Week 5: Already Halfway
This week monsoon season finally began in earnest, bringing the temps down to the 80s and giving us a much-needed reprieve from the heat while Tessa and I began reading for our next research project: the legal status of Tibetans-in-exile in India. Tessa and I had hoped to accompany Yargyal and Tenzin to a legal awareness workshop in Dehradun—the capital of the state of Uttarakhand, nestled in the Himalayan foothills—but as the workshop would only be conducted in Tibetan, we would have been no help at all. So, we ended up reveling in the smog-clearing rain and smog’s prettier twin—fog—from some of our favorite cafés here in McLeod Ganj instead. As beautiful as the mountains are, there’s something enchanting about looking over the valley from the rooftop of Dakini House and being taken in by the sight of fog so thick that even the Tibetan prayer flags flying over the patio below have disappeared.
Tibetan prayer flags come in five colors – blue for the sky and space, white for the air and wind, red for fire, green for water, and yellow for earth – and are traditionally woodblock-printed. The fluttering of the flags in the wind sends out the prayers inscribed on them, spreading health and harmony, good will, and compassion...as I understand it. Many of the traditional designs of these flags were likely lost during the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong after China’s annexation of Tibet in 1951 (occupation began in 1949). This occupation and subsequent annexation is where Tessa and I’s reading for the week began.
China invaded and took control of Tibet in 1949, calling the violent event Tibet’s return to the “Motherland”, a fictitious claim marking the beginning of a rigorous campaign of disinformation that continues today. Ten years later, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was suspiciously invited to visit the People’s Liberation Army barracks alone...and so began the immigration of Tibetans following His Holiness into exile in India.
Since the largest wave of immigration of Tibetans into India in 1959, India’s policy towards Tibetans has remained largely the same. Though Tibetans are refugees under international law, India has not signed the U.N. Refugee Convention. So, His Holiness is still referred to as an “honored guest” and Tibetans remain in India under an ambiguous and highly restrictive legal status—“foreigners”—that prevents any feeling of security and leaves Tibetans vulnerable to changes in political will. While India has been a more than gracious host and Tibetans’ gratitude for their lives here is palpable in the community, Tibetans in India are restricted in the exercise of their right to own property, right to work, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. In some states, Tibetans, as “foreigners”, cannot open a bank account, hold a driver’s license, or operate certain types of businesses. Further, Tibetans can be stopped in the street without cause by an officer and asked to present their registration papers, which can only be acquired in the U.N. Refugee Reception Center in Kathmandu after the harrowing trek through the Himalayas. Failure to present acceptable registration papers can result in a fine, imprisonment, or even deportation to Tibet (which means imprisonment and torture). Take a moment and imagine the impact that these restrictions would have on your own life, and you will begin to have a (modest) understanding of why the fight for a free Tibet lives on.
In a serendipitous turn of events, the week we began researching Tibetan statelessness U.S. Congress passed the “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act”, or the “Resolve Tibet Act”, recognizing Tibet as separate from China and requiring that U.S. government offices and statements counter disinformation about Tibet by China’s government, sending a clear message of support for Tibet. With the passing of this Act came the visit of a U.S. delegation here, to McLeod Ganj, to visit His Holiness and show support for the Tibetan cause. While there remains uncertainty about if and how this Act will materially influence the fight for a free Tibet, it is a huge symbolic step in the right direction and hopefully will serve as a catalyst for even greater change.
Next week, Tessa and I will continue to edit our recommendations for the CTA on the implementation of the POCSO Act in the Tibetan community here and dive deeper into the history of Tibet and Indo-Sino and Tibetan-Indo relations today.