The exile government and the people will now be more active in our non-violent struggle and stop being conciliatory. We will now be more confrontational and aggressive, but we are unanimous in our resolve in maintaining our struggle non-violent.

As the meeting came to an end the Prime Minister Prof Samdhong Rinpoche delivering a unique thank you speech said: “The Chinese government this week tried to put pressure on India to stop this meeting, and the Indian government pretended as if they didn’t hear it. We want to express our deep gratitude to the people and Government of India”.

This is actually the first I’ve heard of the TGIE conducting a survey of Tibetans inside of Tibet as to what they wanted from the diplomatic process. It’s a true testiment to the undying devotion of Tibetans inside Tibet to the Dalai Lama, despite fifty years of Chinese occupation in his absence, that a majority would simply defer to whatever he thought was the best course of action. It’s an even greater statement about the Tibetan desire, shared by all people, to be independent that those who specified a choice picked independence over the Middle Path.

Tsundue’s piece goes a long way in showing how the process internal to the Special Meeting ensured an outcome that both accurately reflects the desires of Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet, while ensuring that the movement back towards a policy of Rangzen is proceeding. Personally, China’s continued refusal to conduct dialogues in good faith regarding a meaningful autonomy for Tibet makes the advocacy for anything less than independence seem foolish to me. But as both Tsundue’s essay and the poll of Tibetans inside Tibet show, the Tibetan people have a complicated relationship between their desires and their admiration of the Dalai Lama. He’s spent over thirty years advocating the Middle Path and it won’t be abandoned in one meeting. The outcome of the Special Meeting, nonetheless, makes clear that Tibetans will continue to negotiate for meaningful autonomy in good faith, while recognizing if such efforts remain fruitless, it will be time to return to what most Tibetans inside Tibet want most: genuine independence and rights afforded to them under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.