Residents of Dehradun's Mini Tibet recall Chinese horror

India and China were embroiled in an identical clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Dokalam, three years before the violent clashes which took place between Indian and Chinese security forces in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh. The India-China border dispute is not just confined to Ladakh, Dokalam and Nathula but goes up to Tawang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dehradun: Three years before the violent clashes which took place between Indian and Chinese security forces in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh, India and China were embroiled in an identical clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Dokalam. The India-China border dispute is not just confined to Ladakh, Dokalam and Nathula but goes up to Tawang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. Amid all this, Chinese forces have been making attempts to infiltrate in Barahoti in Uttarakhand as well, but they have never succeeded in their nefarious design.

The Dalai Lama is seen and revered as the incarnation of God by his followers across the world. For them, the Tibetan religious leader is nothing less than a living god, but China considers him as a separatist threat. The dispute between China and Tibet is about the legal status of Tibet. Beijing says that Tibet has been a part of China since the middle of the 13th century but Tibetans claim that Tibet was an independent state for many centuries.

However, the Chinese army took control of Tibet in 1951 and signed a treaty with a Tibetan delegation to join China. Almost a decade after India’s independence, there was a failed rebellion against China on March 31, 1959, after which the 14th Dalai Lama came to India along with his huge followers. Since then, the Dalai Lama has been fighting for Tibet’s autonomy.

At that point of time, India supported the refugees from Tibet. They settled in north and northeast India and arrangements were made for the Dalai Lama at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. During this time, a colony of Tibetans was also formed in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, where a large number of Tibetans are living along with their families.

CHINESE STORY FROM HAMUN TASHAI’S MOUTH

Hamun Tashi, an elder who worked with the Army of Tibet, still shivers to remember the oppressive policies of China. According to Hamun Tashai, China started increasing its grip over Tibet slowly but with great cunning. He informed that Tibet is made up of three parts Aamdo, Khamba and Unchaung. When the Chinese troops started infiltrating from the Aamdo side, the soldiers of Tibetan Army fought back for a year and a half, but gradually China moved a large number of troops in Tibet and pushed them and captured Lhasa.

DALAI LAMA’S FORMER BODYGUARD TELLS TIBET STORY

Shiring, who was the bodyguard of the Dalai Lama in 1959, says that China first destabilized the political and social ecosystem of Tibet and then started targeting the common people. Gradually, China put its entire army in Tibet. According to Shiring, China has only one objective -- it wants to suppress the voice of Tibet by taking hold of the religious leader Dalai Lama.

Even today Shiring is traumatized to remember the massacre which was committed by the Chinese Army. According to Shiring, the Chinese government had ordered its soldiers to behead all the Lamas present in Tibet and every person wearing red clothes.

During the massacre in Tibet, Shiring along with the Dalai Lama and others left for India in the dark of night. On March 17, they left the Tibetan capital Lhasa on foot and crossed the Himalayan mountain and entered the Indian border after 15 days via Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. After entering India, the soldiers of Indian forces gave shelter to the Dalai Lama and his companions.

THREATENED TO KILL IF ONE TALKS TO HIS KIN

According to Shiring, his two brothers still live in Tibet, but he cannot talk to them. In fact, he has not been able to talk to them till date. Though in the twilight of his life, Shiring, the former bodyguard of the Dalai Lama is ready to take on the Chinese soldiers. Shiring says that if they establish any dialogue or contact with their kin in Tibet, then the Chinese government will eliminate them.

SHAMANKI WAS 9 WHEN HE CAME TO INDIA

Shamanki, currently living in Dehradun, came to India when he was just 9 years old. Unraveling China’s repressive policies, Shamanki says that in 1959, a ceremony was organized by the Chinese Government in Tibet in which all the enlightened and important people of Tibet were invited to join the ceremony, but China had put forth a condition as well.

As per the condition of the Chinese government, as revealed by Shamanki, the Dalai Lama would join the ceremony without his bodyguards and other colleagues. The people of Tibet opposed this condition of China and millions of people stood up in support of the Dalai Lama.

Shamanki says that his father was an officer in the Tibetan Army. After observing the relations between China and Tibet in 1956, his father sent him, his brother and mother with uncle to India. During 1951-52, China used to lure the children of the senior officials of Tibet to visit China, but the people could not see them for many years. On the question of going back to Tibet, Shamanki simply says: “The question of going back to China doesn’t arise.”

It is worth mentioning that after Tibet, India has the highest number of Tibetans, who have been in total solidarity with the Dalai Lama since the time of their movement to India. When China occupied Tibet in 1949, it was completely cut off from the outside world. Chinese forces were deployed in Tibet. They started interfering in political affairs due to which the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetans, had to take refuge in India.

HOW DID CHINA TAKE CONTROL OF TIBET

In the year 1950, China sent thousands of its soldiers to unfurl their flag on Tibet. Some areas of Tibet were converted into autonomous zones, while other areas were merged with the adjoining Chinese provinces.

For long China has been maintaining that Tibet is a part of its territory since the mid 13th century, but Tibetans say that Tibet was an independent state for many centuries and was not under China’s continuous control or authority. The Mongol king Kublai Khan had established the Yuan Dynasty and expanded his kingdom not only to Tibet but also to China, Vietnam and Korea.

It was in the 17th century when China’s Ching dynasty established relations with Tibet. After 260 years of their relationship, the Ching army captured Tibet, but within three years they were sent back by the Tibetans. In 1912, the 13th Dalai Lama declared the independence of Tibet. In 1951, the Chinese army once again took control of Tibet and signed a treaty with a Tibetan delegation under which the sovereignty of Tibet was handed over to China.

DETAILS OF REFUGEES IN INDIA

As per an estimate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees made in the end of 2014, there were 109,000 Tibetan refugees in India. Apart from these, there are lakhs of refugees, who have no identity.

FACILITIES FOR TIBETAN REFUGEES

The Government of India has opened special schools for Tibetans where they get free education along with health facilities and scholarships. Some medical and civil engineering seats are also reserved for Tibetans. They live in India with a stay permit, which is called a registration certificate. Every Tibetan over the age of 16 has to take a stay permit. Like the registration certificate, the Government of India also issues a yellow book to Tibetan refugees, which is considered as an identity card for Tibetans during their foreign travels.