Case of Tibetan Immigrants Staying in Nainital, Uttarakhand (India) Dr.Vikram Vir Bharti
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 11, Issue 12, December-2020 964 ISSN 2229-5518 Tibetan Outlook towards China’s Maneuver over Tibet: Case of Tibetan immigrants staying in Nainital, Uttarakhand (India) Dr.Vikram Vir Bharti Abstract— The very research paper is focused to make a query and search about the outlook of the Tibetan staying in India, regarding China’s regime in Tibet. The universe selected for the study encompass, Tibetan staying in Nainital, which is a mountainous town and district headquarters of Uttarakhand state of India. The study tends to trace the present status and mind-set of the Tibetan staying outside their homeland, Tibet. The paper raises a few crucial questions regarding the fate of the Tibetan staying outside Tibet. “Are they happy to be Indian now? If yes! Then what answer does India have to them and also to China?” Index Terms— Tibet, Tibetan, India, China, Homeland, Immigrants, Citizenship, Outlook, Future. —————————— —————————— 1 INTRODUCTION IBET for long haunted by the Chinese, and the progres- As the Tibetan philosophy guides its true Tibetan to follow T sion of Chinese occupation still prevails (Sperling, 2004). the saying and footsteps of his holiness the Dalai Lama. The Once known as ‘Forbidden Kingdom’, now no longer is a hid- Geographical location, proximity, and cordial gesture of India, den territory for the outside world. The Chinese started its sway suited Tibetan immigrants. The two-point system, i.e. following over Tibet, long back in 1950s, when the People’s Liberation the religious Guru, and the common Himalayan Geography of Army (PLA) invaded Tibet and defeated the Tibetan Army at the hill districts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chamdo. However, as per China’s narrative, there is evidences Arunachal Pradesh, and hill districts of Bengal, became a sec- from the Chinese ancient text which refers Tibet as a part of ond home for Tibetan outside Tibet. China or rather to say they never regarded Tibet as a country China always overrules claims of Tibet as a nation, and (Jinpa, 2016). At times, call it the land of feudal, poverty, and showcase it as the Western interpretation of ethnic relations of starvation. The history of resistance is long backed, but ‘The China created by Western colonialists more than 100 years ago, Rolling Wheels of Monks’, could not withstand the barbaric which depicted Tibet, not as part of China in history (CGTN, assaults of Chinese in Tibet. 2019). As per the official Chinese propaganda, ‘Tibet Move- Long back in the year 1959, on 17th March, his holiness The ment’, is branded as a “splittist movement” backed by “Western Dalai Lama, fourteenth RinpocheIJSER had to escape from Lhasa imperialist forces,” and its supporters are consistently referred (Gupta & Ramachandran, 2012) and seek asylum in a sleepy to as “hostile Western forces” (CTA, 2020). town of Dhramshala, Himanchal Pradesh, India. It also resulted Since 1950s China enforce its claim on Tibet, and to accom- in the mass influx of Tibetan refugees into India that continues plish its ambitious motive, China changed the cartography of until today (Artiles, 2012). Decades witnessed the injustice done the actual boundaries of Tibet before occupation by China. In to the innocent Tibetan at home by Chinese. The two big giants this line, China divided the very region of which some areas of Asia- India, and China, have their own justification for their became the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and others were actions and procedures. However, being sandwiched between, incorporated into neighboring Chinese provinces (BBC NEWS, Tibet and the fate of many Tibetans. Tibet always did and still 2019) (Mahalingam, 2014), as shown in fig 1, map no. 3. Histor- resist the Chinese occupation of Tibetan territory. But, China ically, Tibet had its identity as a country (fig 1, map no.1), and amongst one of the fastest-growing power in the world, hardly was originally divided into three provinces, namely U-Tsang, had to face consequence from the other parts of the world and Amdo and Kham, as showcased in fig 1, map no. 2. Now, what specifically from the so-called International organization which we see or made to see and believe is Chinese administrative work for peace. Even in times, America and Great Britain too prefectures, which are divided and engulfed by the Chinese handled the situation diplomatically; when they could handout regime. Tibet for its freedom. Abandoned was the innocent Tibetan, left The matter of fact is, initially before Chinese occupation, Ti- with no choice but to flee outside homeland and seek shelter in bet had its own flag (See fig 2), Tibetan National Anthem called other countries more specifically, India. Gyaloo, Currency called Ngul, Tibetan Constitution, Postal Stamp, Tibetan Passport system, etc. Even the treaty which was ———————————————— signed in March 1914 during Shimla Convention was between Dr.Vikram Vir Bharti (Assistant Professor), Department of Tourism Stud- Tibetan Authorities and British India, and laid down the foun- ies, Government Degree College Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India, PH- dation of McMahon Line after British colonial administrator Sir 07830366032. E-mail: [email protected] Henry McMahon, (see fig 3). However, being the third patron of the Shimla Convention, the then Chinese authorities did not sign the Convention because they had objections about Article IJSER © 2020 http://www.ijser.org International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 11, Issue 12, December-2020 965 ISSN 2229-5518 9, which laid down the boundaries between Inner and Outer Tibet. With it, the Chinese for long did not raised any objections regarding any other issues of the rest of the Articles of the Con- vention, including the McMahon Line (Kalha, 2014) (Mahalin- gam, 2014). Nonetheless, by 23 January 1959, the than President of China, Zhou made the following comments to, the than Prime Minister of India, J.L.Nehru, stating that, the treaty was not signed between the Governments of China and India. The McMahon Line was a product of the British policy of aggression against the Tibetan Region of China. Tibet local authorities did signed the very treaty, but the Government of China is not satis- fied with the ‘unilaterally drawn’ line. He also made the state- ment regarding the maps, stating it, signed before the conven- tion, and was formulated behind the back of the Chinese pleni- Fig. 2. Depicting Tibet National Flag potentiary (Kalha, 2014). Source: - (CTA, 2020) FIGURE No.1 IJSER MAP No.1:- Location of Tibet in Asia Fig. 1. Map. 1:- Location of Tibet in Asia MAP No.2:- Actual map of Tibet (Historical Tibet showing the original three regions) Map. 2:- Actual map of Tibet (Historical Tibet showing the original threeMAP regions) No.3:- China occupied Tibet (Chinese administrative prefectures) Fig. 3. Depicting Document supporting Tibet – British India Agree- MapSource:.3:- -China (Free Tibet, occupied 2015) [Modified] Tibet (Chinese administrative prefectures) ment March 1914 Source: - (Oberoi, 2020) Source : - (Free Tibet, 2015) [Modified] IJSER © 2020 http://www.ijser.org International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 11, Issue 12, December-2020 966 ISSN 2229-5518 TABLE 1 Questionnaire comprising of both close and open-end ques- CHINA AND TIBET NARRATIVE ABOUT TIBET ISSUE tions has been designed. In-depth interviews of elderly Tibet- ans of Nainital, has been conducted to get deep understanding and viewpoint of the Tibetan staying in India. ELEMENT CHINA TIBET Non-probability sampling method has been involved in the study, specifically convenient sampling is adopted. The total -Tibet as a Tibet is Autono- Tibet is forcefully annexed sample size is 150 (Comprising both male and female re- country mous Region of by China spondents) out of the total Tibetan population staying in Nain- China ital, which is 209. -Sovereignty Tibet’s sovereignty Tibet was a free nation but The medium of the questionnaire selected is English. In some belongs to China forcefully colonized by the cases, help from the Tibetan having equal knowledge of Eng- past many centu- alien rule of China lish and Tibetan is approached to avoid misunderstanding of ries the concept of the question asked. To comprehend the Tibet issue more deeply, the author also -Human China denies 1.2 million people were made a field trip to McLeod Ganj, Dhramsala, which is the Rights Viola- killed under Chinese rule headquarter of the Tibetan government-in-exile. During the tion same period, the author also attended Students for Free Tibet (SFT, India National Network) workshop, for a better empa- -Religion and China is reviving China forcefully subduing thetic approach to the very issue of Tibet and to know what Culture Tibetan religion rich Tibet cultural heritage Tibetan youth think and approach with the Tibet movement. and culture and religion The author also met higher authorities of Tibetan government- -Development China claims to Chinese development in in-exile and its various office-in-charges including the Prime uplift Tibet’s econ- Tibet majorly benefited the Minister, Shri. Lobsang Sangay (Kalon Tripa), head of the Cen- omy and livelihood Han Chinese immigrants. tral Tibetan Administration (CTA, Tibetan government-in- exile). The comparative reviewing of the Tibet issue, China and Tibet have divergent views, as represented. 4 BACKGROUND OF TIBET AND ITS FALL & STRUGGLE 4.1 Tibet’s Fall and Struggle Source: - (BBC NEWS, 2019) Gangchen, i.e. Land of snow, Forbidden City, Roof of the World were some of the synonyms used for the beautiful 2 OBJECTIVES country (Is it?) TIBET. Lies at an average altitude of 4000m, The paper seeks to find a basic point of view and mind-set of Comprises of the unique geography, and immense mineral the Tibetan staying outside Tibet, here the case of Tibetan resources. The snow-clad mountains of Tibet are a mother to IJSERsome of the major river system of Asia.