Chinese Checkers

The past week has seen a lot of India and Indians in the news with relation to a lot of events - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's historic declaration of no first use nuke policy (never know if the Pakis really mean it), President Obama and his new team with Indians or India biased Americans (Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State??), Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit may get the dreaded Pink Slip and many other events. Amidst all this almost passing unnoticed has been an event in the hill station of MacLeodganj where His Holiness The Dalai Lama had called for a meeting of all Tibetan policy makers to discuss the future of Tibet and China. In suspending talks, the Dalai Lama has almost given up on the middle policy as hopeless with no reciprocation from the Chinese. What's of interest is his statement calling for greater help from India but at the same time acknowledging India's compulsions - which brings us to the question, what is it that is really tying India from making a statement on this issue which has been burning for over half a century now.

India does not share any historic friendship with the Chinese - all that post Independent India has seen from China has been aggression - naked like in the 1962 war or the hidden like the tacit support to Pakistan and the claims on Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. With the world's power shifting from West to East there is global acknowledgement that in the world's future India and China are going to be powers to reckon with and in such a scenario it is difficult not to have clashes. What is disappointing has been India's reluctance to face it - we have always shied away from doing what's in our best interests and trusted the wrong folks - remember the Hindu Chini Bhai Bhai that preceded the 1962 war or the much hyped India Lahore bus journey before the Kargil War?

Tibet rightfully belongs to the Tibetans and the Buddhists - not the Han Chinese who are infiltrating the country through the new railway system or the puppet Lamas installed by the Chinese government - all of which is trying to destroy not just a country but it's people and their culture. What else can one say of peaceful monks being beaten up and a country which crushed its students with army tanks? It is not like India not saying anything about Tibet has made China stop from any of its wrongdoings - so why remain silent. Let us tell the Chinese that we are no longer afraid of them, that we have the balls to stand up for what we think is rightfully ours and support those who seek our help. Tibet provides India a buffer between China and itself, letting China run over Tibet brings Chinese aggression closer to India - not to mention increased meddling in Kashmir and Nepal where now with the Maoists in power the Chinese have stolen India's thunder from under its nose. Whatever people say of India's position in Kashmir one can't draw comparisons between that and Tibet. India has not tried to destroy the culture of Kashmir, elections have mostly been fair and free and most importantly Kashmir is treated as a special case where not the Indian constitution but the local one that holds sway and is funded by millions of rupees from the central government - all of this for a state whose people are asking to secede, where in the world will you come across a state taking such a soft stance? Compare this with what the Dalai Lama has asked from the Chinese government - just autonomy while being a part of China and a respect for the Tibetan culture, and the response the Chinese have given. Kashmir and Tibet are as different as chalk and cheese - no two doubts about that.

India has to realize that becoming a global power means it will have to fulfil certain responsibilities and take some risks - the times of being an Ostrich with its head in the sand are over. If we don't grab this opportunity some one will steal a march over us. The Indian government certainly has a responsibility to the citizens of this country to ensure that India's rightful place in the sun is not lost.