Author: Gurmukh Singh
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 25, 2001
Forty years on, the agony of the
more than 130,000-strong Tibetan exiled community is still piling on as
more than 2,500 new refugees flee to India every year "to escape the ever-tightening
grip of the Chinese."
Of these, about 400 are young students
seeking education opportunities in India, says Tenzin Cheoky Dralnang of
the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
"Last year, we had 2,319 refugees
joining us. Among these were 397 minors who walked for days to reach here.
Some came directly and others came via Nepal."
And every young refugee has heart-rending
tales of woe to tell. On the way, they get shot by the Chinese. Many succumb
to frostbites. Others die of exhaustion. "Cases of molestation and rape
are very many each year," says Ms Dralnang.
Says 10-year-old Dolma, who reached
Dharamshala in August, "My poor parents in Amdo paid a (Tibetan) traveller
to get me across the border into India so that I could get a good education.
We went through a terrible ordeal on the way. We spent days without food
or water. The Chinese are denying us formal education. There I was taught
Chinese, English and Maths. We walked for days to Nepal where I was taken
to the Tibetan reception centre which then arranged my trip to Delhi."
Narrating the stories of Chinese
terror in Tibetan territory, another student, Shui (13), said, "The Chinese
asked my parents not to keep the picture of the Dalai Lama. There is always
a scare when the Chinese come to search your house. We are being decimated
culturally and educationally." She says she would go back to Tibet once
her education is over. "I want to teach my brothers and sisters to fight
for our cultural survival." Most of the students, who are lodged at Tibetan
Children's Village school, say they stay in touch with their parents through
messengers who shuttle across the border on the sly.
Richin, a 10-year-old girl, says,
"Back home, the Chinese tell us not to do mantras. They teach us to call
His Holiness the Dalai Lama a splittist."
Thirteen-year-old Tin, who came
to India with a group of 12 young students, says, "It took us 20 days to
reach Dharamshala. Luckily, all of us survived the elements and frostbites.
I am determined to go back after finishing my studies. It is a battle for
our cultural survival."
Tin's elder brother had English
education in south India. He went back to serve as a tourist guide in Lhasa.
"His success persuaded my parents to take the risk of sending me to India.
The path is littered with risk." Still, more and more Tibetans are courting
the risk for a better life outside the lost kingdom.
