TIBETANS READY TO FIGHT FOR INDIA
Many Tibetans living in exile in India and in the western countries are ready to fight along with Indian soldiers against the Chinese, The Sunday Guardian has reliably learnt.
Highly placed sources said that some Tibetan leaders have conveyed to responsible Indian quarters their desire to fight against the Chinese dragon: “We are ready to pick up arms and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Indian soldiers on the Tibet border—or in any theatre or in any manner.” Indian Army used to run a secret unit of young Tibetans, including women, in the dense hilly jungles of Chakrata, Uttarakhand, till the 1980s. Nicknamed “22”, the Tibetans were trained in military warfare. The Chinese had strongly objected to it when they learnt about this venture. The unit was disbanded following improvement in Indiachina relations. Meanwhile, Us-based Executive Director of the Students for Free Tibet (SFT), Dorjee Tseten, told this newspaper that the world has witnessed the deadliest Chinese attack on Indian sovereignty in 45 years. “We pay tribute to the courage of the Indian soldiers and offer our condolences to the bereaved families,” said Tseten. “We have started an urgent online petition to call world leaders to stand with India against this illegal aggression by Chinese troops on Indian soil and work together to counter China’s expansionism.” “As a Tibetan refugee born and raised in India,” Tseten said, “I consider India to be my second home, which has given asylum to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people. For centuries, Tibet and India enjoyed peace and friendship; China did not share a border with India until 1959. Over 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of China’s occupation of Tibet. However, Tibetans inside Tibet and in exile have never wavered in our struggle against the colonial occupation of our homeland.” The Sft-india has joined five leading Tibetan organisations in Dharamsala—the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile—to issue a joint press statement to express solidarity with India.
A large number of Tibetans have signed the petition to call on members of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China, Indian Parliament, and world leaders to hold China accountable for their actions.