Stateless Tibetans in exile in India yearn for id and homeland

[ad_1] Raghvendra Rao BBC Information, Dharamshala

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ac53/live/41942320-6c56-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Sandeep Yadav/BBC Dawa Sangbo with sunglasses sits, wearing a black jacket over a blue striped shirt and holding prayer beads. The wall behind him is covered in colourful rugs. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Sandeep Yadav/BBC Eighty-five-year-old Dawa Sangbo arrived in India from Tibet in 1970

What does it imply to dwell in exile?

"Once we had been in class, our lecturers used to say that there's an 'R' on our brow - which means refugees," says Tibetan writer-activist Tenzin Tsundue.

Mr Tsundue is certainly one of round 70,000 Tibetans residing in India, unfold throughout 35 designated settlements.

In 1959, 1000's of Tibetans fled after a failed rebellion in opposition to Chinese language rule.

Following their non secular chief, the Dalai Lama, they crossed treacherous Himalayan passes and reached India, the place they had been accepted as refugees on humanitarian grounds and due to shared spiritual and cultural ties.

However residing, and even being born, in India does not make them Indians, says Mr Tsundue.

Tibetans in India dwell on renewable registration certificates issued each 5 years. These born right here can apply for passports if a dad or mum was born in India between 1950 and 1987 - however should give up the certificates to take action. Many hesitate, because it's carefully tied to their Tibetan id.

In July, because the Dalai Lama turned 90, 1000's of Tibetan Buddhists gathered in Dharamshala - a quiet city nestled within the foothills of the Himalayas within the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The city serves because the headquarters of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) - the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Whilst they prayed for his or her chief's lengthy life, many like Mr Tsundue discovered themselves reflecting on the uncertainty of residing in exile.

The emotional weight of displacement, the authorized limbo of statelessness and geopolitics across the Dalai Lama hung heavy on the birthday celebrations.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5213/live/3bfdf8e0-6c57-11f0-8986-e507bff11528.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Sandeep Yadav/BBC The Dalai Lama seen on stage with several people as devotees watch. The backdrop has photos of him, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Mother Teresa. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Sandeep Yadav/BBC The Dalai Lama celebrated his ninetieth birthday this month

Tibetans continued migrating to India for many years after 1959, fleeing China's tightening grip on their homeland.

Dawa Sangbo, 85, reached Dharamshala in 1970 after a gruelling seven-day trek by Nepal. "We ran at evening and hid by day," he remembers.

With no place to remain in India, he survived by residing in a tent for 12 years and promoting spices in villages close to Dharamshala. He now lives together with his son and spouse in a neighbourhood largely inhabited by Tibetans.

For a lot of like Mr Sangbo, fleeing to India could have offered safety - however they nonetheless yearn for his or her homeland.

"A house is a house, in any case," says Pasang Gyalpo, who fled Tibet to Nepal earlier than settling in India in 1990.

5 years later, Mr Gyalpo bribed Nepalese guards and slipped into Tibet to carry his household to India. However Chinese language police chased him quickly after arrival, forcing him to flee. His household stays in Tibet.

"They're of their homeland, I'm in a overseas land. What else can I really feel however ache?" he asks.

For youthful Tibetans like Mr Tsunde, who're born in India, the ache is extra existential.

"The trauma for us isn't that we misplaced our land," he says. "It is that we weren't born in Tibet and do not have the precise to dwell in Tibet. It's also this nice sense of deprivation that one thing so very important of our land, tradition, and language has been taken away from us."

Lobsang Yangtso, a researcher on Tibet and Himalayan areas, explains that being stateless means missing a way of belonging.

"It is painful," she says. "I've lived all my life right here [in India] however I nonetheless really feel homeless."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9d85/live/c81115b0-6ca2-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Activist Tenzin Tsundue joins Amnesty International USA, Reporters Without Borders and Committee of 100 for a peaceful protest in favor of freedom in Tibet in Times Square on March 9, 2012 in New York City. He is pictured with sunglasses and a red bandana. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photographs "We weren't born in Tibet and do not have the precise to dwell in Tibet," says Tibetan writer-activist Tenzin Tsundue

Tibetans in exile are grateful to India for refuge however lament their lack of rights - they can't vote, personal property or simply journey overseas with out an Indian passport.

"We have now the IC [an official travel document] which is given by the Indian authorities as an id certificates," says Phurbu Dolma. However airport immigration workers typically do not recognise it.

Dorjee Phuntsok, a Tibetan born in India, identified that many company jobs in India typically require Indian passports. "With out one, we miss out on many alternatives."

Lately, 1000's of Tibetans in India have emigrated to Western international locations utilizing the IC, which some nations settle for for visa purposes.

Many have left on scholar or work visas, resettled in international locations just like the US and Canada, or gone overseas on sponsorships from spiritual and humanitarian teams.

Penpa Tsering, the president of the CTA, believes that the reason being primarily financial. "{Dollars} and euros go additional than what's accessible right here," he says.

However for some like Thupten Wangchuk, 36, who crossed over to India as an eight-year-old, the motivation is extra private.

"For [almost] 30 lengthy years, I have not met my mother and father and kinfolk. I've nobody right here," he says. "The only real cause I wish to go to a Western nation is that I can turn out to be a citizen there. Then I can apply for a visa and go into Tibet to go to my mother and father."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2fff/live/8191e790-6ca2-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images A devotee wearing 'Free Tibet' cap attends the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's prayer ceremony celebrating his 90th birthday at the Main Tibetan Temple in McLeod Ganj, near Dharamsala, on July 6, 2025." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photographs Tibetans in exile are grateful to India for refuge however lament their lack of rights

Some Tibetans acknowledge the should be pragmatic given the geopolitical pulls and pressures.

"For those who ask any Tibetan, they will say they wish to return," says Kunchok Migmar, a CTA official. "However proper now, there isn't a freedom in Tibet. Nobody desires to return simply to be crushed by the Chinese language."

The newest flashpoint emerged days earlier than the Dalai Lama's ninetieth birthday. He mentioned his successor can be chosen by a belief below his workplace - a transfer China rejected, insisting it might determine below its regulation. Beijing known as the succession situation a "thorn" in its ties with India.

India's official stance is that it "doesn't take any place regarding beliefs and practices of religion and faith". Notably, two senior ministers of the Indian authorities shared the stage with Dalai Lama on his birthday.

The Dalai Lama's announcement that he would have a successor introduced reduction amongst Tibetans. However there may be uncertainty over what his dying may imply for the Tibetan motion.

"If we put together ourselves properly from now, when His Holiness is alive and [if] the longer term leaders who will observe us can proceed the identical momentum, then I feel it mustn't have an effect on us as a lot as individuals assume it may," says Mr Tsering.

His optimism isn't shared by all Tibetans.

"It is due to the present Dalai Lama that we've these alternatives and assets," says Mr Phuntsok. He provides many Tibetans concern that after his passing, the neighborhood could lose the long-standing help that has sustained them.