Indian Leaders on Tibet

“The invasion of Tibet which terminated in His Holiness Dalai Lama taking refuge in Indian territory is brutal colonialism.”
C Rajagopalachari

“Freedom is the most sacred boon. It has to be protected by all means- violent or non-violent. Therefore Tibet has to be liberated from the iron grip of China and handed over to the Tibetans.”
Dr Rajendra Prasad

“...surely, according to the principles I uphold, the last voice in regard to Tibet should be the voice of the Tibetan people and of nobody else.”
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

“The tragedy of Tibet is that the Tibetans put faith in us; they chose to be guided by us and we have been unable to get them out of the meshes of Chinese diplomacy or Chinese malevolence.”
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

“Tibet's ties are stronger with India than with China, ties of language, trade and culture, not to speak of the strategic affinities between India and Tibet.”
Dr Rammanohar Lohia

“Instead of according recognition to China in 1949, had India accorded this recognition to Tibet, there would have been no Sino-Indian border conflict.”
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar

“Is Tibet lost for ever? No. A thousand times no. Tibet will not die because there is no death for the human spirit.”
Jayaprakash Narayan

“...from the point of view of national interests, the fact that Tibet is being annihilated cannot be for the good of India in the long run.”
Atal Behari Vajpayee

“If there were something civilised in man, every nation would have stood against the invasion of Tibet by China. It is the invasion of matter against consciousness. It is invasion of materialism against spiritual heights.”
Acharya Rajneesh

“America believes that Iraq can be occupied and colonised like Tibet has been, like Afganistan has been, like Chechnia has been, like East-Timor once was and Palestine still is.”
Arundhati Roy

Read Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on 7 November, 1950 not only deploring Indian Ambassador KM Panikkar's action but also warning about dangers from China.