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| Indian Army at Himalaya Border |
“We the Tibetan people are ready to stand-up with the country of India and Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security”
-Som
History is based on facts and evidence; we can’t negotiate our past history. China has never been India’s neighbor in history. Tibet was a buffer state between the two most populous Asian giants, India and China like Mongolia, a nation bordered by China and Russia.
When we talk about the India-China border, we should know about Tibet first. Tibet was an independent country before the Chinese occupied it in early 1959. The Tibetan people would never accept “Tibet was a part of China”, which is based on a historical fact that should be accepted by the whole world. The border issue between India and China has never been at rest since China occupied Tibet. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after 1959.
When Tibet was acquired, Mao and other leaders said that Tibet is the palm while Nepal, Bhutan, Arunachal, Ladakh, and Sikkim are the five fingers that would be included in China’s map sooner than later.
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| Tibet, India, and China map. |
When we talk about border issues, Tibet is an indispensable part of border remarks between India and China. Let us glimpse back to the McMahon Line. The McMahon line forms the northern boundary of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas administered by India, a border shared with Tibet. But claimed by China nowadays.
The McMahon Line is the demarcation line between Tibet and the northeast region of India proposed by the British colonial administrator Sir Henry McMahon in 1914 at Shimla. The convention was signed between British India and the Tibetan Government representatives, which clearly declared that Tibet was an independent country and there were no restrictions and interference from the Chinese Government over Tibet on the border at that time.
The line is named after Henry McMahon foreign secretary of British India and the chief negotiator of the convention in Shimla. A draft convention was initiated by all three countries Tibet, India, and China, but China repudiated it later. A slightly revised convention was signed by McMahon from British-India and Lonchen Satra on behalf of the Tibetan Government. The line has been regarded and respected by India and Tibet as the legal national border since then.
On the other side, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is a loose demarcation line that separates India-controlled territory from China-controlled territory in the Indian union territory of the Ladakh region. It subsequently referred to the line formed after the 1962, Sino-India war, and the famous mantra “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” which lessons should be learned by the Indian Government from China. Actually, it was free to access the shared borderline between Tibet and India before 1959 without any border army.
From this brief history connection, it is the right time for the Modi Government to take the “Do or Die” decision on the Tibetan issue which is firing since 1959 regardless of what the Nehruvian Government followed as a trace of British footprints for the blind calculation on Chinese policy. We should learn a good lesson from China in the last 60 years and their core strategy plans. It was clear to the Indian Government that recognizing Tibet as part of China has not ensured India’s border safety and to prevent the loss of army life. It neither doesn't help to reduce the huge amount of India-China border expenses and national defense tactics. Rather than increased drastically the loss of Indian-warrior’s life in every year.
The loss of border army life may not be an appreciable percentage as per the total population of India, but their life worth and rest of the family member’s loss will not be compensated by the political and economic interest rather than try to solve it from the root.
When solving the problems, we should dig at the roots instead of just hacking the leaves. Therefore, India Government should have a re-policy on Tibetan issues and recognize Tibet’s historical status as an independent nation and make it a core issue in its bilateral relation with China, rather than fevering the Tibetan issue only when they see some temporary political interest, especially during border crises. To support the Tibet issue is not merely to protect India’s border issue, but which also speaks to the moral support towards peace and harmony to the rest of the world.
Even, myself as a layman, I do clearly understand that the Indian Government is always doing great and grateful to the Tibet and Tibetan people in many ways. But India is the primary litmus-paper to tell the true story of Tibet and its plight to the rest of the world by officially. Our inimitable long relationship bond is back to about thousands of years. I am pretty sure that the eyes of the whole world are on India to speak openly and officially on Tibet and its real history not by only occasional words when border issues arise. Even many European countries and the US Government are already starting to support Tibetan issues from their official board.
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| His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi |
In fact, Tibetan people in exile have a successful history in India in terms of our primary relationship between people of India and our moral contribution to the Government of India in the last 60 years.
On top of all, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has described himself as a “Son of India” and praised the Government of India to the rest of the world all the time which even native citizenship can’t contribute to the country of India. I haven’t heard any of his international speeches without the story of appreciation and praise to the Government of India in his whole life.
Even, the development and reviving awareness of rich ancient Indian culture, philosophy,and knowledge is one of his core principal commitments that the whole world is taking attention. He is the true symbol of a peace icon in this twenty-first century who is promoting peace and equality to the rest of the world by tracing the footprint of Mahatma Gandhi’s peace and nonviolent resistance approach. India truly needs to assert the importance of Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is no less than a national asset for India and to the rest of the world.
The Government of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a great job in terms of his administration in the last five years. He is a great leader to engage the most sensitive issues in India like demonetization, to reduce the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activities and terrorism. And he also prides himself on toughness in matters of national security, after dozens of Indian soldiers were killed in an attack last year by a terrorist group based in Pakistan, the government launched a retaliatory cross border airstrike which made millions of Indian hearts in pride. Of course, he is always strong enough to solve the sensitive issues in Jammu and Kashmir now and then
Now time for the Modi administration to decide how and when it will respond to the clash with Chinese forces. To resolve the border conflict through dialogue is just a periodic flare-up to the brutal fight with fist and clubs high in the mountains amid freezing temperatures and scant oxygen. But it has been just temporary as we have observed and learned from china so far. Then what will be the broader strategic plans to keep it stable and long-lasting is the toughest question for Modi today. We are not happy and satisfied with the temporary silence with China at this time.
As the saying goes, “learn from your mistakes” it is high time for India to learn from our past mistakes to trust in China. Govern the nation by governing the borders as the saying goes, Tibet is the real border if India wants to govern the nation. Reward to Tibet is the ultimate big revenge for China. So, India should reclaim and recognize Tibet’s historical status as an independent nation by officially at this right time is what the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi can do to alter an ultimate solution to govern the border. China will only realize and get a lesson from India when India supports the Tibet Independence and give official recognition to the central Tibet administration as a Central Tibet Government in India.
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| Boycott: Made in China |
Indeed, the Government had also to take the opposition into confidence and plan a coordinated response before things spiral further out of control. To boycott any alien products which completely occupied one’s own market and economy without any grand profit is not a monster strategy in our past history. Let us take Japan as the best living example. It was true that the atomic bombing of the two cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered world war two and the USA emerged as the first superpower nation in the defense and technology advancement. Due to the giant nuclear bomb in the 1945 attack on Japan from the USA. The Japanese economy was devastated as well as the chances of Japan being one of the most developed and superpower was completely destroyed. Since then the Japanese decided to boycott every product made in the US. Even today, after more than seven decades, The USA cannot sell a small needle in Japan. This is not due to trade policy and economic power, but because the Japanese citizens do not buy anything which is made in the US and this is what we called real patriotism and unity. Then why the Indian Government and people can’t do anything against the Chinese products? We are losing our brave soldier’s life day by day and our market is completely captured by made in China. “Better late than never”
Jai Bharat
Jai Tibet.
It's India Tibet border not India China.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you are right!
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