The image of Buddhist monks, the embodiment of peace and non-violence, being brutally attacked does not horrify us anymore. We do not spring to our feet and attempt to stop their mass murder by an intemperate state in our backyard. Instead, we nervously check the bolts on our doors and squeak platitudes. We did it when Burma ruthlessly crushed the pro-democracy uprising last year-when we first saw Buddhist monks being murdered. And we are doing ?it again now, as China brutally squashes protests in Tibet. As I write this, I hear the death toll in Tibet has touched 140.

Last year, we sided shamelessly with the Burmese junta, signing trade deals as it killed and maimed innumerable protestors. We first refused to see the violence that was Burma's "internal matter", we sighed. Only later did we bestir ourselves and call for reason. "It is our hope that all sides will resolve the issues peacefully through dialogue," we said.

Last week, we said pretty much the same. "We hope all those involved will work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China, through dialogue and non-violent means," we said. We had been rather bold, as bold as any 'regional superpower' that collapses in a trembling heap at the very thought of China's wrath.

This animal fear of China prevents us-the world's largest democracy and big brother of South Asia-from condemning Burma's brutal suppression of the pro-democracy movement. It has not helped. Burma shares a cosiness with China that we cannot approximate. And ignoring Burma's human rights violations has not prevented it from aiding and training our insurgents. Our timidity has merely eroded the ethical base that we once built our foreign policy on. It has only made us a lesser nation than we were.

For some time now, we have shamelessly sacrificed the interests of democracy and human rights to secure our limited interest as a terrified nation. Even now, we are clapping Tibetan protestors in jail. Dissent is a basic democratic right, and by curbing that we are robbing ourselves of the edge we have over China. We have democracy, pluralism and human rights. In a globalised world, these things matter.

But our fear of China blurs all reason. China bombs our bunkers on the border, we look away. China bombs Buddhist statues in our territory, we feign ignorance. China stations 2,00,000 soldiers and powerful missiles on the border, we ignore them. China claims parts of our territory, we brush it aside. We look away when China refuses visas to Arunachalis, claiming they are Chinese and do not need visas. The issue is not just Aksai Chin, with bits of Kashmir or Tawang. "The whole state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory," said Ambassador Sun Yuxi just before President Hu Jintao's visit in 2006. "And Tawang is only one of the places in it." We mumbled a quick official protest and rolled out the red carpet for Hu.

In just the last two years, there have been 300 Chinese intrusions into India. We grin and bear it. While we have neglected our border, they have armed and readied it for war. And China's enormous influence over Pakistan and Burma and its recent closeness to Nepal and Bangladesh helps to keep us firmly in our place. Besides, we are still haunted by the defeat of 1962. So much for our being a regional superpower.

Pandering to China's whims has kept the dragon at bay, but only just. It still breathes fire down our neck. And with insurgency blazing around India-from Kashmir to the northeast and the Naxalites all over-India's fear of speaking out against China's 'internal matters' is understandable. But this is the age of nukes and glass houses-everyone is vulnerable. Crouching in a corner is no solution.

Meanwhile, our protective instinct towards Tibet has dwindled to a residual interest, more as host to the Dalai Lama, his government in exile and generations of Tibetan refugees, rather than as an arbiter of justice or a pragmatic political player that recognises the importance of Tibet as a buffer zone. It is time we stood up for human rights in Tibet. It is time we reclaimed our principles. Both for ethical and pragmatic reasons.

Courtesy: The week, April 21, 2008