CHAPTER TWO: Tibetans in Exile

Many people wonder: Why are there Tibetans living in India and other countries ?, What happened to their country? How many Tibetans live in India? What are the living conditions of Tibetans in India? and, What is their legal status? This chapter will address these questions and will provide some understanding of the situation in which the Tibetanization Program is being implemented.

Chinese Occupation of Tibet

After the failure of the Tibetan National Uprising against the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama and about 80,000 Tibetans sought political asylum in India (Avedon, 1984; Dalai Lama, 1983). Now, there are about 130,000 Tibetans in exile the majority of whom live in India (100,000) Nepal (15,000 and other countries (15,000) (Planning Council, 1992). Tibetans in India

The population of over 100,000 Tibetans in India are spread throughout the country; the majority live in some 54 Tibetan settlements and others in scattered communities (Planning Council, 1992). Most of these settlements are located in south India, but are closely connected to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the headquarter of which is based at Dharamsala, located in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Demographics

According to 1992 report of CTA, about 70,000 (54%) of the total population of Tibetans in exile live in settlements, and the rest in scattered communities. Out of these, more than 30,000 (23%) percent of the total population are school going children and about 7,600 (4%) of the total population are monks and nuns who study and live in about 189 monastic institutions ((Integrated Development Plan, 1992).

Legal Status

When the Tibetans first came to India in 1959, the government of India provided them with generous humanitarian assistance to enable the Tibetans to resettle and re-establish themselves, so that they could return to Tibet when problems with the Chinese government are resolved (Shrimali, 1984). After 40 years in exile, the Dalai Lama and the displaced Tibetan community in India have not been able to return to their homeland, and negotiations with China in this regard are at a virtual standstill.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama himself and most Tibetans in India have chosen to remain stateless (de Voe, 1987). The Tibetans could acquire Indian citizenship according to Article 5 of the Indian Constitution, which says: At the commencement of this Constitution, every person who has his domicile in the territory of India - (a) who was born in the territory of India; or (b) either of whose parents was born in the territory of India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding such commencement, shall be a citizen of India. (Government of India, 1984, pp. 4-5)

The government of India does not recognize Tibet as an independent nation but Tibetans in India claim their Tibetan citizenship. The choice of Tibetans to remain stateless is based on Article 9 of the Constitution of India which says " No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of article 5, . . . if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State (Government of India, 1984, pp. 4-5) "

Tibetans in India are bounded by Indian law, but do not have any legal rights to voting, property ownership, etc., because they are not Indian citizens. The Tibetans in India, therefore, has limited opportunity to participate in affecting change in the policies that govern their lives, in some matters.

Indian Government's Policy on Tibetans

The Indian government's policy on the Tibetans has not changed much since the Tibetans first came to India (1959). The government of India officially does not recognize the Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala as a legitimate Tibetan government-in-exile, but it does not object to its existence and function as the representative of the Tibetan communities in India.

There have been, however, some signs of change in the Indian government's policy on Tibetans. For example, since 1975 the Indian government began to charge for education of Tibetan children on the basis that these children were born in India and that they could not be considered refugees (Narayan, 1984; Shrimali, 1984)

Economic Condition

The CTA in Dharamsala mainly functions through Individual voluntary donations, contributions from business enterprises from the Tibetans in exile (Department of Information and International Relations, 1992). It also receives assistance from the Indian government, US government, many individuals and non-governmental organizations throughout the world for its programs and projects for rehabilitation of Tibetans in India and recent arrivals from Tibet. In 1992 the annual per capita income of the Tibetan community in India was estimated at U.S. $200. It was estimated that approximately half of the total population in exile engaged in economically productive work. *About 30 percent of the population were engaged in farming, 15 percent in services, 30 percent in various kinds of trades (including selling woolen garments), 8 percent in carpet weaving, 4 percent in animal husbandry, and the remainder in other occupations (Planning Council, 1994)

Although a large portion of the Tibetans were initially settled in agricultural settlements, an increasing number of them are doing part-time farming, spending much of their time doing small businesses (Tsering, 1990). Many are financially successful, but remain marginal and unthreatening to most local Indians (de Voe, 1987, p. 57).

Tibetans in Other Countries

The 130,000 Tibetans in exile currently reside in 33 countries outside Tibet. Including Tibetans in Tibet, the total population of Tibetans is 6.207 million (Department of Information and International Relations, 1992, p. 44). Until recently, there were about 500 Tibetans in the United States. But with the enactment of the Tibetan Immigration Act of 1990 (H.R.3705), 1,000 Tibetan families from India and Nepal have been resettled throughout the United States and with their family reunification program there are now over 5,000 Tibetan in the U.S (Tibet Fund, Newsletter, 1998)

Chapter Summary

There are about 130,000 Tibetans outside Tibet who live in 33 different countries. Approximately 100,000 Tibetans live in India. About 54 percent of them live in about 54 agro-business settlements throughout India. Tibetans in India do not have same legal rights as the Indian citizens because they choose to remain stateless. Most Tibetans in India are engaged in economically productive work and they support the Tibetan Administration through their voluntary donations. The Tibetans in India are, however, still highly dependent on financial help from outside their community. Next, we look at how Tibetan schools in India began and how they function now.