Dalai Lama's reincarnation our internal affair, says China
NEW DELHI: The recent tensions over the
Dalai Lama
's announcement that China will have no role in his reincarnation seemed set to intensify with the Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, rejecting his statement and also the support expressed by Union minister Kiren Rijiju for the
Tibetan spiritual leader
's decision.
While Rijiju had clarified that he had spoken in his personal capacity as a devotee, Xu said in a post Sunday that "no interference by any external forces will be allowed". The Indian govt had said in response that India takes no position on issues of faith and religion.
"It has been noted that some Indian official recently made some remarks regarding the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama," said Xu on X. "Chinese govt opposes any attempts by overseas organisations or individuals to interfere in or dictate the reincarnation process.
Xizang (Tibet) is an inalienable part of China's territory."
Xu said the Dalai Lama will have no role in his reincarnation. "The conferment of their religious status and titles is the prerogative of the central govt of China. The reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama is inherently an internal affair of China."
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The Print
41 minutes ago
- The Print
Bihar is ripe for civil disobedience over electoral roll revision. 50 yrs ago, JP showed the way
As it is, there are serious suspicions about India's election system being weaponised to facilitate easy stealing of people's mandate. This has led to calls for 'civil disobedience,' publicly aired by a sitting MP from West Bengal, Mahua Moitra. It won't be long before this call catches up and reverberates across the country. As India commemorates the 50th anniversary of Emergency, Bihar — the land of Jayaprakash Narayan, the 'realis causa' of that dark era — is in turmoil. And for very good reasons. Around 30 to 40 percent of the state's voting population faces 'disenfranchisement' due to the hasty, arbitrary, and whimsical special intensive revision of the electoral rolls ordered by the Election Commission of India. Writing the 'foreword' for historian Dharampal's 1971 book, Civil Disobedience in India Tradition, JP wrote: 'There had developed in the course of Indian history an understanding between the ruled and the ruler as to their respective rights and responsibilities. Whenever this traditional pattern of relationship was disturbed by an autocratic ruler, the people were entitled to offer resistance in the customary manner, that is, by peaceful non-cooperation and civil disobedience. It also appears that in the event of such action, the response of the ruling authority was not to treat it as unlawful defiance, rebellion, or disloyalty that had to be put down at any cost before the issue in dispute could be taken up, but as rightful action that called for speedy negotiated settlement.' Also read: The mystery of JP's kidney failure continues. There was a purpose behind it JP's civil disobedience movement JP virtually kickstarted the civil disobedience movement from Patna on 5 June 1974 with these stentorian words: 'This is a revolution, friends! We are not here merely to see the Vidhan Sabha dissolved. That is only one milestone on our journey. But we have a long way to go… After 27 years of freedom, the people of this country are wracked by hunger, rising prices, corruption… oppressed by every kind of injustice… it is a Total Revolution we want, nothing less!' This launched the 'JP Movement', which was a coalition of organisations and individuals with very diverse beliefs, preoccupations, life circumstances, and objectives. Though 'Total Revolution' was the ultimate objective, the JP Movement commenced with civil disobedience, peaceful resistance, and non-cooperation. This was because JP took inspiration from the old idiom 'aim for the sky and you'll reach the stars' that encourages ambitious goal-setting and striving for great things. As per the template, on 7 June 1974, a non-violent satyagraha was initiated. JP called for the closure of all colleges and universities for a year. He also encouraged people not to pay tax and launched related campaigns to paralyse the government. In the following days, several people were arrested while picketing and offering dharna before the Assembly gates. Even when the Assembly session concluded on 13 July, there was no let-up in the demands and agitations for its dissolution. JP's call for the boycott of classes and exams elicited a mixed response. The first phase of the agitation concluded in the third week of July. The second and more intense phase began on 1 August, with the commencement of no-tax campaigns. Farmers were advised to withhold the state levy on food grains meant for the public distribution system. Wine and country liquor shops were picketed. There was complete mayhem. Exceptions were made only for departments like post and telegraph, hospitals, courts, railways, banks, and ration shops. JP directed students to hold ten to fifteen meetings in each assembly constituency to turn public opinion against non-performing MLAs. Addressing a public meeting in Jamshedpur, JP urged the police to disobey orders that their conscience told them were improper. He also warned, for the present, the call is on Gandhian lines and should not be mistaken for a call for rebellion. But a stage will come when he would call for total rebellion. By October, a certain fatigue seemed to have set in, even as there were increased incidences of violence and coercion in implementing the civil disobedience programme. Largely restricted to urban areas, the protests were failing to draw in poor peasants, agricultural workers, and casual labourers. To energise the movement and expand its base, JP announced a new plan of action, which included the intensification of the struggle from 2 October. A three-day bandh was organised between 3 and 5 October. Leading the bandh, JP marched through the streets of Patna on 3 October with his followers. People lined the streets to support him. He ended his march at the gate of the secretariat and sat in dharna, surrounded by supporters, curious onlookers, the media, and sections of the bureaucracy. Following the success of the bandh, JP posed another direct challenge to state power. Students and Jana Sangharsh Samiti (People's Struggle Committee) volunteers were directed to move in strength to block, subdivision, and district offices to paralyse their work and set up parallel, revolutionary people's governments or Janata sarkars. These micro-organs of people's power were expected to adjudicate disputes, ensure the sale of essential commodities at fair prices, organise redistribution of ceiling-surplus land amongst the landless, prevent black market activities and hoarding, and fight against caste oppression. They were also expected to gradually bring about a shift in people's consciousness and make them reject untouchability, casteism and its symbols like the donning of the sacred thread by Brahmins, patriarchy, and its manifestation in early marriage and dowry. Also read: Modi govt's assault on democracy is more sinister than the Emergency. Look at the differences Why people followed JP's call for action Even though JP repeatedly said that the movement was democratic and non-violent, the agitations were not entirely free of coercive violence. Shopkeepers were forced to pull down their shutters. Trains and buses were arbitrarily stopped. At Bhabua, Sasaram, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, and Danapur stations, young children blocked railway tracks. The police retaliated with ruthless brutality. Hundreds of students were beaten up and arrested including several women and girls. They were incarcerated in the jails of Hazaribagh, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Arrah, Bankipur, and Patna. Between 2 and 5 October, the police opened fire at many places, resulting in a number of deaths. In a single incident in Patna City, twenty-two rounds were fired, and unofficial sources reported seventy-five deaths. However, JP did not backtrack because he agreed with the rationale of Howard Zinn (1970): 'Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience… Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves…(and) the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.' How true is this today even after half a century of 'practicing' democracy. At the 25 June 1975 rally at Ramlila Grounds, Delhi, following the disqualification of Indira Gandhi as a Member of Parliament, JP formally declared civil disobedience: 'Friends, this civil disobedience will be of varied types. A time may come when, if these people do not listen, it may be necessary to de-recognise the government. They have no moral, legal, or constitutional right to govern; therefore, we would de-recognise them; we would not cooperate with them; not a paise of tax shall be given to them.' What followed is now history. An introspection of the movement would reveal that JP's involvement was the main factor that enabled the disparate non-Congress forces to come together for political action. 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[Portions of the article are from the writer's recent Book 'Emergency and Neo-Emergency: Who will Defend Democracy?', The Browser, Chandigarh] M.G. Devasahayam is a retired IAS officer and chairman of People-First. He also served in the Indian Army. As the District Magistrate of Chandigarh, he was the custodian of JP in jail. He had a ringside view of Emergency and has written a book titled Emergency and Neo-Emergency: Who will defend Democracy?. Views are personal. Views are personal. (Edited by Prashant)
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