On February 5th, 2012, Thupten Jinpa, the principal translator of the Dalai Lama, tweeted: "Three more Tibetans have sacrificed their precious lives. With these self-immolations, our struggle has probably crossed a threshold." When I read this, I wondered specifically about the the word, "threshold."
What did he mean?
On March 8, he answered my question. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Jinpala said that "there is a growing recognition among Tibetans that Beijing lacks the political imagination and will to resolve the question of Tibet." Jinpala also indicated that the Chinese leadership had only a narrow window of opportunity now to settle the Tibetan question, and if it missed this opportunity, then it would lose Tibet altogether. Tibetans in Tibet, he reasoned, were crossing the threshold.
Many believe this has already happened.
Jinpala's statement is important not only for what it says, but perhaps most importantly, for the simple fact that he is the Dalai Lama's translator, and in many ways, is as close to His Holiness as anyone. He has been a monk, and he understands the monastic perspective.
And he is now sounding the warning signals about the serious nature of Tibetan unrest, and by implication, about the very real struggle in Tibet for nothing less than independence.
That is a statement of significance. Or so it seems to me.
