To vote or not to vote: Tibetans in Himachal Pradesh divided

36-year-old Tenzin Daden says that he’s making a list of pros and cons. The parameters are roads, electricity and water supply. The McLeodganj resident, who runs a shop on the road that leads to Bhagsu Nag, says that as excited as he is for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, this is the first time he’s realised how serious it is.

Daden is one of the 1,400-odd Tibetans who can exercise their voting rights for the first time in an Assembly election in India, a place they call home. “Tibetans are starting on a clean slate on exercising their franchise for civic rights, unlike some of my Indian friends, who are sworn to different parties,” says Daden. He says that the dilapidated road where his shop is situated was a serious concern, but it has been repaired with months to spare for the elections, and the water and electricity is running smooth, too.

As per Indian rules, Tibetans born here between 1950 and 1987 are naturalised Indian citizens and have voting rights. Tibetans have earlier voted in the general elections in 2014 after the Election Commission stated during that year that Tibetans born between 1950 and 1987 be included in the list of naturalised citizens -- non-Indians born in India. These include over 72,000 Tibetans. Data from the Tibetan government in exile states that over 1,400 Tibetans in the state have voting rights, with over 40 of them acquiring Indian citizenship. Over 50 Tibetans have registered this year to be able to vote during this election.

In all there are over 1.2 lakh Tibetans across the country. Parts of Kangra and Mandi districts in Hmachal Pradesh and Bylakuppe in Karnataka have Tibetans in large numbers. Dharamshala is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, and it is here that the Dalai Lama stays.

Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, deputy speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, says that the voting right is part of India’s policy and so his government has not much say on the matter. “It is an individual choice, and the government has not much to say on it. We believe that voting rights will not make anyone Indian, a Tibetan has Tibet in his blood,” says Phuntsok.

Activist and poet Tenzin Tsundue, however, differs. He believes that Tibetans should not lose track of the struggle and not think of settling down. He has been campaigning among Tibetan settlements to ask people to not take up voting rights in India.

He says that Tibetans are an insignificant number now and they are scattered across the country; so, they are not a formidable electoral force. He says that Tibetans are not registering to be part of the Indian electoral process, but to acquire a card apart from the Registration Certificate given by the Foreigners Registration offices of the Indian government which need to be renewed every year.

“They are simply looking at making their lives easier, so that they are not questioned at railway stations, immigration counters and other Indian offices where many do not know how an RC works,” says Tsundue. “As Tibetans, we came to India in 1959-1960 with a hope to return, not to settle and fight for local rights.”

He says that while Tibetans in other countries like USA, Australia etc. have voting rights, those countries, unlike India allow for dual citizenship. And, with an Indian voter’s ID they could lose the moral and legal right over a Tibetan citizenship.

However, 49-year-old Dharamshala resident Thinley Jampa dismisses the concern. “I see this as a way of coming closer to my Indian brothers and sisters, and of telling them of the Chinese occupation of Tibet,” says Jampa. Duden agrees. “The voter’s ID is just a piece of paper; we are Tibetans and nothing will stop us from being that,” he said.