Friends of Tibet Foundation & The Alcove Publishers are proud to present "Indian Cartoonists on Tibet (1950-2025)" — a powerful collection of cartoons capturing the voices of Indian cartoonists on the Tibet issue and the 75 years of tumultuous India-China relations. Some of the distinguished cartoonists included in this collection are: Shankar, RK Laxman, Bal Thackery, Chandi Lahiri, OV Vijayan, Ranga, Abu, Mario Miranda, Yesudasan, Ajit Ninan, Rajinder Puri, Kaak, Morparia, Thommy, Ponnappa, Ravi Shankar, Nanda Sooben, Manjula Padmanabhan, Prriya Raj, Abe Gowda, Prakash Shetty, Mrityunjay, EP Unny, Jayanto Banerjee, Manjul, Shankar Pamarthy, Sajith Kumar, Suku Yesudasan, Satish Acharya, Soumyadip Sinha, Krishnakumar V and Venkatesh G Narendra. Stay tuned for its upcoming release!
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'INDIAN CARTOONISTS ON TIBET' (1950-2025)
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama is turning 90-years old. What an extraordinary life!
Born in Amdo province of north-eastern Tibet in 1935, at the age of two, Tenzin Gyatso is recognized as the reincarnation of Thubten Gyatso, the XIII Dalai Lama of Tibet, who had passed into the Heavenly Fields in 1933. In 1940, he was enthroned in Lhasa.
Ten years later, a few months after his fifteenth anniversary, he becomes the temporal and spiritual leader of the Land of Snows; the State Oracle had ordered: "Make him King!" Tibet was invaded by Mao's troops less than three months later. In 1954, not yet 20, he goes to Beijing where he had long conversations with Mao Zedong, China's Great Helmsman. In March 1959, following an uprising of the Tibetan masses in Lhasa, he leaves the Potala Palace at night and takes the direction of India where he was given asylum by the Nehru Government; since then, he resides in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
For the past sixty-six years, the Tibetan leader has been preaching compassion and non-violence, not only in India, but in every corner of the planet.
India and Tibet: The Roof of the World, sandwiched between the two Asian giants: India and China, had for centuries managed to remain untouched by the changes and revolutions happening in the world; it was known as the last 'Shangrila' on earth. But this peaceful state of affairs dramatically changed in October 1950, when China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) marched unhindered onto the Tibetan soil. A new ideology, less compassionate than the Dharma which had come from India twelve centuries earlier, pretended to liberate the Land of Snows. So said the new Communist masters!
And according to Chairman Mao's ideology, the Tibetan serfs were to be emancipated! For India, it translated into the loss of a buffer zone with China and a new neighbour. Her undisputed northern border (which did not even need to be demarcated when Tibet was the northern neighbour) soon became the object of a bitter dispute which continues sixty-six years later.
It took several years for the Indian Prime Minister to realize the ominous change resulting from the invasion of Tibet, though he had been warned by his deputy, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who unfortunately passed away two months after the PLA's entry in Eastern Tibet. In March 1959, the Dalai Lama had no alternative but to flee his homeland and take refuge in what he likes to call, Arya Bhumi, the Land of the Buddha.
While Nehru's government generously provided rehabilitation and education for 85,000 Tibetan refugees who remain grateful for this gesture, the Indian Prime Minister made it clear from the start that India would not provide political support to free Tibet from the Chinese yoke. At that time, Delhi attached too much importance to a friendship (at times 'brotherhood') with Beijing.
In October 1962, partly in retaliation to India providing asylum to the Dalai Lama and his followers, Mao's troops invaded North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and Ladakh. The bridges between the Indian Himalaya and Tibet were cut.
In 1973, the Dalai Lama began to travel abroad to make the world aware of the sufferings of his people. In the late 1980s, he expounded his philosophy of 'middle path' which has unfortunately not paid concrete dividends so far, but has shown to the world the possibility of a different approach.
The Cartoons: The book Indian Cartoonists on Tibet (1950-2025) depicts the tumultuous years in the history of the Buddhist leader as well as the fate of his lost state: Tibet!
Let us not forget that in the process, India lost a peaceful neighbour and a serene Himalayan border, a fact that several cartoons depict vividly. The 'cartoonists' also take us to different continents where despite the recognition of the Dalai Lama as a man of peace, the old world order (power, money, violence, etc.) still prevails and the fate of the Tibetan people is ignored.
Indian Cartoonists on Tibet is the story of the struggle of a man for peace and freedom; a man, who believes that "through the history of mankind, solutions achieved through the use of force have inevitably been transitory." This man, venerated by the Tibetans as a god, believes: "A solution can be genuine and lasting only if and when it is to the full satisfaction of the people concerned." Unfortunately, the regime in Beijing has not so far been able to share his belief, though the rest of the world has greatly profited from the Tibetan leader's wisdom.
Today, though we live in the era of mass media and communication, cartoons still convey a strong message which can be grasped by all. We have here a collection of the greatest names in Indian cartoonists; over a period of more than 60 years, it paints their perceptions of the Dalai Lama as well as the often difficult relations between India and China. More than a TV program or a newspaper report, they help us to perceive the Great History behind the smaller one.
After 66 years, in exile from his Himalayan home, the basic message of the Dalai Lama remains the same: each and every man on this earth is entitled to happiness and it is the responsibility of each one of us to act, speak or write in a way to make this possible.
It is worth citing here the Dalai Lama's favourite quote (from the Buddhist sage Shantideva):
"If it can be remedied
This does not mean that one has to 'give up'. The Dalai Lama's message on one of the last cartoons in this collection gives us the faith that perseverance will help us to one day reach our highest goals.
The book published by Friends of Tibet Foundation in association with Alcove Publishers is dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama who will turn 90 years on July 6, 2025.
May all beings be happy and enjoy the cartoons!
Friends of Tibet, PO Box 16674, Mumbai 400050, India
Friends of Tibet is a people's movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for independence. Friends of Tibet is also one of the principal organisers of World Tibet Day around the world.
Digital Support: Design & People Foundation, India + Ibiblio Digital Library & Archive Project, University of North Carolina, USA
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