Counterpunch to China

Currently China, violating an agreement about not destabilising settled populations in disputed areas, lays claim repeatedly to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian reactions are pitifully pathetic. To respond gainfully to China, what is required is a counterpunch. India should simply state that it no longer recognises Tibet as part of China, since Tibet is Tibetan territory and the Tibetan people must decide its future. There is no legal impediment against India doing this. The 1954 Agreement between India and China, whereby India recognised Tibet as part of China, lapsed after eight years and was never renewed.

India’s hope of a reasonable settlement between China and the Tibetan people has been shattered by China’s rebuff to Dalai Lama’s somewhat over-generous offer of accepting autonomy for Tibet under Chinese sovereignty. China instead is busy changing the demography of Tibet by populating the region with Han Chinese to marginalise Tibet’s own sons of the soil. As former government counsel and author J.P. Mitter in his Betrayal of Tibet (1964) wrote: "No policy that allows the Chinese to be paramount in this once acknowledged buffer country will ever be in the interest of India."

The International Commission of Jurists in Geneva after detailed research had concluded that Tibet, historically and legally, was an independent nation until it was forcibly occupied by China. The government could encourage any prominent NGO, perhaps even George Fernandes, to interact with radical young Tibetans in Dharamshala to set up a joint committee for delineating the Indo-Tibetan border. India has a border with Tibet, none with China. Once that border is delineated it could be forwarded to the International Commission of Jurists for approval.

On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, China is very touchy about Tibet. India should exploit that. On March 10, a radical young Tibetan, Tenzin Tsundue, is leading a peaceful march from Dharamshala to Tibet to coincide with the opening of the Olympics. This is his way of lodging a Gandhian, democratic protest. Official agencies should extend him quiet help. Media should ensure maximum international coverage. The protest can undoubtedly gather momentum.

There is also much that can be said with regard to Xingjian and Taiwan. But let’s start with Tibet.