Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
the first President of Indian
Republic, on Tibet
(Excerpts from his last public speech, Gandhi
Maidan, Patna, 24 October, 1962.)
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….
The Chinese invaders have plundered Tibet and destroyed
its peaceful citizens. Tibet is nearer to India in religion and
culture. We have, therefore, to try hard to rescue Tibet from
the bloody clutches of plunderer and let its people breathe in
free air. If China stealthily infiltrate our land, they should be
ruthlessly turned back.
The world stands witness to the fact that India has never
cast a vicious glance on any country. But in war, we have to
give a fight at any place or land convenient to us in facing enemy.
When we were raising slogan of ‘Hindi-Chini, Bhai-Bhai’,
China was busy nibbling our land and through brute betrayal
captured about 12 thousand square miles of our land. When
[we] just stepped forward to evict them from those illegally
captured posts, the Chinese had the guts to blame offensive on
us. Today, on the high altitudes of Ladakh region, our military
has built up check-posts, our engineers have constructed roads
to assure security. In NEFA region also, the Chinese managed
to capture a few check-posts stealthily but we have hundreds
of check-posts, and this stealthily occupying a couple of posts
does not affect us. We have a formidable and a strong army
fully equipped with modern arms, and it is fighting. There is no
cause to get panicky. It is imperative that like a disciplined nation,
we should face the invaders. There is no doubt that we will
clear our motherland of these invaders.