Tibetans Face New Uncertainty in Exile

The recent thaw in political relations between emerging super-powers China and India bodes ill for the Tibetan exile community. Add to that the fact that the Dalai Lama is not getting any younger, and the tumultuous political situation in Nepal, and you have a very unstable situation for the Tibetans living outside Tibet.

Dharamsala, India—The rain came down harder and those celebrating the final day of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, squeezed in tighter to get under the roof. All were on their feet to sing the Tibetan national anthem. Barley flour was thrown in the air to signify the beginning of the New Year. Monks, laymen and Western spectators brushed the flour off their holiday clothes as they mingled about smiling and welcoming in the New Year.

February in Dharamsala—the seat of the Tibetan government in exile and home to thousands of Tibetan refugees—is usually a joyous month. Not only does it signify the New Year, it’s when the Dalai Lama gives public teachings for two weeks. Buddhists from around the world come for both events.

This year, Tibetan Buddhists from Nepal were notably absent during Losar. For the last several years, they have been in the crossfire of the bloody Maoist insurgency; the rebels have said that when they topple the regime Buddhist temples will be converted into grain storage houses. After Nepal’s King Gyanendra sacked the elected government in February, no one has been able to leave the country. The one exception was the Dalai Lama’s diplomatic mission, which was expelled from…

Posted by Gregoire
I was born in NYC, raised in Palo Alto CA, attended university at UC Santa Cruz. I spent the better part of a decade traveling in Asia and working in restaurants before entering graduate school in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at UVA in Charlottesville VA,...