RSS leader calls for freedom of Tibet, liberation of Kailash Mansarovar

Amid the India-China military face-off in western Bhutan, RSS leader Indresh Kumar has argued for the freedom of Tibet and liberation of the holy Kailash Mansarovar.

Kumar, a patron of the Bharat Tibbat Sahyog Manch (India-Tibet Cooperation Forum) or BTSM, also said China posed a greater security threat to India than Pakistan did.

He made these statements at a meeting of the national executive committee of the BTSM at Agra, Uttar Pradesh,  on Saturday. “Currently, China poses more threat to India than Pakistan. Therefore, the current government’s stand in respect to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh has made it clear that India is no longer afraid of China,” a report on the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration (or the Tibetan Government in Exile) quoted Kumar as saying.

The CTA or Tibetan Government in Exile is based in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. Kumar’s comment came on the 20th day of the face-off between the soldiers of the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army on Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan.

The face-off started after Indian Army personnel went to Doklam Plateau, a disputed territory along the Bhutan-China border, on June 18 to stop the Chinese PLA personnel from constructing a road, which would have altered the status quo in the India-Bhutan-China trijunction boundary point.

Kumar was quoted saying that the people of India should “socially, morally and politically” support the Tibetans’ struggle for the end of Chinese occupation. “We must also support spiritually in prayers Tibbat Ki Azadi (freedom of Tibet) and Kailash Mansarovar ki Mukti (liberation of Kailash Mansarovar),” he said.

The two-day conclave in Agra saw more than 400 participants from across India. The event was also attended by at least two parliamentarians of the ruling party, including Ram Shankar Katheria and Chaudhary Babulal.

The RSS leader’s call for freedom came after China’s state-owned media warned that clamour for the freedom of Sikkim from India could grow in the communist country in the wake of the current face-off.

China had angrily reacted to the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh in April and even warned India that it would take “necessary measures to defend its territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests” in response.