Early Times
Jammu, Dec 30- Saying that it was wrong to cast aspersions on the census conducted by Chinese government in Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) with regard to Tibetan population in the area, well known author and senior IAS officer Parvez Dewan today said that ethnic Tibetans constituted over 92 per cent of the population of the region as against the claims made by those living in exile in India.
Delivering a talk on ‘Tibet: Fifty years after’ organized by the Friends of Ladakh, Centre for the History and Culture of Jammu and Ladakh regions, University of Jammu, and The Vijay Suri Foundation, at University of Jammu here today, Dewan said that Chinese statistics estimated that there were around 2.61 million people in the region (TAR) which included 2.41 million ethnic Tibetans which was 92.2 per cent of the total.
“It would be wrong to cast aspersions on the Chinese government figures. Statistics cannot be fudged," Dewan contended, adding that the figures could be old as the census was done in 2000 and now it was 2009. He toured Tibet in the aftermath of the March 2008 failed uprising against Chinese rule and found that the Han Chinese comprised only 5.9 per cent of the total population while 1.9 per cent people were of other ethnicity. He also informed that 60 per cent of Lhasa, capital of Tibet was ethnic Tibetan.
Dewan, who was the Chairman and Managing Director of the India Tourism Development Corporation from 2006 till few days ago in mid-December 2009, and now on a sabbatical (study leave), authored a book 'Tibet Fifty Years After' along with Siddharth Srivastava, recently.
"I had gone to Tibet last year in November to do a book on Buddhism. However, I was taken aback by the beauty of the region and the development in Lhasa that I decided to write a book on Tibet itself," said Dewan.
He was struck by the development of cities in Tibet particularly Lhasa which had eight-lane roads and amenities comparable to Beijing. Lhasa, he said, is easily comparable to any European city and any international fashion label may not be available there. It is totally westernized, liberal city, he said, adding that the development has taken place only in Tibetan cities while the rural areas of Tibet resemble any rural village of Zanskar in Ladakh.
“While India is a fastest growing economy at 7 % and China is at 9 %, Tibet’s economy is growing at an overwhelming 17.5 %,” said Dewan. He, however, rued over the fact that after liberation, the literacy rate has gone down considerably in Tibet which is now 43 % only. Earlier under communism, the state schooling system was must, he added. China, he said, has no slums but Lhasa has some unofficial slums and the entire growth in Tibet in city-centric.
Ghulam Hassan Khan, Member Parliament, Prof Nissar A.Ganai, acting Vice Chancellor and Dean Academic Affairs, University of Jammu also spoke at the occasion.
Among those present at the occasion included. Prof P.S. Pathania, Registrar, JU, Professor Poonam Dhawan, Director, CACE & E, Jammu University, Prof Jasbir Singh, Head, Department of Economic, Jammu University, Prof Kulwant Singh, Department of Law, Prof Dileep Singh, JUTA president, Dr Pankaj Srivastva, general secretary JUTA, Mohammed Shafi Pandit, Mohammed Ashraf, Dr Arun Joshi, Deputy Editor, Hindustan Times, well known culture activist Hasrat Gadda, Ravinder Kaul, Bihari Kak, Sameer Rekhi, SP, JKP, Ashok Pahalwan, Pradeep Dutta, Times Now, Zaffar Iqbal, NDTV, V.K.Sehgal, Dr Anupama Vohra, Dr Niharika subhash, Dr Karuna Thakur, Dr Sonia Jasrotia, Sandeep Sandy, Ghulam Mehndi and a huge number of students and researchers |
