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Journalism of Courage
India lives up to its image by sheltering the boy Lama
Under what circumstances and in what manner the boy Lama fled his monastery home in Tibet and reached Dharamsala a distance of 900 km over mountainous terrain remain a mystery but the import of the development cannot be overlooked. It denotes a body blow to China8217;s religious policy in that Communist China has been projecting the 14-year-old Lama, believed to be a reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa, as a counter to the Dalai Lama.
China is yet to control the fast-growing Falung Gong sect despite all the repressive measures used against its adherents. All this indicates that the Chinese religious policy is in a shambles.
The young Lama was important to the Chinese not because they respected the religious sentiments of the Tibetans but because they wanted to counter the growing international influence of the Dalai Lama. His defection shows that the Chinese have no clue to the minds of the tradition-bound Tibetans for whom a life without religion is unthinkable.
The integration of Tibet as a part of China may have been complete according to the Chinese but their moral rights over Tibet will now come under increasing scrutiny. In the end, all this may add up to nothing as long as the monolithic Communist Party holds the state in its grip and China enjoys international clout commensurate with the giant technological, industrial and military strides it has made in therecent past.
The arrival of the Karmapa poses a diplomatic challenge to the country. Questions will certainly be raised about India8217;s relations with China. In granting him sanctuary if that indeed is the right word India has only lived up to its image built over the millennia as a refuge for the persecuted. The sentiment that weighed with India was much the same when in the first century or thereabouts the Jews were given shelter and in 1959 the Dalai Lama was allowed to come and set up camp with his followers at Dharamsala.
The hospitality rendered to the Tibetan Buddhists all these 40 years has not been at the cost of the abiding and good neighbourly relations India has with China. Many Chinese leaders, including the head of state, have visited India during this period. India has been steadfast in its belief that Tibet is an internal affair of China and that what kind autonomy should be granted to Tibet is a matter to be sorted out between the Tibetans and the Chinese.
The arrival of Karmapa doesnot, therefore, signify any change in India8217;s time-tested policy. He is as welcome as the senior Lama was 40 years ago.
