Author: Claude Arpi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 28, 2008
Backed by the US and the EU, Kosovo has declared
'independence' from Serbia, although its claim to 'sovereignty' is extremely
dubious. But the independence of another nation, Tibet, continues to be denied
by China. The US and EU are least interested
We are living in a strange world in which
truth and justice are often not the main moving forces. Take the example of
Kosovo. Backed by the US and the European Union, though strongly contested
by Serbia and Russia, Kosovo declared itself an independent nation. When Parliament
Speaker Jakup Krasniqi solemnly stated that "Kosovo is an independent,
democratic and sovereign state", members of the House burst into applause.
Reuters reported: "Across the capital,
Pristina, revellers fired guns into the air, waved red-and-black Albanian
flags and honked car horns in jubilation at the birth of the world's newest
country."
Later, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi
and President Fatmir Sejdiu signed the declaration, sure of the support of
the US and the European Union. Mr Thaçi, the former leader of the Kosovo
Liberation Army, said: "We never lost faith in the dream that one day
we would stand among the free nations of the world, and today we do."
Though his troops battled the Serbians in a war that claimed 10,000 lives,
today he stated: "Dreams are infinite... nothing can deter us from moving
forward to the greatness that history has reserved for us."
We are living in a strange world because other
people had also dreamt of independence, but is there any hope for them? This
is the case of the Tibetans. The Kosovo nation is less than 11,000 sq km,
but before the Chinese invasion of 1950 Tibet was spread over 2,5 million
sq km, representing 25 per cent of China's landmass. Though sparsely populated
due to the high altitude and difficult climate, the Dalai Lama's country,
with six million Tibetans, has thrice the population of Kosovo.
The Tibetan nation was independent for two
millennia, even if some Chinese or Mongol incursions occurred a few times
over the last centuries. One such invasion happened in 1910, but the Thirteenth
Dalai Lama was quick to recover his land. What Mr Thaçi did on February
17, the previous Dalai Lama did in 1913. He declared the formal independence
of Tibet. The proclamation was distributed all over the Land of Snows. It
is dated the eighth day of the first month of the Water-Ox year (February,
1913).
The Tibetan leader not only declared his nation
independent, but reminded his people of their responsibilities: "Having
once again achieved for ourselves a period of happiness and peace, I have
now allotted to all of you the following duties to be carried out without
negligence". He told them about the importance to follow the Buddhist
precepts: "Peace and happiness in this world can only be maintained by
preserving the faith of Buddhism." He asked the civil servants to be
honest and serve the people.
Less well known, he wanted to raise an Army
to defend his nation's borders: "Tibet is a country with rich natural
resources; but it is not scientifically advanced like other lands... To keep
up with the rest of the world, we must defend our country." He even promulgated
land reforms: "From now on, no one is allowed to obstruct anyone else
from cultivating whatever vacant lands are available."
The Land of Snows was to remain independent
for the next 37 years, till the day the People's Liberation Army ruthlessly
entered Tibet to 'liberate' it. "Liberate from what?" asked Jawaharlal
Nehru in Parliament.
But soon the Government of India as well as
the British who had signed a Convention with the Lhasa Government in 1914
in Simla, fell silent. The other European countries and the United States
kept quiet. The same nations are today, for their own interests, supporting
the independence of Kosovo. Tibet was then a separate nation with its own
Government, its own Foreign Office, with treaty relations with other countries,
with a distinct culture, history, language and religion.
Why did everyone stay mum? It is an inconvenient
truth today. If one looks at the legal parameters which define a nation, Tibet
fulfilled them all. Unfortunately, the world was not ready to follow its own
rules.
In Delhi, many saw a danger for India if it
betrayed an 'independent' Tibet. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Deputy Prime
Minister, masterfully summed up the strategic implications for India's foreign
policy. In a letter, considered as his testament (he was to pass away six
weeks later), he wrote to Nehru: "I have carefully gone through the correspondence
between the External Affairs Ministry and the Chinese Government. I have tried
to peruse this correspondence as favourably to our Ambassador (KM Panikkar)
and the Chinese Government as possible, but I regret to say that neither of
them comes out well as the result of this study." He then continued:
"The Chinese Government has tried to delude us by professions of peaceful
intentions... There can be no doubt that, during the period covered by this
correspondence, the Chinese must have been concentrating for an onslaught
on Tibet. The final action of the Chinese, in my judgement, is little short
of perfidy."
The letter goes to detail the implications
for India of having a new neighbour. Fifty-eight years later, Patel's words
are today prophetic; the Chinese can freely enter Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh
and nobody in India dares to say anything to avoid "jeopardising the
progress of the border negotiations". In 1950, there was no border dispute;
Tibet was, in the Dalai Lama's words, a true chela of India.
In November 1950, after sending his letter
to the Prime Minister, Patel told an audience in Delhi: "In the Kali
Yuga, we shall return ahimsa for ahimsa. But if anybody resorts to force against
us we shall meet it with force." Due to his illness, Patel could not
put his words into practice and Nehru did not even answer his letter.
However, 10 days later, he wrote an internal
note on the subject on November 18, 1950. Hardly four weeks after the invasion,
he had already accepted the fait accompli: "China is going to be our
close neighbour for a long time to come. We are going to have a tremendously
long common frontier."
Though at that time the Chinese troops were
still a few months march from Lhasa, Nehru added: "I think it may be
taken for granted that China will take possession, in a political sense at
least, of the whole of Tibet." A few months later, Mao took over not
only politically, but militarily the 'Roof of the World'.
Nehru admitted that the Tibetan people can
nevertheless not expect too much: "Autonomy can obviously not be anything
like the autonomy, verging on independence, which Tibet has enjoyed during
the last forty years or so." It is beyond comprehension how Nehru, who
considered himself to be the hero of the oppressed nations, could allow a
nation 'verging on independence' simply lose its freedom.
Today, the Dalai Lama is asking for autonomy,
But the world refuses to listen to his voice even as it gives in to Kosovo's
clamour.
