Tibette in exile in India is eager for identity and the homeland

What does it mean to live in exile?

“When we were at school, our teacher used to say that there is” p “on our forehead – this means refugees,” says Tenzin Tsundue.

Mr. Tsundue is one of the about 70,000 Tabti who live in India, spreads on 35 custom settlements.

In 1959, thousands of Tibetan fled after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

After their spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, they expressed the treacherous Himalayas and reached India, where they were accepted as refugees for humanitarian reasons and because of the common religious and cultural relations.

Mr. Tsondo says that living, or even the newborn, in India does not make them Indians.

Tibetan lives in India on renewable registration certificates issued every five years. Those born here can apply for passports if a parent in India is born between 1950 and 1987 – but they must surrender to testify to do so. Many are hesitant, because they are closely related to their Tibetan identity.

In July, with Dalai Lama turning to 90, thousands of Tibetan Buddhists in Daramashla – a quiet town located in the slopes of the Himalayas in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in northern India. The city is the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)-the Tibetan government in exile.

Even when they were praying for the long life of their leader, many like Mr. Tsundo found themselves reflected in the uncertainty in living in exile.

The emotional weight of displacement, the legal forgetfulness of the lack of nationality and political geography around the Dalai Lama is suspended in Christmas celebrations.

Tibeton continued to migrate to India for decades after 1959, when they fled China’s grip on their homeland.

Duaujo, 85, arrived in Daramashla in 1970 after a seven -day arduous journey via Nepal. He recalls, “We ran at night and hid us during the day.”

With no place to stay in India, he survived living in a 12 -year tent and selling spices in villages near Daramashla. He now lives with his son and wife in a neighborhood that the Tibetans live in largely.

For many like Mr. Sangbo, the flight to India may have provided security – but they are still eager to their homeland.

“The house is a house, after all,” says Pasang Jalboro, who fled Tibet to Nepal before settling in India in 1990.

Five years later, Mr. Jalibo bribed the Nepalese guards and slipped into Tibet to bring his family to India. But the Chinese police chased him shortly after their arrival, forcing him to flee. His family is still in Tibet.

“They are in their homeland, I am on a foreign land. What can I feel but pain?” He asks.

For younger lining like Mr. Tsundi, who were born in India, the pain is more existent.

He says: “The shock to us is not that we lost our land.” “We were not born in Tibet and we have the right to live in Tibet. It is also this great feeling of deprivation that something is very necessary for our lands, culture, and language has been taken away from us.”

Lobsang Yangtso, researcher in Tibet and Himalayan areas, explains that being insecure means that there is no feeling of belonging.

“It is painful,” she says. “I lived all my life here (in India), but I still feel shelter.”

Tibetan in exile are grateful to India for the refuge, but they inherit the lack of rights – they cannot vote or their property or travel easily abroad without an Indian passport.

“We have (an official travel document) offered by the Indian government as an identity certificate,” says Phurbu Dolma. But the airport’s immigration staff do not recognize it often.

Durgi Fonitsuk, born in India in India, indicated that many companies in India often require Indian passports. “Without one, we miss many opportunities.”

In recent years, thousands of Tamitin in India He immigrated To the western countries that use IC, which some countries accept for visa applications.

Many have left a student visas or working in countries like the United States and Canada, or went abroad to take care of religious and humanitarian groups.

Penpa Tsering, head of CTA, believes that the cause is essentially economical. “The dollars and the euro go beyond what is available here,” he says.

But for some like Thupten Wangchuk, 36, who crossed to India when he was eight -year -old, the motivation is more personal.

“For nearly 30 years, I did not meet my father and my relatives. No one is here,” he says. “The only reason I want to go to a western country is that I can become a citizen there. Then I can apply for a visa and go to Tibet to visit my father.”

Some Tibetans admit the need to be practical in view of clouds and geopolitical pressures.

“If you ask any Tabti, they will say they want to return,” says Kunchok Migmar, CTA official. “But at the present time, there is no freedom in Tibet. No one wants to return to beating by the Chinese.”

The latest flash point appeared days before the ninetieth birthday of Dalai Lama. He said that his successor would be chosen by confidence under his office – a step that China rejected, and insisted that he would decide under its law. Beijing described the issue of the caliphate as a “thorn” in its relations with India.

India Official It is that “there is no position regarding the beliefs and practices of faith and religion.” It is worth noting that two senior ministers in the Indian government shared the theater with the Dalai Lama on his birthday.

Dalai Lama advertisement He will have a caliph that brought relief between the two Tibetan. But there is uncertainty about what his death can mean for the Tibetan movement.

“If we prepare ourselves well from now, when his holiness is alive and (if) the future leaders who will continue us to continue the same momentum, I think it should not affect us as much as people think that.”

His optimism has not been shared by all Tamitin.

“Thanks to the current Dalai Lama, we have these opportunities and resources,” says Mr. Fontsuk. He adds that many Tibetans fear that after his death, society may lose the long -term support that they have preserved.

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