Escape from Tibet: How Nehru, despite concerns, granted the Dalai Lama asylum
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.
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