THE NOODLE MAKER OF KALIMPONG
The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet
Gyalo Thondup with Anne F Thurston
Random House India
384 pages; Rs 599
This a the story of Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who now lives in Kalimpong and runs an ancient noodle-making factory adjacent to his compound. It is also the story of Tibet and its tragic loss of independence and identity, assaulted by forces its insular leaders could neither comprehend nor confront. And the rest of the world preferred to look away.
Mr Thondup is a fascinating character, growing up in the pristine but primitive environs of Tibet's Amdo province. His life is transformed dramatically when his younger brother is identified, through divination, as the 14th Dalai Lama and the entire family moves to Lhasa. Mr Thondup is despatched to Nanjing, then the post-war capital of China, to learn Chinese and study the country's culture. He lived under the personal care of the Kuomintang leader, Chiang Kai-shek, who apparently grew quite fond of him.
Mr Thondup learnt to speak Mandarin and married a Chinese lady. But while he was away, Lhasa was the scene of dark political intrigue and factional struggles. The Tibetans were oblivious to the dramatic changes taking place in the world around them, complacent in the belief that, as in ages past, Tibet would remain sheltered by its high mountain ranges, icy deserts and, of course, the power of its faith. Mr Thondup was aware of the disaster looming over Tibet, particularly after the Communist armies under Mao Zedong had liberated China. From his new base at Kalimpong he tried to alert the ruling elite in Lhasa of the dangers. Jawaharlal Nehru used Mr Thondup to warn the Tibetan leadership that the Chinese under Mao would try and occupy their country by force and that they should mobilise and prepare well in advance to resist the inevitable assault. Nehru offered assistance both in weapons and training but there was no response from the Tibetan government.
Thus, it appears that contrary to generally accepted wisdom, Nehru did not readily acquiesce to the Chinese incorporation of Tibet, but there was no response to his offer of help from the Tibetans. Once the Chinese swiftly occupied Tibet in 1950 and the Lhasa government signed the "17 point Agreement" accepting Chinese rule, Nehru decided that there was no choice but to acknowledge the ground reality.
Mr Thondup alleges that Nehru went back on his promise to grant Dalai Lama political asylum when the latter came to visit India in 1956 for the 2,500th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. In his account, Nehru, under the influence of Chinese Premier Chou Enlai, persuaded the Dalai Lama to go back to Tibet with a solemn assurance given by the Chinese that the 17 point Agreement would be strictly observed. But that did not happen and events led inexorably to the 1959 Tibet Revolt and the Dalai Lama's escape to India. This time, Mr Thondup praises Nehru for agreeing to grant his brother asylum unhesitatingly despite being aware of what this would mean for the already strained India-China relations.
Another theme in the book is the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in assisting Tibetan resistance. Mr Thondup is very critical of the American role, accusing the CIA of giving paltry assistance in weapons and training, enough to needle the Chinese but never to constitute a serious threat. He should know since he was the conduit for much of these clandestine operations.
When Deng Xiaoping became China's top leader in 1979, he invited Mr Thondup to Beijing to discuss the possible return of the Dalai Lama to China. This was an important meeting and is covered in some detail by Mr Thondup. Deng conveyed that "except for independence everything is negotiable. Everything can be discussed." Deng agreed to facilitate movement of Tibetans living in India to freely visit their families and go on pilgrimage to religious sites. He also agreed to a proposal to open a liaison office for the Dalai Lama in Beijing to be in regular touch with the Chinese government.
For a time conditions did improve though the liaison office was never established. When I visited Tibet for the first time in 1984 I met several Tibetan monks and traders from Tibetan settlements across India. This initial promise of reconciliation, however, was never realised as conditions in Tibet deteriorated and the talks went nowhere particularly with the Chinese insisting that the Dalai Lama accept Tibet as an inalienable part of China and agree to live in Beijing and only visit Tibet occasionally. Some later openings also failed to deliver and here the finger is pointed at the Indian agencies that were apparently not keen to have the talks succeed. If this is true then it is short-sighted. With political reconciliation between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese, the Tibet issue would lose its salience in India-China relations and could make it easier to resolve the border issue.
This is an important book, throwing light on some very murky yet far-reaching developments in our neighbourhood. Thucydides said, "The strong do what they can and the weak suffer because they must." That about sums up the tragedy of Tibet.
The reviewer is a former foreign secretary. He is currently chairman, RIS and senior fellow, CPR
The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet
Gyalo Thondup with Anne F Thurston
Random House India
384 pages; Rs 599
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It is not always easy to tell someone else's story. It is even more difficult to tell that story in the first person, organising, interpreting and assembling a coherent and flowing narrative drawn from what must have been weeks and months of personal interviews and conversations. It is a tribute to Anne Thurston's skill as a writer that the narrative retains the feel of a first-hand account throughout.
This a the story of Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who now lives in Kalimpong and runs an ancient noodle-making factory adjacent to his compound. It is also the story of Tibet and its tragic loss of independence and identity, assaulted by forces its insular leaders could neither comprehend nor confront. And the rest of the world preferred to look away.
Mr Thondup is a fascinating character, growing up in the pristine but primitive environs of Tibet's Amdo province. His life is transformed dramatically when his younger brother is identified, through divination, as the 14th Dalai Lama and the entire family moves to Lhasa. Mr Thondup is despatched to Nanjing, then the post-war capital of China, to learn Chinese and study the country's culture. He lived under the personal care of the Kuomintang leader, Chiang Kai-shek, who apparently grew quite fond of him.
Mr Thondup learnt to speak Mandarin and married a Chinese lady. But while he was away, Lhasa was the scene of dark political intrigue and factional struggles. The Tibetans were oblivious to the dramatic changes taking place in the world around them, complacent in the belief that, as in ages past, Tibet would remain sheltered by its high mountain ranges, icy deserts and, of course, the power of its faith. Mr Thondup was aware of the disaster looming over Tibet, particularly after the Communist armies under Mao Zedong had liberated China. From his new base at Kalimpong he tried to alert the ruling elite in Lhasa of the dangers. Jawaharlal Nehru used Mr Thondup to warn the Tibetan leadership that the Chinese under Mao would try and occupy their country by force and that they should mobilise and prepare well in advance to resist the inevitable assault. Nehru offered assistance both in weapons and training but there was no response from the Tibetan government.
Thus, it appears that contrary to generally accepted wisdom, Nehru did not readily acquiesce to the Chinese incorporation of Tibet, but there was no response to his offer of help from the Tibetans. Once the Chinese swiftly occupied Tibet in 1950 and the Lhasa government signed the "17 point Agreement" accepting Chinese rule, Nehru decided that there was no choice but to acknowledge the ground reality.
Mr Thondup alleges that Nehru went back on his promise to grant Dalai Lama political asylum when the latter came to visit India in 1956 for the 2,500th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. In his account, Nehru, under the influence of Chinese Premier Chou Enlai, persuaded the Dalai Lama to go back to Tibet with a solemn assurance given by the Chinese that the 17 point Agreement would be strictly observed. But that did not happen and events led inexorably to the 1959 Tibet Revolt and the Dalai Lama's escape to India. This time, Mr Thondup praises Nehru for agreeing to grant his brother asylum unhesitatingly despite being aware of what this would mean for the already strained India-China relations.
Another theme in the book is the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in assisting Tibetan resistance. Mr Thondup is very critical of the American role, accusing the CIA of giving paltry assistance in weapons and training, enough to needle the Chinese but never to constitute a serious threat. He should know since he was the conduit for much of these clandestine operations.
When Deng Xiaoping became China's top leader in 1979, he invited Mr Thondup to Beijing to discuss the possible return of the Dalai Lama to China. This was an important meeting and is covered in some detail by Mr Thondup. Deng conveyed that "except for independence everything is negotiable. Everything can be discussed." Deng agreed to facilitate movement of Tibetans living in India to freely visit their families and go on pilgrimage to religious sites. He also agreed to a proposal to open a liaison office for the Dalai Lama in Beijing to be in regular touch with the Chinese government.
For a time conditions did improve though the liaison office was never established. When I visited Tibet for the first time in 1984 I met several Tibetan monks and traders from Tibetan settlements across India. This initial promise of reconciliation, however, was never realised as conditions in Tibet deteriorated and the talks went nowhere particularly with the Chinese insisting that the Dalai Lama accept Tibet as an inalienable part of China and agree to live in Beijing and only visit Tibet occasionally. Some later openings also failed to deliver and here the finger is pointed at the Indian agencies that were apparently not keen to have the talks succeed. If this is true then it is short-sighted. With political reconciliation between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese, the Tibet issue would lose its salience in India-China relations and could make it easier to resolve the border issue.
This is an important book, throwing light on some very murky yet far-reaching developments in our neighbourhood. Thucydides said, "The strong do what they can and the weak suffer because they must." That about sums up the tragedy of Tibet.
The reviewer is a former foreign secretary. He is currently chairman, RIS and senior fellow, CPR