Email
Print
ShareThe refusal to allow foreign journalists to cover the Dalai Lama's visit to the Galden Namgyal Lhatse monastery in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh is a peculiar decision taken by the ministry of home affairs.
While it is true that the Dalai Lama is a sensitive subject mainly because of the objections raised by China, there seems to be some confused thinking at work here. The Indian government is keen to establish that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
New Delhi may be keen to play down any news about Chinese incursions into Indian territory via that border state, but has also made it clear that the Dalai Lama was free to move around the country freely. So why this coyness about getting his visit covered by
foreign journalists?
Could it be an effort to not further upset the Chinese? China may fear foreign, especially western journalists who might play up the Dalai Lama's visit. Beijing's antipathy towards the spiritual leader of the Tibetans is well known. They call him a "splittist" and pour scorn on him regularly. On the other hand, he is revered by Tibetans and admired and respected around the world. A visit by him to Tawang is news; in the current climate and given the somewhat tense Sino-Indian relationship the news value of the visit further goes up.
If New Delhi indeed wants to protect Chinese sensitivities, it is a dangerously timorous mindset. It also undemocratic, which is ironical considering we project our democracy as an advantage when compared to autocratic China. But it also shows a poor understanding of how the media operates.
In today's interconnected world, little remains secret. The foreign news media can and will pick up the story from the Indian media so this travel ban applied to four foreign journalists is hardly likely to work. Instead, it just shows an India nervous about offending
China instead of standing up to it or simply going about its normal business. No one wants to be needlessly provocative, especially to a generally friendly country, but no wants to be seen as bending backwards to please.
Besides there might be propaganda advantage here -- a large contingent of foreign journalists in Arunachal could further buttress the point about it being not only a part of India but also a state where elections were held recently with resounding success. A strong message would have gone out to the world.
Indeed, the Indian government should have jumped at the chance of foreign journalists visiting Arunachal so soon after the elections and perhaps exploited the Dalai Lama's visit. Instead New Delhi has taken the easy way out. It is a poor call which can and should be reversed.
