Tibetan refugees in India

Topic: India, a Home to Many: Diasporas and Refuge · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 5 "India, a Home to Many"

Meaning

Tibetan refugees in India are the Tibetans who fled to India with the 14th Dalai Lama after the failed 1959 Lhasa uprising against Chinese rule. India gave them asylum, schools and planned settlements, where they keep their language, religion and culture alive [4].

• They show that refuge can also be a cultural exchange. India gave Buddhism to Tibet long ago. Tibetan exiles have now brought that learning, and their medicine, Sowa Rigpa, back into Indian life.

Explanation

Background: the old Buddhist link between India and Tibet

• Tibet is called the 'Land of Snows'. It lies north of India, across the Himalaya.
• 7th century CE: Tibet's king accepted the Buddha's teachings, and Tibet became a centre of Buddhism.

• So ideas first travelled from India to Tibet.

• 12th–13th centuries: Turko-Afghan invasions in eastern India destroyed Nalanda and other Buddhist centres of learning. These were large monastery-universities where monks studied and copied texts.

• Many monks fled to Tibet and took precious Sanskrit manuscripts with them.

• Texts that were lost in India survived in Tibet, often in Tibetan translation.

• The Dalai Lamas:

• From the 15th century they became the spiritual heads of Tibetan Buddhism.
• Each Dalai Lama is believed to be the reincarnation (rebirth) of the one before him.
• From the mid-17th century they were also Tibet's rulers, so one person was both religious head and political head.

The Chinese takeover and the flight of 1959

• From 1950: the People's Republic of China overran Tibet in several waves. In the end it annexed Tibet (took it over completely).
• 10 March 1959: a popular uprising began in Lhasa, then Tibet's religious and administrative capital [4].
• Rumours spread that Chinese authorities planned to seize the Dalai Lama.

• Crowds surrounded his summer palace to protect him [4].

• 17 March 1959 (night): the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, slipped out in disguise [4].

• He crossed the Himalaya on foot and on horseback with a small escort [4].
• 31 March 1959: he reached India, and the Indian government offered asylum [4].
• Tens of thousands of Tibetans followed him into exile [4].
• 1960: the government-in-exile was set up at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, a former British hill station [4].

• It works as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

• The Dalai Lama has stayed in India ever since as an 'honoured guest'.

Rehabilitation and cultural survival in India

• Schools: the Indian government educated refugee children.
• Settlements: India helped set up Tibetan settlements, planned villages with land, schools and workshops.
• Monasteries: many were built on the pattern of the Tibetan originals, so that monastic learning could go on.

• This is strongest in Karnataka, for example at Bylakuppe.

• Livelihoods: NGOs helped with handicrafts, carpet weaving, farming and trade.

• Who handles it today: the Rehabilitation Wing of the Ministry of Home Affairs looks after relief and rehabilitation. It also issues protected area permits (special entry passes) for visits to Tibetan settlements [5].
• Written policy: the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 is the Government of India's policy document for these settlements [5].
• Over time, Tibetan refugees have become part of Indian society.

Results: the Four Commitments and Sowa Rigpa

• The Dalai Lama's Four Commitments: 1. Human values: compassion, forgiveness and tolerance. 2. Religious harmony: respect between faiths. 3. Preserving Tibetan culture: language, texts, monastic learning and medicine. 4. Reviving India's civilisational heritage, especially karuna (compassion) and ahimsa (non-violence).

• Look at the direction of the fourth commitment. Tibet once received Buddhism from India. Now it helps India recover its own old values.

• Sowa Rigpa, the 'Art of Healing': this is the Tibetan system of medicine.

• It was codified in the 8th century CE by a medical council held near Lhasa. Codified means it was written down as one agreed system.
• It blends Ayurveda with ideas from China, Central Asia, Persia and even Greece.
• It is popular across the Himalayan belt, including Nepal and Bhutan. It is also practised in the Tibetan areas of China, Mongolia and Russia, and now in Europe and North America [3].
• The refugees spread it in India soon after 1959.
• Men-Tsee-Khang, Dharamshala practises it and runs a Sowa-Rigpa Medical College & Hospital there [2].
• It is the 'S' in AYUSH along with Siddha: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Sowa Rigpa, Homoeopathy.
• The Union Cabinet approved a National Institute of Sowa Rigpa (NISR) at Leh. It is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of AYUSH, for teaching and research [3].

Time, place and evidence

• Long background: 7th century CE (Buddhism reaches Tibet), 8th century CE (Sowa Rigpa codified), 12th–13th centuries (Nalanda monks flee to Tibet), 15th century (Dalai Lamas become spiritual heads), mid-17th century (Dalai Lamas become rulers).
• Core event: 1950 onward (Chinese takeover) → 10 March 1959 (Lhasa uprising) → 17 March 1959 (escape) → 31 March 1959 (arrival in India) → 1960 (government-in-exile at Dharamshala) [4].
• Key places:
• Lhasa: capital of Tibet and site of the uprising.
• Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh: home of the Dalai Lama, the CTA and Men-Tsee-Khang.
• Bylakuppe, Karnataka: the largest cluster of Tibetan monastic settlements.

• Leh: site of the National Institute of Sowa Rigpa.

• Key people: the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), the line of Dalai Lamas, and the Nalanda monks who carried manuscripts to Tibet.

• How we know:
• NCERT Class 7, Ch 5 "India, a Home to Many".
• Biographical accounts of the 14th Dalai Lama [4].
• Official records: Ministry of Home Affairs pages on the Rehabilitation Wing and the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 [5], and Press Information Bureau (PIB) releases on Sowa Rigpa, Men-Tsee-Khang and the NISR [2] [3].
• Old manuscripts: Sanskrit and Tibetan copies of Indian Buddhist texts kept in Tibet.

Don't confuse with

• Dharamshala vs Bylakuppe: Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) is the political and administrative centre, with the Dalai Lama, the CTA and Men-Tsee-Khang. Bylakuppe (Karnataka) is the biggest settlement of rebuilt monasteries.
• Men-Tsee-Khang vs National Institute of Sowa Rigpa: Men-Tsee-Khang is at Dharamshala [2]. The NISR is at Leh, under the Ministry of AYUSH [3].
• Sowa Rigpa vs Siddha: both begin with 'S' in AYUSH. Sowa Rigpa is the Tibetan system, codified near Lhasa in the 8th century CE. Siddha is a separate Indian system.
• Chinese takeover (from 1950) vs Lhasa uprising (1959): the takeover began in 1950. The uprising and the Dalai Lama's flight came in 1959 [4]. Do not date the flight to 1950.

Prelims Hooks

• Lhasa uprising: 10 March 1959. Dalai Lama reaches India: 31 March 1959 [4].
• Government-in-exile / CTA: set up in 1960 at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh [4].
• Sowa Rigpa = 'Art of Healing'. It is part of AYUSH and was codified by a medical council near Lhasa in the 8th century CE.
• Men-Tsee-Khang: Dharamshala [2]. NISR: Leh, Ministry of AYUSH [3].
• Ministry in charge: the Rehabilitation Wing, Ministry of Home Affairs, not the Ministry of External Affairs. Its policy document is the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 [5].
• Chronology: Buddhism reaches Tibet (7th c.) → Sowa Rigpa codified (8th c.) → Nalanda monks flee to Tibet (12th–13th c.) → Dalai Lamas as spiritual heads (15th c.) → Dalai Lamas as rulers (mid-17th c.).

Mains Points

• Exchange in both directions, not one-way refuge:
• India gave Buddhism to Tibet in the 7th century.
• Tibet saved Indian Sanskrit texts after Nalanda was destroyed.
• Tibetan exiles brought that learning back to India after 1959.

• Use this to argue that diaspora and refuge carry culture across borders. They are not only humanitarian events.

• Refuge through administration, not law: India has no national refugee law and is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Even so, it gave the Tibetans land, schools, rebuilt monasteries and later the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 [5]. This shows India's practical, case-by-case way of giving asylum.

• Culture survives through institutions: exile communities last by rebuilding their institutions, not only by keeping memories.
• Monasteries rebuilt on Tibetan patterns at Bylakuppe keep monastic learning going.
• Sowa Rigpa's place in AYUSH, Men-Tsee-Khang [2] and the NISR at Leh [3] show a refugee tradition becoming part of India's official health system. This is an example of pluralism in knowledge.

Related concepts

• Dalai Lama
• Central Tibetan Administration
• Sowa Rigpa

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• Tibetan refugees