Synopsis : A land is in agony and its people cry out in pain because they are occupied and subjugated by the Chinese. It is Tibet that is hidden away in the mountains north of Himalayas .It is isolated and its anguish is hidden from the world. But now there is a glimmer of hope that someday perhaps their freedom will come and once again they will be able to live in peace and practice their faith freely.
There is a land where the air is so pure and cold , it hurts your lungs. It used to be isolated from the rest of the world where people lived in peace and in harmony with the nature. They were Buddhist and took their faith seriously. They loved their chief lama called Dalai Lama who was their spiritual leader and their moral compass.
They were poor but happy. They lived simply but were generous to strangers in their sincere hospitality. Most of them were yak and sheep herders that provided them with milk and wool and sometimes meat. Their women wove beautiful rugs from wool and dyed them with natural colors. Their ruby cheek children were healthy and innocent.
But one day dark clouds gathered over their horizon so they looked anxiously and wondered what was going to happen to them and their peaceful way of living. They did not have to wait for long. Soon came stern looking Chinese soldiers with sharp steel bayonets attached to their guns who showed no mercy to the bewildered people of Tibet.
They herded them into camps , interrogated them for any sign of rebellion and harshly treated them into submission because they claimed that their peaceful country was now a part of China. Those who rebelled were killed. Many were jailed for re indoctrination and their spiritual leader Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans fled to take shelter in India where they still languish for decades but still dreaming of one day returning to their homeland and to their beloved as free citizens.
Many went abroad to seek political asylum and have remained there with a glimmer of hope in their heart to someday return to Tibet. The whole world watched this take over of Tibet by the Chinese but did nothing. It seemed that Tibet was not their priority. It had no natural resources to get excited about and its people were primitive and backward so no country came to the aid of Tibet except India that sheltered a large number of Tibetans and Dalai Lama.
Being cold loving mountain people , they preferred to stay in Dharmashala in India that is mountainous and cold where they have monasteries and where Dalai lama lives. They are tough and hardy but they cannot stand the heat of the plains so they like the cold mountain air of Dharmashala and they have never given up their hope to return home.
The Chinese in the mean time have taken over Tibet and have begun the process of diluting the Tibetan culture, their language and their faith by importing a very large number of Chinese to teach them the Chinese language and the Chinese way of doing things.
They have built a rail link from Beijing to Lhasa so that they can bring in Chinese goods to flood the markets of Tibet and a few tourists but mainly to transport military men and hardware to set up military bases from where they keep a watch on their enemy India. They have built landing strips, built storage depots and installed telecommunication facilities that helps the military more than the civilians.
They have built malls but the poor Tibetans can't afford to buy anything there. The poverty and joblessness endures so the Chinese occupation of their country has not improved their lives. Slowly the Tibetans are losing their culture, their way of living and their identity because the pressure on them to become Chinese is relentless. They hear of the atheist Chinese who show no respect to their faith and even have started to destroy centuries old statues of Buddha in China while persecuting those who practice their faith in some way.
The portent of the dark cloud that descended on Tibet is indeed catastrophic so they silently sludge along with bitterness in their heart because they are powerless.
Now the Chinese have decided to claim a part of india in the north where they have sent thousands of troops and armory to fight with the Indian troops stationed there to guard the border but India does not back off. Instead it has built roads, tunnels and airfields where they can land their fighter jets , heavy transport planes and built up facilities to supply their troops with all they need to fight the Chinese. They have determined to regain all the territories occupied by China by aggressively chasing them out and destroying their base.
The Chinese did not expect it so they were very surprised and were pushed back by the mountain trained and well supplied Indian army, air force and others. The Chinese are taking heavy casualties daily while retreating while the Indians are steadily advancing. Many countries now support India to expel the Chinese and have put pressure on them by trade sanctions or outright ban on the Chinese goods to hurt them financially. They are together to fight the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and have come out in support of the independence for Tibet and Taiwan. This is a terrible shock to China that has been blamed for the outbreak of a virus that has spread to many countries taking thousands of lives.
Now the Tibetans feel a glimmer of hope. They hate the Chinese deeply and have formed a mountain regiment in the Indian army to fight the Chinese and liberate their country. The Indian army has trained them, gave them modern weapons to fight and expel the Chinese so that too is a shock to the Chinese who thought that the Tibetans are docile.
The war is going on and the soldiers are dying on both sides but mostly on the Chinese side so they are retreating leaving behind their dead in the snow while the juggernaut of the Indian army is advancing toward Tibet. India is now a strong nation with a modern army that is well equipped to fight in the air, land and the sea so it is in the national interest of India to free Tibet.
A free and friendly Tibet will then become a buffer between China and India so India will not need to concentrate its military assets at the border. It will reduce the huge expense of keeping the army and the air force in Aksai Chin and Ladakh if there is peace and Tibet is free once again. India Tibet trade can flourish and tourism in both direction can increase.
The cries of Tibet are now heard worldwide so many nations are acting to curb the Chinese and their expansionism. Someday hopefully Tibet will be free and their revered spiritual leader Dalai Lama will be able to return to Potala palace in Lhasa. I also hope that Taiwan will also gain its independence that most countries now support. The South China Sea will once again become a zone of peace after expelling China from there so that the freedom of navigation to all countries are restored once again.
But it will come at a price. Many lives will be lost before the Chinese learn their lesson. The soul of Tibet is in torment and cries out in pain. What is a country whose soul is trapped in the morass of violence and subjugation? What are the Tibetans without their faith and their way of living ?
Perhaps the dark clouds on their pristine land will go away and a new bright shining day will emerge that will bring them hope and joy.
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La biografía de anil en español.
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