The funeral on September 7 of ‘Special Frontier Force' (SFF) company leader Nyima Tenzin, martyred in a landmine blast in an operation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during August 29-30, was held at Leh in the Union Territory of Ladakh. From the ‘Bharatiya Janata Party' (BJP, the ruling party at centre), the presence of senior leader Ram Madhav and of Ladakh Member of Parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal at this official funeral, technically might not have been a serious matter as these BJP leaders might have attended this funeral in personal capacity. But Tenzin was from the secretive SFF and Tenzin's coffin was carried in an army truck and Indian military was officially present at this funeral hence it has created a flutter in diplomatic and political circles amid the on-going border standoff with China, as is widely reported not only in Indian but also in Chinese media (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ram-madhav-attends-tibetan-soldier-s-funeral-in-ladakh/story-BM45ZIByd0LQ9sQju5uKWM.html and https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-is-india-changing-its-policy-towards-tibet-325852 and https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1199924.shtml )
This controversy and protest of China is legitimate for the simple reason that how can India use Tibetans militarily against China without giving-up its ‘one China policy'. There is nothing wrong if India gives-up ‘one China policy' but then India should not only declare it publicly & officially (even by informing the UN about it) but should also formulate a detailed policy & program as to how India will achieve it.
Even if all the Tibetans living in Tibet and outside want independence of Tibet with India's support, the Tibetans are merely 6.5 million out of which 6.3 million are in the mainland of economically and militarily powerful nuclear China, a country of 1.4 billion people. Hence other countries (and not merely India) will have to put their boots on ground for achieving the independence of Tibet.
In India and in its accessible region the exiled Tibetans are not only maximum (about 150 Thousand in India, Nepal and Bhutan) but they are having their Government-in-Exile (GiE) at Dharmshala of the State of Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) in India. Hence China will certainly & obviously think of eliminating this threat from Dharamshala if China finds the goings over there dangerous for its sovereignty & territorial integrity.
Of Course it is a different matter if India has already talked to its friend & strategic partner the USA and if the USA has talked to its allies including NATO countries to put their boots on the ground for achieving the independence of Tibet. In such a situation it sounds possible but then India should take its people in confidence through Parliament otherwise this is the most dangerous game which the Government of India (GoI) is playing.
But if India is not serious about effectively working for the independence of Tibet with the help of the USA and on the contrary is simply poking the sensitivities of China irresponsibly & suicidally, then India should know that using Tibetans (who are declaredly working for dismemberment of China) militarily against China gives China (under international laws also under Article 51 of UN Charter which reads as – ‘Nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or or collective self defense if an armed attack occurs against the member of the UN') every right to attack India especially for uprooting Tibetans and their entire establishment of GiE from Dharamshala and also to take its territory under control and possession of China so that the Tibetans with the help of GoI do not pose in future any threat to the sovereignty & territorial integrity of China from this territory of Dharamshala / H.P.
India should also know that India (its State of H.P.) shares a border with China hence there is quite a likelihood that China can snatch the territory around Dharamshala to make it contiguous with China because China can easily enter H.P from three sides. One from China itself second from Ladakh (which Pakistan in its new map has already left open for China and which China has started claiming with renewed vigor after what India did in J&K on and after August 5, 2019) and third from Pakistan which is only 50 miles though Kathua region of J&K, (which is the Pak claimed territory and nuclear Pakistan is bound to join China in this military expedition due to chronic & gory Kashmir problem) if not through Pathankot / Gurdaspur region of Punjab with the help of Khalistanis who are being harbored at newly started Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan .
Therefore it is hoped that the GoI will stop playing with fire without proper preparation and will (if wants independence of Tibet) publicly & officially give-up ‘one China policy' by taking the people of India and its Parliament in confidence and that too only after talking to the USA and getting support & assurance from the USA that India will get boots on ground from the USA & its allies for achieving ‘independence of Tibet' otherwise this SFF matter may bring unnecessary said dismemberment of India at the hands of China + Pakistan.
Regards
Hem Raj Jain
Shakopee, MN, USA.
(Author of ‘Betrayal of Americanism')
