dabong1
<b>PDF VETERAN</b>
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
- Messages
- 4,417
- Reaction score
- 1
British forces invaded Tibet in 1904 and administered it until 1947. Their aim was to create what they self-consciously called a buffer state to protect their immense interests in India, then run by the British Raj, from potential advances by Russia and China. Tibet was turned into a guard dog for Britains vast Indian Empire. And the British discovered that the idea of Tibet as a mystical, paranormal land - that is, not a normal state and certainly not a part of those other normal states of China or Russia - was a very useful propaganda tool
So they overlook the key, somewhat ironic role played by the British rulers of Tibet in the 1920s, 30s and 40s in creating so-called Tibetan Independence. Where under the feudal rule of the Dalai Lamas, Tibet had conceived of itself largely as a religious entity, the lamas were convinced by the British to adopt the trappings of nationalism. As one fascinating historical study points out, the British funded the creation of a national Tibetan flag, a Tibetan football team and Tibetan school uniform, with the explicit, express aim, in the words of one British imperialist, of showing that Tibet had its own art etc and that in some ways Tibet is more closely allied to India than to China (4). In short, the idea of Tibetan independence was born largely from the needs of British imperialism in India, and from British conflict with China, rather than from the demands of the Tibetan masses.
Western pro-Tibet activists also overlook the role later played by Washington, in particular the CIA, in funding and training the Dalai Lamas armed forces in the 1950s. Between Chinas invasion of Tibet in 1951 and the fleeing of the Dalai Lama in 1959, the CIA took a keen interest in directing the Tibetan forces as part of what the Dalai Lama himself later described as Washingtons broader international campaign of anti-Communism
Seven days in Tibet | spiked
So they overlook the key, somewhat ironic role played by the British rulers of Tibet in the 1920s, 30s and 40s in creating so-called Tibetan Independence. Where under the feudal rule of the Dalai Lamas, Tibet had conceived of itself largely as a religious entity, the lamas were convinced by the British to adopt the trappings of nationalism. As one fascinating historical study points out, the British funded the creation of a national Tibetan flag, a Tibetan football team and Tibetan school uniform, with the explicit, express aim, in the words of one British imperialist, of showing that Tibet had its own art etc and that in some ways Tibet is more closely allied to India than to China (4). In short, the idea of Tibetan independence was born largely from the needs of British imperialism in India, and from British conflict with China, rather than from the demands of the Tibetan masses.
Western pro-Tibet activists also overlook the role later played by Washington, in particular the CIA, in funding and training the Dalai Lamas armed forces in the 1950s. Between Chinas invasion of Tibet in 1951 and the fleeing of the Dalai Lama in 1959, the CIA took a keen interest in directing the Tibetan forces as part of what the Dalai Lama himself later described as Washingtons broader international campaign of anti-Communism
Seven days in Tibet | spiked
