'The Govt. Of Tibet in Exile.'

By Lama Shree N. Singh.

'To be silent in the face of great social evil is to be an accessory to injustice.' Alexander Hescher.

India is a country full of anomalies and paradoxes. The impression given is that the country is a vibrant democracy run in accordance with a written constitution with a fairly modern and working legal system. Ground realities actually indicate otherwise with vested interests almost invariably ruling the day. The following anomaly is the topic of this article.

The XIVth. Taala'i Lama [Dalai Lama], fleeing Chinese occupation had fled Tibet entering India March 31, 1959 where he was given refuge. He was followed subsequently by nearly 100,000 of his compatriots all of whom were allowed to enter the country and later settled in various Tibetan camps spread throughout the land. The trickle of refugees continues, none of whom has ever been denied asylum. Through the magnanimity of the peoples of India , Tibetans are now well-established in this country. It is a credit to their grit and hard work that they have been able to go beyond the sub-human conditions in which they had lived in the early sixties. The Indian environment has enabled these Tibetans to retrieve their very humanness lost during the diaspora.

Pt. Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India , had permitted the Taala'i Lama to set up an administration to take care only of the welfare of Tibetan refugees with the proviso that he would not engage in politics. This much is within the framework of the Indian Constitution. Strictly speaking such an organisation would have to function within the ambit of The Indian Trust Act of 1882 or The Indian Socieities Registration Act of 1860. It is not known to this writer as to what charitable trusts and societies have been legally established by the Taala'i Lama to take care of his Tibetan compatriots.

It has transpired since, that the Taala'i Lama has obviously over-stepped the mandate granted him by the Govt. of India, by establishing a so-called Govt. of Tibet in Exile. It is important to understand here that the Taala'i Lama is known universally as Tibet 's Spiritual Leader. Not a single country including India , has ever formally recognised him of being the deposed head of state. Neither has the UNO extended to him any privilege commensurate to such a presumed status. This so-called Govt. in Exile is none other than a continuation of the Govt. of Tibet, known as the De-war Zhung, which had existed in Tibet 1642C.E. to March 1959. The Taala'i Lama now flies his 'national' flag at his residence in Dharamsala, H.P. and is honoured as the 'head of state'. This flag is also hoisted in front of the said Govt. offices. The Taala'i Lama has an appointed Cabinet of Ministers, the Kashag, of this said govt. He runs a Central Tibetan Administration which is similar to the national bureaucracy. Besides, they have formulated a Constitution of Tibet on the basis of which a Tibetan parliament, the Assembly of the Peoples' Deputies is elected by the Tibetan expatriates. The Taala'i Lama is projected as an extra-juridical person, one who is beyond the purview of the law and a law unto himself, in the above exercise. The Govt. of India moreover, spends the colossal sum of Rs. 60 crores per year on the maintenance of the Taala'i Lama in variegated ways, including his personal security. The amounts spent by the Govt. of Himachal Pradesh and other state govts. can only be surmised.

The propriety of the above needs to be examined. There is no provision in the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of India which provides for any of the above. This writer has not been able to ascertain the existence of any Govt. of Tibet Act which would permit the Taala'i Lama to run a parallel govt. in this country. It can only be stated definitively that successive govts. at the centre have purposely turned a blind eye to the above illegal excesses for reasons best known to them. There is also no allocation in the annual budget for the expenditure incurred on the Taala'i Lama by the central or state govts.

Had the Taala'i Lama and his so-called govt. in exile, acted in consonance with the interests of India , their host country, the above could have been overlooked. However, one keeps on coming across evidence of an ingrained hatred amongst Tibetans towards their Indian hosts, in contrast with gratitude, not to mention, of course, various conspiracies in which the Nobel Peace Laureate is directly involved, aimed at destabilising the country. In an interview broadcast on the TVI channel a few months ago, one Tibetan was shown as saying that he would rather beg in Tibet than live in India. With such intense emotions rampant amongst many refugees, it would be far better if they returned to their homeland rather than stay on in India. It is evident that the Taala'i Lama and other Lamas have failed to inculcate a sense of gratitude amongst Tibetans for what India has done for them while enjoying the privileges granted them by the country.

The controversy surrounding the Taala'i Lama's meddlesomeness in the selection of His Holiness the XVIIth. Gyalwang Karmapa of Sikkim, is an outstanding example of his political acumen, or the lack of it. Glimpses of this have already been printed in earlier issues of Yug Udbodhana.

It is also commonly known that many Tibetans in India engage in highly dubious business activities protected by this so-called Govt. of Tibet in Exile and its godfathers in the Indian polity. The flesh-trade, smuggling of contraband -- drugs, antiques, animal products, foreign exchange -- the list is endless. Moreover, thousands of these Tibetan refugees have purchased 'tribal certificates' in the himalayan regions and now qualify as Indian citizens in spite of their documented Tibetan refugee ancestry. The Taala'i Lama and his wondrous govt. know all about this, but do absolutely nothing to prevent any of the above perfidy even though they have all the documentation and relevant information in their possession to do so. When Pt. Nehru had offered the Taala'i Lama the option of the grant of Indian citizenship to Tibetan refugees, he had politely turned it down.

Given the above, it has become necessary for Indians to question the source from which the Taala'i Lama draws sanction to run this Govt. of Tibet in Exile, fly his national flag and use the seals of this defunct govt. operating out of India. The authorisation of expenses on the Taala'i Lama incurred by various govts. also needs to be examined.

On the one hand the armed forces are engaged in flushing out the enemy from Kargil, risking their lives, making the supreme sacrifice to save the country from foreign invasions. Yet, on the other hand, we have this unseen enemy linked with the powerful nations of the world, gnawing away at the national security interests of this country, ready to hand over Sikkim to China whilst unquestionably enjoying the hospitality of this country!

Clearly the Buddhism the Taala'i Lama preaches does not emerge from his heart!

Iti shubham! July 5, 1999.