Right to vote in India divides the Tibetan refugees

Following the Indian Election Commission (EC) verdict of 2014, 48,000 Tibetan refugees living in India became citizens overnight. Instead of bringing joy to the community, this EC verdict ended up dividing them.

The verdict came at the time of the 2014 General Elections. The Election Commission, asked the electoral officers in all the states to include the children of Tibetan refugees aged above 18 in the electoral lists. The EC move came in the wake of the August 2013 Karnataka High Court order which said “they are (the) citizens of the country.” It was based on the Indian Citizenship Act 1955, according to which Tibetan refugees born in India between 1950 and 1987 were citizens of the country.

The ‘right to vote’ meant that the children of Tibetan refugees could now own land, apply for government jobs and were free to travel anywhere in India without a permit. Not many Tibetans fancied these privileges. Only a minuscule population argued in favour of the voting right. The rest stood against it.

This is not the only problem that is facing the Tibetans today. Tibetans have been living in exile since their persecution in the 1950s. They are scattered across the world map with the largest population living in India. They have been fighting for a free Tibet from wherever they live. But this right to vote in India allowing them to become Indian citizens, according to the Tibetan activists, poses a threat to their Free Tibet Movement.

Even after years of struggle what would happen to the Tibetans? Do they stand divided amongst the lot who don’t want citizenship and those who want it? Is the Free Tibet Movement really under threat? After more than 50 years of exile, what is more important for the Tibetan refugees? Suffrage or their Tibetan Identity? WTN