The Tibet Headache
BHARGAVA, C. S.
The Tibet Headache Although Nehru isn't concerned about Communists in Tibet, they pose a real threat to India By G. S. Bhargava New Delhi Three questions relating to Tibet are now being...
...Unfortunately, the Government of India, especially Prime Minister Nehru, is highly sensitive to public discussion of Tibet...
...Recently, Peking announced that "Tibet is an integral part of China's territory...
...Nehru has accepted this and made it clear that India never questioned Chinese suzerainty over Tibet...
...She cannot afford to let the Red tide roll on unchecked...
...Nehru, then Vice President of the Indian Interim Government, was the driving force behind the conference, which recognized Tibet as an independent country...
...The Indian-Tibetan border is approximately 2,000 miles long, and the Himalayas are no longer impregnable...
...Even more important, the events that have taken place on the Indian-Tibetan border since the Communists moved in are tangible proof that India is in danger...
...Why has Nehru refused to take a strong stand against the Communist occupation of Tibet...
...They buy wool and salt at cheap prices from the Tibetans and sell them at a profit to Indians...
...In fact, Congress MPs were enjoined "not to associate themselves with this unfriendly act toward a friendly country...
...Soon, however, even this trade will disappear...
...Despite this acquiescent attitude on the part of Nehru, Chinese occupation of Tibet poses a real threat to India...
...History, however, disproves the claim that India so readily accepted...
...The Chinese Nationalist Government withdrew the mission without protest...
...After Sinkiang was taken over by the Communists, Ladakh, a province of Kashmir, lost all its trade with the Chinese-dominated province...
...2) the date of handing over Indian-manned installations to the Chinese, and (3) the continuation of traditional facilities for Indian pilgrims and traders in Western Tibet...
...Questions on the subject submitted by members of India's Parliament have not been answered...
...The Tibet Headache Although Nehru isn't concerned about Communists in Tibet, they pose a real threat to India By G. S. Bhargava New Delhi Three questions relating to Tibet are now being discussed at a conference in Peking between Chinese and Indian officials: (1) the date and manner of withdrawing Indian guards protecting telegraph installations between Gyantse and Yatung...
...These subjects, however, do not exhaust the Tibetan problem...
...In fact, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (Nehru's home province) has provided funds for special police to man the border with Tibet...
...A similar situation will undoubtedly develop in Tibet...
...Peking bases its rights on a stray incident in the thirteenth century, when an abbot of Tibet received from the Mongol Emperor of China complete temporal authority in the Land of the Lamas...
...Last September, several Indian public figures addressed meetings marking the second anniversary of the Chinese occupation of Tibet...
...How does Red China justify its presence in that country...
...In 1856, there was a war between Tibet and Nepal which ended in a bilateral treaty that never mentioned China...
...Communist China's lofty claim to Tibet does not stand up...
...there is already agreement in principle between the two countries on these items, and the talks are expected merely to formalize the accord...
...But there is a mass of evidence against this shred of "fact...
...The Communists dubbed these demonstrations "American-inspired and dollar-subsidized," and Nehru also criticized them...
...What is more, normal trade with Tibet is becoming increasingly difficult...
...Peking wants to replace India as a buyer of cheap raw materials from Tibet and seller of factory products to its backward people...
...The problem of Tibet is entirely a domestic problem of China...
...In 1951, Chinese currency was introduced in Tibet, and Indian traders who had to accept it lost heavily because the Chinese "ta-yeng" depreciated in value from five to three Indian rupees...
...Communists are already stirring up trouble in Nepal, where insurgents trained in China are operating...
...Chinese troops are also entering the trade field...
...This is the resolute policy of the Central People's Government...
...As late as 1949, the Tibetan Government expelled the Chinese mission in Lhasa, which had been established in 1935...
...In the light of this evidence...
...Sarojini Naidu...
...More recently, in 1946, an Asian Relations Conference was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Mrs...
...Later, in the "Wood Dragon Year" of 1904, Britain sent an expeditionary force to Tibet that signed a peace treaty with the Government there...
...The three subjects were chosen by Red China...
Vol. 37 • January 1954 • No. 4
