Week 8: Governments-in-exile and A New Criminal Code
Tessa and I were still feeling under the weather at the start of this week. So, Monday saw us working from home, drafting interview questions for our upcoming interview series with local NGOs. These interviews will probe the vast experience these organizations have in navigating the legal status of Tibetans in India. I’m looking forward to hearing varied perspectives on (1) what concrete steps Tibetans can take to best support The Middle Way Approach, (2) why so many young Tibetans are leaving India and the impact this is having on the community here, and (3) how Tibetans-in-exile in India feel their unclear legal status has impacted not just their personal lives but the fight for a free Tibet. Our first interview for this project will be with the president of the international NGO Volunteer Tibetan Advocacy Group, or V-TAG. We’ve already had the good fortune to meet him at our very first visit to the event series at Hope Café & Stories. He was a wonderful conversationalist, and I am excited to have the chance to talk with him again.
We are still waiting to hear back from anyone confirming an interview, likely due to the highly sensitive nature of our research, so other short-term projects occupy our time. One of these smaller projects is an examination of the new Indian Penal Code (IPC), now the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), that the legislature passed in response to growing sentiment that India needs to leave 150-year-old Colonial-era law behind. This new code is meant to be the vanguard of a new legal system by Indians, for Indians. My initial reaction was: “Oh, neat! India is doing their own thing and updating really old laws that probably need it!” But on further exploration, some of these reforms smuggle some worrying precedents into Indian legal codes under the banner of progress. Human rights activists have sounded the alarm over new provisions that extend the length of police custody and the risk that such a change could result in police taking more extra-judicial measures during investigations.
Tuesday, the Tibetan holiday Choekor Duchen, known in English as “Turning the Wheel of Dharma” gave us a day off from work. In observance, many Tibetans businesses also closed for the day. Choekor Duchen is one of the four annual holy days of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. On these four holy days, it is believed that the power of any good action is multiplied by 100 million—this belief stems from the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic. Chokhor Duchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching. It is said that for seven weeks after his enlightenment, the Buddha did not teach, so, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was asked to teach. Accepting, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma for the first time at Sarnath by teaching the four noble truths.
The rest of the week was dedicated to reviewing the literature surrounding other governments-in-exile and stateless peoples. Comparing their experiences to that of Tibetans and the Tibetan government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) can gain great insights into the best ways forward considering their precarious political situations. How these entities are recognized by other nations and how they are treated by their host countries and international parties can shift dramatically in the face of legal reclassification and a changing international geo-political landscape. The closest ongoing Tibetan-analogous situation I found is that of the Sahrawi people, the indigenous people of West Sahara. They’ve been fighting for their traditional lands and their independence for nearly as long as Tibetans (they gained independence from Spain, and fell immediately into war with Morocco)—and the aid of the Algerian government somewhat mirrors the aid the Indian government gives Tibetans. A big difference, though, is that Algeria has directly assisted the Sahrawi people in their fight against Morocco, even going so far as to provide them with weapons. While Tibetans are not looking for military aid, India echoing something like Algeria’s commitment to the Sahrawi government-in-exile as the legitimate government of Western Sahara for the CTA would be a huge step towards Tibetan autonomy. As I researched, I found that India (along with many other UN states) actually recognized the Sahrawi government-in-exile almost 30 years ago. India and a few other countries eventually withdrew their support, but 46 UN states continue to recognize and conduct diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi government-in-exile. From this international strength, Sahrawi people are able to get official documents such as passports and receive aid and international support that Tibetans do not. As we conduct our interviews over the next couple of weeks, we will be looking into whether this recognition is something Tibetans here in McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala would want to see happen.
Next week, I will explore more on the selection process of the next Dalai Lama, and potential repercussions of his eventual passing.