Truth of His Holiness

The annexation of Tibet by Britishers in the early 20th century to contain Czarist forces was not something uncommon in those days. But nobody felt the sliding of the plates underneath the China-Tibetan border. Tremors of the earthquake were felt recently in the wake of Olympics going to be held in China in October 2008

China has gifted the highest roof of the world with the highest railway in the world. With the opportunity of participating in China's growth story, Tibet has indeed come a long way. With the abandonment of slash and bury technique of farming and switch over to modern ways of farming, development has not left any corner of the country. However, the dark side of the story is the social and cultural disintegration through which the country underwent during Cultural Revolution. But the question to be asked is whether Tibetans are in euphoric or gloomy mood. If they are satisfied, then let vested interests keep fishing in the troubled waters, China knows how to handle them. However, Tibetans are extremely spiritual people for whom the fabric of development is immersed in the red color of their Dalai Lama. It will be not an exaggeration if I tantamount it to illiteracy and poverty which they had seen for the last 100 years and prevented them to see the other side of the story.

It will not be entirely futile to evaluate Dalai Lama’s decisions and their impact on his people. When he fled away to set up a government in exile in Dharamshala, India took a big risk and laid the condition of not using Indian soil for any anti-seccesionary activities. However, the blatant violation by the Noble Peace Prize winner is an open secret. He even seeked UN assistance for Tibetan autonomy much against the wishes of J.L.Nehru. And to add another feather in his peace loving cap, he colluded with CIA to train people to resist Chinese oppression.

Things start settling if one dives a bit deeper. Dalai Lama asks for an autonomous Tibet whose defense and foreign affairs will be in the hands of China. He even wants Tibet to be divided into four provinces, thus dividing it ethnically. Now, Tibet forms a quarter of China’s territory and demands like these are a direct assault on the country’s sovereignty. The comparison with Hong Kong, Makau and Taiwan is irrelevant as they have germinated from different books of the history.

Incidentally, the Indian response in this context is a slightly less balanced one. Though we have reiterated, time and again, our stance on Tibet and prohibited the meeting of Dalai Lama with any of our senior leader, the appeasement of US keeps taking the sanity out of Indian diplomacy occasionally. Allowing Ms. Pelosi and Dalai Lama to meet and issue a statement on Indian soil is, in fact, quite hypocritical. What right does India, and for that matter US, have when in its own backyard, the integrity of army operations in J & K and in N.E. states have not been entirely unquestionable. More so, when China has taken the Indian side on both the issues. Perhaps, it could have been given as a good token for diplomacy on the unresolved issue of Arunachal Pradesh., in future.

The indisputable fact that no country has recognized Tibet as an autonomous state, will take time for Dalai Lama to reconcile with. Nonetheless, a secular country like China welcomes Dalai Lama with open arms. With Tibetans getting a holistic development under the shade of Chinese banyan tree, what more can he ask for than to just guide his followers spiritually.