History repeats itself-first time as a tragedy and second time as a farce, is an old adage. The temporal head of the Tibetan community, Dalai Lama has put Indian government to serious embarrassment. His comments, in the wake of third successive massacre of Hindus in Doda part of J&K, can not be comforting words for the millions of nationalists battling ISI-sponsored proxy-war. Ethnic cleansing of Hindus and waging war against India does not change the aspirations of Kashmiris or make them a natural party to the India-Pakistan dialogue. His holiness Dalai Lama at the so-called "inter-faith" meet organised by Akhil Bharatiya Rachnatmak Samaj at Chennai had said, "the problem of Kashmir or any other disputed areas in the world cannot be unraveled without knowing the sentiments or ambitions of the inhabitants. When that sentiment is not known trying to solve the issue through a select band of people is difficult." Dalai Lama went on to say that Tibet has decided to take the "middle path" to solve the issue as complete freedom from China is not possible and added India and Pakistan should also consider such a "compromise". Pointing out that there is an urgent need to resolve the problem, he said the people of Kashmir have become the victim of extremism. This conference, the organisers had planned to make Hurriyat leaders interact with Dalai Lama. Kashmiri separatist leaders had two objectives. One to embarrass Ladakhis, who are battling against Kashmiri hegemony and secondly to draw symbolic comparisons between Tibet and Kashmir. Umar Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone met the Dalai Lama on the sidelines of inter-faith meet organised by Akhil Bhartiya Rachanatmak Samaj. Upbeat over the meeting, Mirwaiz Farooq later claimed, "It was a historic meeting. The Dalai Lama could understand the problems faced by the Kashmiris as he himself is leading a fight against the Chinese rule in Tibet." The Hurriyat leaders invited the Dalai Lama to Kashmir. Accepting the invitation, the Dalai Lama invited the separatist leaders to visit Dharamshala. "I am your neighbour. Let us strengthen our relationship,' he reportedly told them. The Hurriyat leader added, "we urged the Dalai Lama to use his moral and spiritual authority to rid the Kashmiris of the sufferings. The Dalai Lama also advocated the inclusion of the people of Kashmir in the dialogue process". 

India Protests:

These remarks of Dalai Lama and the backroom manoeuvres blessed by Americans generated strong reaction from various political parties and official circles. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Nirupuma Rao said the Dalai Lama cannot indulge in political activities from Indian soil. BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy remarked that the question of Pakistan and India adopting a 'middle path' in Kashmir, like in Tibet, as advocated by Dalai Lama, did not arise at all, as one could not draw a parallel between the situation in the two regions. He tried to play down that by his remarks, Dalai Lama had violated the conditions laid for granted asylum in India. However, BJP president hastened to add that Dalai Lama's stay in Indian was not a 'hindrance' to normalization of relations between India and China. 

Realising that Tibetans can lose much than gain by using the 'Kashmir Card', Dalai Lama said his remarks were either misunderstood or misquoted. He commented, "there were suggestions from certain quarters that I am ungrateful to India. I would like to make it clear here that I have in fact never lost an opportunity to express our gratitude to the people and the GoI for their kindness to the Tibetan people. I have always stood up for India. My stand on these important issues during the last 42 years should be seen in its entirety". The Dalai Lama said that he had told the Indian government that he had been misquoted, and went on to reiterate that, "this is to categorically state that I have always accepted the fact that the state of J&K is an integral part of India. I have never questioned it". He also reassured the Indians that he was not about to do a Musharraf on them, and added, "the Hurriyat indicated their interest to visit me in Dharamshala to explain their stand and I responded in my usual way that they were welcome." 

He echoed New Delhi's views that comparisons of Kashmir with Tibet were unfair. The Tibetan leader went on to say." "the legal accession of J&K to the Indian Union could not be more different from the forceful occupation of Tibet by communist China. I am also appreciative of the fact that the people of J&K elect their government through a well-established democratic process". The Tibetan leader wrote to Hurriyat urging them to drop the idea of extending a formal request to him to visit Kashmir. Confirming this, Umar Farooq, the separatist leader regretted: "The Dalai had not said anything big, but he was unnecessarily dragged into a controversy and criticised." He, however, added that after the heat over the remark was off, he will be sent invitation again. "We may even send a delegation to invite him," said Umar Farooq. Prominent Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, whose stand on Kashmir is strongly contested by the nationalist groups, also tried to play safe. 

Sensing the strong indignation of Indians over facilitating the meet of Hurriyat leaders with Dalai Lama, particularly in the wake of successive massacres of Hindus, she claimed that Umer Farooq and Ghani Lone had not been invited to the recent inter-faith meet at Chennai. She sought to clarify that after the inauguration, Lone, who was sitting in the audience, "requested" that Farooq should be allowed to speak at the meet as he was the "religious" head of Muslims in Srinagar. At the conference, there was a special 'Rakhi-tying' ceremony organised by the conference organisers for Mirwaiz Farooq and some Pakistan delegates. 

The communist press is now openly supportive of the external intervention in Kashmir and the neo-fundamentalist Hurriyat Conference. Mainstream, a Delhi-based weekly commented editorially... "the Chennai meet organised by the Akhil Bharat Rachanatmak Samaj merits wholehearted acclaim . Not only were the Hurriyat Conference's leading members there, but even such a spiritual personality as His Holiness the Dalai Lama delivered a highly thought provoking address advocating people's self-rule or genuine autonomy in J&K (that no perceptive observer can ever object to). Unfortunately wooden-headed politicians wedded to time-worn rigid ideas and outlook have deemed it fit to assail him for such a statement without comprehending the real import of his observation." At the peak of the cold war, these very communists were reviling Dalai Lama for "indulging in anti-Chinese activities" and praising Tibet's annexation as heralding of a new democratic order. 

Previous Article

Next Article