The bloody face-off between Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh, the outrage that followed, and the recent ban in the country on Chinese mobile phone applications, have all led to people, including political leaders and Tibetan activists, now discussing Tibet’s freedom struggle and how India can possibly play a leading role in Tibetan Independence from China.

A lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court, Hazi Shiraz Quraishi, a member of the Intellectual Cell of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), raised the issue in an online discussion and asked another speaker, Dr Vishwas Chouhan, the principal of the Law College in Bhupal, to comment on how India, as the ‘big brother’ can play a role in freeing Tibet from China, and making it an independent country for Tibetans, who have taken refuge in India. Both Mr Quraishi and Mr Chouhan spoke during discussions on the topic “Persecution of Muslims in China.”

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“India should take initiatives to bring back the cultural glory of Tibet Buddhist culture after making it free from China so that Tibetans can get back their original land, though they live in India peacefully now,” Mr Quraishi told this correspondent over the phone from Bhopal.

He also recalled India’s role as it fought against Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh to make the latter an independent country. Asked to comment, the president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, Darjeeling Chapter, Diki Dholkar, said: “Yes, India should fight for us. We have a lot of hope that India will extend support for our Independence. India is our second motherland, but our motherland should be freed under the leadership of India. We condemn Chinese incursion in Ladakh and the killing of 20 Indian soldiers.”

“We want Tibetan Independence through non-violence, through dialogues, and trying hard to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, though without fighting, it cannot be possible at the present situation,” Ms Dholkar added.

Notably, the Tibetan Youth Congress and the Tibetan Women Organization jointly took out a rally in Darjeeling, appealing people to boycott Chinese products and go for country’s products to bring in development in the Indian economy.

Dr Chouhan, on the other hand, told the discussion today that severe persecution of Muslims had been going on in China. “The Chinese government did not allow Muslims to observe their religious and cultural festivals in the country even during the festival season of Ramadan and Eid,” he said, adding, “China in fact crushes religious and cultural programmes of others. It even crushes religious programmes along its border with Tibet as well as India. China has also showcased a duplicate Dalai Lama to confuse Tibetans.”

Talking about the objectives of the online discussion programme, Mr Quraishi said: “Ill-treatment on humanity is going on in China in true sense. But a section of people has been engaged in motivating Muslims in our country that persecution of Muslims is going on only in India and it started highlighting the Narendra Modiled central government’s decision on the CAA, Tin Talaq and other decisions. The objective of our programme was to send a clear message to those who are confusing Indian Muslims, though they enjoy freedom by observing all religious and cultural programmes.”