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Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Escape from Tibet: How Nehru, despite concerns, granted the Dalai Lama asylum
In the history of Tibet and Indo-China relationship, April 26, 1959, was a turning point. Having fled his homeland following China's invasion, the Dalai Lama met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who declared that the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists 'should be allowed to live in peace' in India. On Wednesday, the Dalai Lama, who turns 90 on July 6, reiterated that the institution would continue and only his Gaden Phodrang Foundation would have the authority to recognise the reincarnation, ending uncertainty on whether he will have a successor or not after his death. The Dalai Lama, who is the 14th to hold the title, made the announcement from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, where all those decades ago he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile. At the time, following his arrival in the country, Nehru had told the public that the Tibetan spiritual leader 'had to undertake a very big and difficult journey' before meeting him. '… The circumstances of the journey were also painful to the Dalai Lama,' the PM said, adding it was 'only proper that the Dalai Lama should get an opportunity in a peaceful atmosphere to consult his colleagues on the ups and downs in Tibet and get over the mental strain'. The journey up to that point was long and arduous. Following China's occupation of Tibet and the violent repression that followed, the Dalai Lama and several other Tibetans left for India. The Dalai Lama, his family members, bodyguards, and fellow Tibetans were received by Indian border guards at the Khenzimane Pass in Arunachal Pradesh on March 31, 1959. On April 2, Indian government officials formally welcomed him at the Chutangmu outpost on April 2, 1959, and took him to the Tawang monastery. The following day, the Nehru government announced it had granted the Dalai Lama political asylum. Subsequently, P N Menon, the former Consul-General in Lhasa and PM Nehru's envoy, welcomed the Dalai Lama and carried messages from the government. The Dalai Lama eventually moved to Tezpur in Assam, where he released his first statement from Indian soil. On April 18, 1959, he criticised China for shelling the Norbulingka Palace, one of his residences in Lhasa, the month before. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Government of India and thanked the Indian public for their 'spontaneous and generous welcome'. In the same statement, the Dalai Lama mentioned he came to India 'of my own free will and not under duress'. For Nehru, too, it was not all smooth sailing when it came to granting the Dalai Lama asylum. The PM faced immense criticism, with many warning him of the consequences of 'antagonising China'. V K Krishna Menon, who was then India's Defence Minister, is said to have raised objections to the asylum at a crucial Cabinet meeting, Bharatiya Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyay had said the move 'obstructs, rather than helps, fulfillment of this objective [of actively supporting Tibet's struggle for independence'. The day the Dalai Lama released the statement from Tezpur, China officially lodged its protest, accusing India of meddling in its internal affairs. Beijing insisted that the Dalai Lama 'be returned'. That laid the foundation of a future deterioration of Indo-China relations and eventually led to the 1962 Sino-Indian war. Nehru, however, cited 'moral and humanitarian' grounds to allow the Dalai Lama entry into India and also the decision to grant him political asylum. In October 1959, the PM told Parliament, 'Very probably, the Tibetan developments have angered and soured the minds of the government in China, very likely… And perhaps they have reacted strongly to what we have done, I mean, to the asylum we have given to the Dalai Lama.' Before getting political asylum, the Dalai Lama had visited India in 1956. Along with the Panchen Lama — considered second only to the Dalai Lama in spiritual authority in Tibetan Buddhist culture — they were in India for the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha's parinirvana. At the time, they had informed Nehru of the conditions in Tibet after China went back on its terms of the 1951 agreement on Tibet's autonomy. Then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was also present in New Delhi and had detailed discussions with Nehru about Tibet and assured the PM that Beijing would honour Tibet's autonomy. It was upon these assurances and Nehru's advice that both the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama returned home. In The Dalai Lama: An Extraordinary Life, Alexander Norman writes that the Dalai Lama had made clear to Nehru his intention to seek asylum in India. But the PM did not seem to fully commit, reportedly saying that India could not support him at the time. According to another renowned Tibetologist and author Claude Arpi, the Dalai Lama sent a telegram to Nehru on March 26, 1959, in which he wrote: 'Ever since Tibet went under the control of Red China … We are entering India via Tsona. I hope that you will please make necessary arrangements for us in the Indian territory. Confident of your kindness…' According to Arpi, Nehru replied to the Dalai Lama's telegram on April 3. In it, the former PM provided details of the officers who would be meeting the Dalai Lama and facilitating his travel. (Check dates, not matching) In the same letter, Nehru told the Dalai Lama that the Indian government had not yet decided where he should stay. The PM wrote (separate letter, if so, to whom): 'We are instructing P N Menon (former Consul-General to Lhasa) to inform the Dalai Lama orally that it would be best for him not to issue any long statements to the press here at this stage. The Dalai Lama will undoubtedly appreciate the inadvisability of saying anything which would cause embarrassment to him and to us.' After Tezpur, the Dalai Lama lived in Mussoorie (now in Uttarakhand) for several months. In 1960, upon the invitation of the government, he moved to McLeodganj in Dharamshala and has been there since then, with the town becoming the centre for Tibetan cultural and political activities in exile.
New Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Unhappy Congressmen ready to jump ship: Former Karnataka CM Yediyurappa
Former CM BS Yediyurappa and other BJP leaders pay tributes to founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh Syama Prasad Mookerjee, in Bengaluru on Monday. Former CM BS Yediyurappa and other BJP leaders pay tributes to founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh Syama Prasad Mookerjee, in Bengaluru on Monday. Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday said that in the next few days, more Congress lawmakers will express their displeasure with the Siddaramaiah government. Referring to Congress's Raju Kage endorsing his party MLA BR Patil's statement on corruption, Yediyurappa, while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, said: 'It's not only Patil or Kage, there are many more legislators who will speak in public against their own government. Wait and watch.'' Yediyurappa said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will not allow Patil to speak. He said there has been attempt to file an FIR against former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai for allegedly speaking against the State government. 'Government is trying to create another Emergency-like situation. The CM is doing it, also the Deputy CM. I am going to travel across the state, try to visit one district every week and tell people about the government's failure,' he said. Meanwhile, Belagavi MP and senior BJP leader Jagadish Shettar claimed that several Congress MLAs, including Kage, are prepared join the BJP. 'I'm not certain whether there will be a change in leadership, but one thing is clear, the government will not survive for long. We will not engineer defections, but disillusioned Congress MLAs will join the BJP on their own. They may later label it 'Operation Lotus,' but the move will be entirely voluntary,' Shettar said. The Leader of Opposition in Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said that Congress legislator Belur Gopalakrishna has demanded the resignation of Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed. Another Congress MLA RV Deshpande had said the guarantees are dangerous. LoP in Assembly R Ashoka, too, called for the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah. 'Congress MLAs are giving 'corruption certificates' against their own government,' he said.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Tamil by roots, Punjabi by nature: How Jan Sangh's A Vishwanathan, a man with roots to a village near Kaveri river, won elections twice from Ludhiana seats
1 2 3 4 5 6 Ludhiana: The political chorus these days has been assuming a hatred-laced regionalist fervour, but there was a time when Ludhiana West assembly segment was represented by a man who traced his roots to a village in Tamil Nadu, located on the southern bank of Kaveri. A bypoll is scheduled to be held in Ludhiana West on Thursday. When A Vishwanathan was elected MLA on a Bharatiya Jan Sangh (precursor of Bharatiya Janata Party) ticket from Ludhiana South in 1967 and on a Janata Party ticket from Ludhiana West in 1977, the city was almost exclusively inhabited by Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. His election was not just by chance or through parachuting tricks that parties employ these days. Vishwanathan had chosen to spend all his professional and political life in Ludhiana, where he worked as lawyer and assumed a leading role in the political activities of Bharatiya Jan Sangh (precursor of Bharatiya Janata Party) and served as its president for Ludhiana district. During the emergency, Vishwanathan spent 19 months in jail for opposing the clampdown. He was a fluent Punjabi speaker, who quit professorship of economics and emerged as an eminent lawyer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo "Such was the impact of his personality and socio-political work he had done that when I campaigned in Ludhiana West in 2007, while contesting assembly elections on a SAD-BJP ticket, BJP's old guards would cry while recalling his commitments and contributions. This was long after he died. It shows how deeply people of Ludhiana West respected him," recalled former Ludhiana West MLA Harish Rai Dhanda. In 1967 elections, the first to be held after the reorganisation of Punjab, Vishwanathan won the election from Ludhiana South on the BJS symbol. By 1977, the Ludhiana West seat was carved out following delimitation. That year, he won by trouncing the popular Congress leader Joginder Pal Pandey and secured over 51 % votes. In 1977, he contested elections on the symbol of Janata Party, the conglomerate of major anti-Congress political parties, after emergency was lifted in 1977. But how did a Tamil man, whose family hailed from Palamaneri village of Thanjavur district, came to Ludhiana? The story dates to pre-Partition years. "It all started with my great-grandfather, who, during the British period, moved to Dehradun to serve as headmaster in Col Brown Cambridge School, along with his family. My grandfather was born in Delhi. Later, my grandfather A Vishwanathan and his two sisters shifted to Jalandhar to attain higher education. He studied at DAV, Jalandhar, from 1946 to 1951 and settled in Ludhiana to practise law. One of his sisters became the principal of Kanya Maha Vidyalya, Jalandhar," said Chandigarh-based lawyer R Kartikeya, Vishwanathan's grandson, who still manages the law firm with the same name that was once launched by Vishwanathan in 1950s in Ludhiana. Kartikeya said his grandfather embraced Punjabi culture by heart. "Although he was fluent in several Indian and foreign languages, he felt if one wanted to live and work among Punjabis, they should embrace Punjabi as their mother tongue. That was his commitment towards Punjabis," said Kartikeya. The citation of 'Roll of Honour of the Highest Order', conferred upon Vishwanathan by DAV College, Jalandhar, offered insight into his academic and political achievements. It mentions that after enrolling in the college in 1946, he first studied BSs (non-medical) and then earned MA (Economics). He even served as a professor of economics after his post-graduate degree. "Ever since his early childhood, Prof Vishwanathan had been closely associated with RSS and held many important offices in the organisation. He is an able organizer and founder member of Bharatiya Jan Sangh. He had been the president of the district unit of BJS. He was instrumental in arousing public opinion against the emergency," reads the citation. Vishwanathan passed away at PGIMER, Chandigarh, in 1980 after suffering a heart attack. He was in his 70s at the time.
