By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 9: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Friday wrote to the late Queen Elizabeth’s son, King Charles III, to express his condolences to the Royal family of the United Kingdom. The octogenarian leader recalled his memory when the late queen was ascended to throne, “I remember seeing photographs of her coronation in magazines when I was young in Tibet.” Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday at Balmoral castle in Scotland, leaving behind a controversial reign which saw the disintegration of British rule in many of its colonies.
The Dalai Lama wrote that the late Queen lived a life of “dignity, grace, a strong sense of service and a warm heart”. “Her reign, as Britain’s longest serving monarch, represented celebration, inspiration and a reassuring sense of continuity for so many people alive today,” the Tibetan leader further wrote.
The President of the Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile, Penpa Tsering also offered his condolences for the death of the British monarch, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was an extraordinary leader who remains an embodiment of courage, duty and unwavering dedication to public service. On behalf of the CTA and Tibetan people, we express our profound condolences to the Royal Family and people of the United Kingdom.”
The Speaker of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel also sent his prayers and condolences after the demise of the Queen. “On such a monumental loss, the thoughts and prayers of all the Tibetan people around the world are with the people of the United Kingdom and the commonwealth in this hour of grief. She will be remembered as one of the strongest and longest reigning monarchs in modern history. Her legacy will live on in history,” the Speaker said in a statement on Friday.
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Queen Elizabeth has been an exemplary monarch for seven decades. She has had a long rein after her father, King George the sixth died when she was only twenty five years old! Tibetan Homes Foundation was founded for orphaned Tibetan children. Each home was sponsored by charity organisations from different countries. My home was sponsored by a British charity organisation. Hence, we had the photo of the queen in our home! We knew little about her but when young British teachers descended at our home and came in contact with them, we learned the British people liked their queen just like we loved HH The Dalai Lama. The picture at the entrance of our home was beautiful with Her majesty in a long billowing dress embellished with beautiful embroidery which spread all around her on the ground!
In the seventy years of her reign, she has seen a world torn by war, the break up of the Soviet empire and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Events that metaphorically shook the world! She saw fifteen British Prime Ministers come and go and fourteen US Presidents. She travelled far and wide to the myriad commonwealth countries which constituted the mighty British empire.
The British have excelled in empire building but they didn’t occupy those countries for good. There is no doubt they have committed many crimes against its colonies but they also brought commiserate benefit as well. Some claim the British were the most benign colonisers! If we compare yellow colonisers like the Chinese communists in occupied Tibet and East Turkistan, there is a lot of truth about the benign British rule in its colonies. One stark example is Hong Kong! It was ceded in perpetuity to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking at the end of of the first Opium war. It has been under British rule for 156 years. Hong Kong never wanted to be handed to back to communist China but Britain handed it over with much trepidation. The Hong Kongers felt let down despite the “one country two systems” pledge Britain managed to negotiate for Hong Kong to give them a semblance of freedom security. But as we saw in 2019 – 2020 mass demonstrations were staged as the CCP tried to introduce “Fugitive Offender’s Amendment” that sparked the first protest snowballing into million and half people protesting against the introduction of such draconian laws. No matter how the people expressed their disgust, the CCP has no respect for the People’s aspirations. As we know it, today, Hong Kong is a police state with the head of the Hong Kong Police who suppressed the mass protests rewarded to be the CCP appointed leader. The people of Hong Kong are enslaved like Tibetans in occupied Tibet. One hundred and fifty thousand lucky Hong Kongers have landed in Britain with their British National’s visa. Thousands more are leaving the shores of their homeland. Tibetans don’t have such liberty. When you compare British rule to Chinese communist rule, British rule is truely benign. The British have a conscience but the communist Chinese don’t have a shred of such lofty self-dignity. There is nostalgia for British rule in Hong Kong today. There were long queues of Hong Kongers to pay tribute to the late monarch at the British consulate. It is the biggest display of respect to the British monarch in continental Asia. Hong Kongers are feeling more gravitated to the alien colonial power than their “motherland”!!! Massive queues were witnessed in outpouring grief over the death of the monarch in sweltering heat! They left flowers, cards and letters outside the British diplomatic mission! This is a great tribute to the late queen and the British empire which Chinese communists and socialists painted as “dark and grim colonial yoke that enslaved the people”! The Hong Kong experience shows Yellow colonialism is hundred times more insidious and diabolical than British or European colonialism. The British have proved themselves a much more civilised nation than the Chinese despite their boast of having five thousand years of continuity.
Tibetans can hope even better future wth the British royals with the ascension of King Charles the Third. He is a good friend of The Dalai Lama for many years and has been sympathetic to the cause of Tibet. British Prime Minister John Major met the Dalai Lama during his prime ministership but Tony Blair and Gordon Brown slavishly pandered to the Chinese dictators and refused o meet the Tibetan leader. However, King Charles met the Dalai Lama throughout his tenure as the Prince of Wales and the Dalai Lama reciprocated his gesture by declaring him his best friend! The then prince refused to attend State dinners with Chinese leaders like Wen Jiabao, Hu Jintao Tao and Xi Jinping. He said, Jiang Zamien and other communist leaders were appalling waxworks for their cold, motionless and wooden demeanour.
Irrespective of King Charles meeting the Dalai Lama in his new reincarnation as King of Britain remains to be seen but his sympathy for the cause of Tibet and his friendship with the Dalai Lama will endure.
Tibet has always been an independent nation from the time of its inception in 127 BC. No country invaded and occupied it until 1949/50 when communist China illegally occupied it by force. During the beginning of the twentieth century, the British invaded Tibet when Tibet refused to trade with them nor read the letters sent by Lord Curzon to the Dalai Lama to protect its independence. Lord Curzon was the Viceroy of India during this time. Curzon dispatched Francis Younghusband to Tibet in 1904 in order to open up Tibet for trade with British India. An estimated seven hundred Tibetan soldiers were killed during the battle of Gampala.
The British never questioned Tibetan sovereignty and never recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. Lord Curzon who ordered the “expedition” to Tibet had this to say: “China’s sovereignty over Tibet is a political affectation which has only been mentioned because of its convenience to both parties”. As this clearly states, no nation recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet until 1954 when India accepted a document signed between China and India for trade and commerce between “Tibet part of China” and India. The British washed their hands off on India as India had gained independence. Indian rulers of the time were the first to ever recognise spurious Chinese claims over Tibet. The Chinese forced all countries who opened diplomatic relations with the PRC to recognise so called “one China” and inserted Tibet into it even though Tibet has nothing to do with the claims of Republic of China on the PRC and vice versa. This is how the PRC deceived the world about its dubious claims over Tibet.
The outcome of India’s recognition of Chinese claims over Tibet nullified India’s own claims over Arunachal Pradesh!!! India’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh is based on the 1913 Simla Treaty between independent Tibet and British India. Tibet ceded (South Mon, Tib: ལྷོ་མོན་) Arunachal Pradesh to British India in return for Britains recognition of Kham and Amdo known at the time as “outer Tibet” as Tibetan territory. In order to legitimise India’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh, India MUST RECOGNISE THE INDEPENDENT STATUS OF TIBET. Without doing this, India has no legitimate claim over Arunachal Pradesh. India has done no favour to itself nor the Tibetan people by accepting frivolous Chinese claims over Tibet. India must realise that what is happening with Taiwan will gradually happen in the Arunachal region. China is an imperialist country and it has waged war throughout its history to gobble up territory after territory. It didn’t stop with Tibet and is pushing into Eastern Ladakh in the Galwan Valley and Docklam in Sikkim. It will not hesitate to push into Arunachal Pradesh when it suits them. The only way to avoid two hostile enemies who are “all weather friends” and are hellbent to contain India is to follow the British India policy of Tibetan independence to safe guard India’s own territorial integrity by re-instating Tibet as the historical buffer between India and China.
Tenzin Gyalkhang: what of the treachery of those who colluded with the Ambams in Lhasa? That you cannot pin on the injis.
Edward VIIth was not responsible for Younghusband’s rogue actions for which the latter was ultimately rebuked. Unlike say, Xi Jinping, the British crown is not a dictatorship but beholden to and serves at the pleasure of parliament. You can read the Friday 26 February 1904 debate Hansard on ‘The Mission To Tibet.’
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1904-02-26/debates/9a20f726-69cb-4b1a-99b2-0b0e8e025474/TheMissionToTibet
To render condolences is a formality that the Tibetan exile government should do it regardless, but expressing gratitude on behalf of the entire Tibetan people is presumptuous on Speaker Kenpo Sonam Tenphal’s part.
Who are you kidding?
Did you forget what happened in 1903 when the British invaded Tibet in the name of an Expedition? Killed Tibetans and demanded reparation from the Ganden Potang.
Or did you forget how they insulted our sovereignty with the McMohan Line in 1913? Please don’t dismiss these historical facts.
Intentional or unintentional, the British Crown was involved. This legacy will forever live in the hearts of the Tibetan people.
UK is the only western country who knows about and had changed the destiny of Tibetan people in the 20th century. So it is important to make friends