The stakes? Life or demise. Freedom or seize. And an entire nation's destiny balancing on his younger shoulders.
An invite that smelled like a lure
It didn't occur in a single day. China's grip on Tibet had been tightening since 1950. The Seventeen Level Settlement was meant to ensure Tibetan autonomy beneath Chinese language sovereignty. On paper, it did. In actuality? “It might occur that right here in Tibet, faith and authorities might be attacked each from with out and from inside,” the thirteenth Dalai Lama had warned many years earlier, as recorded by The Tibet Journal in 2008.
By 1959, the assaults had been not simply feared. They had been day by day life.
Then got here the so-called invitation. Chinese language Common Zhang Chenwu requested the Dalai Lama to attend a dance present at army HQ. The catch? “No guards.” Tibetans knew precisely what that meant. Abduction. Or worse.
On 10 March 1959, tens of hundreds of Tibetans surrounded Norbulingka Palace, forming a human barricade. Clashes with Chinese language troopers flared. Shells rained down. The State Oracle was consulted, thrice. His recommendation: “Go away. Now.”
Slipping into the night time
On 17 March, simply earlier than 10pm, the Dalai Lama, disguised in a soldier's uniform, slipped by means of the palace gates. He was joined by his mom, siblings, tutors, senior ministers. “A couple of minutes earlier than 10 o'clock within the night, His Holiness, disguised as an atypical soldier, slipped previous the large throng of individuals together with a small escort,” famous TIME again then.They crossed the Kyichu River, slipped into the Himalayas, travelling by night time, hiding by day. There have been no detailed maps. Solely whispered instructions, native guides, and prayers. Based on folklore, monks' prayers conjured clouds and mist that hid them from Chinese language planes. Possibly true, possibly not, however they made it.
A letter and a line crossed
By 26 March, the Dalai Lama reached Lhuntse Dzong, days away from India's border. He wrote to India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, “Ever since Tibet went beneath the management of Purple China… I, my Authorities officers and residents have been attempting to keep up peace… however the Chinese language Authorities has been regularly subduing the Tibetan Authorities.”
Then he requested for asylum: “On this important state of affairs we're coming into India by way of Tsona… I hope that you'll please make obligatory preparations for us.”
Nehru's gamble
Again in Delhi, Nehru had his personal storm to climate. Welcoming the Dalai Lama meant infuriating Beijing. Defence Minister V Okay Krishna Menon and others had been sceptical. However Nehru held his floor.
“The Dalai Lama needed to undertake a really massive and tough journey and the circumstances of the journey had been additionally painful to the Dalai Lama,” Nehru informed Parliament later. “So it is just correct that the Dalai Lama ought to get a chance in a peaceable ambiance to seek the advice of his colleagues… and recover from the psychological pressure.”
On 31 March, the Dalai Lama and his social gathering crossed the McMahon Line at Khenzimane Go in present-day Arunachal Pradesh. Havildar Naren Chandra Das of the Assam Rifles saluted the exhausted younger monk. A long time later, in 2017, the Dalai Lama informed the ageing soldier: “Taking a look at your face, I now realise I have to be very outdated too… Thanks very a lot.”
A brand new dwelling within the hills
From the Assam Rifles publish at Chutangmu, the Dalai Lama was taken to Tawang Monastery, then Tezpur in Assam. There, on 18 April, he spoke for the primary time on Indian soil. He condemned China's aggression. He thanked India. And he set the report straight: “The Dalai Lama needs to categorically state that he left Lhasa and Tibet and got here to India of his personal free will and never by drive.”
China fumed. Demanded his return. Nehru refused. By 1960, the Dalai Lama had settled in McLeodganj, Dharamshala, what would turn into “Little Lhasa”, dwelling to Tibet's government-in-exile. Faculties, monasteries, cultural centres rose from scratch. In 1989, the Dalai Lama acquired the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent wrestle.
Right now he's 90. Nonetheless residing in Dharamshala. Nonetheless talking of compassion and dialogue. Nonetheless a thorn in Beijing's facet. China's grip on Tibet has solely tightened, however so has Tibetan id in exile.
Trying again, it began with a suspicious invite. A younger monk slipping away at nighttime. And a journey by means of snow and concern to a fragile freedom on the opposite facet of the Himalayas.
