By Tenzin Monlam
DELHI, February 22: The ongoing protests by Jat community demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) quota in Haryana has left many Tibetans traveling to Delhi and returning to Himachal stranded at various points.
Delhi bound buses from Himachal refused to ply beyond Punjab Haryana border leaving many Tibetans stranded at roadside motels on Sunday as the situation in several cities of Haryana remained tense. “I have flight on Monday, and the rescheduling would cost a lot of money. So we formed groups and took taxi paying 2000 Rupees per head to travel to Delhi via UP border,” said a Tibetan from New York who did not want to be named.
The blockade has also left many Tibetans bound for Dharamsala and other areas in Himachal Pradesh stuck here at Samyeling Tibetan Settlement (Majnu Tilla) leading to packed guest houses and hotels in the area for the past few days. Adding to the congestion of hotel rooms were many who are returning from the Telo Tsechu (Monkey year) religious congregation in Rewalsar (Tso Pema).
The protests spurred airfare from Delhi to Gaggal Airport in Dharamshala which normally ranges from 4000 – 5000 rupees. However, the fare now costs around 20000.
“We were supposed to return to Dharamshala day before yesterday (Feb 20). However, due to the protest we had to stay back. The situation worsened and with no rooms available in Majnu Tilla, we had to go to Pahar Ganj late at night searching for rooms,” said Tashi Dorjee, a Tibetan resident of Dharamshala.
Many people made do by sleeping in basements and lobbies of guest houses. Some had taken refuge at the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Kashmere Gate.
To add to the woes all the shops and restaurant remained closed on Monday for Choenga Choepa (fifteenth day of the Tibetan lunar year) forcing people to travel to other areas for food. “It took me 15 hours to get to Delhi via Saharanpur from Ambala, which would have been around 3 hours if not for the blockade on NH1. There are no rooms here. I could not find a place to have breakfast or a cup of tea. I could not even get a bottle of water,” said Tsering Dorjee, a Tibetan returning from Rewalsar on Monday.
“We had to pay 1600 per head from Chandigarh to Delhi. Our taxi driver took us through small roads in order to avoid the blocked highways,” said a Tibetan woman, who had to reach Delhi along with her daughter to catch a train.
Following government assurances, the protest seemed to have subsided early Monday leading to resumption of traffic on NH1 briefly. However, the traffic came to a standstill again a few hours later quashing all hopes of returning to their destination. All buses bound for Dharamsala did not leave Majnu ka Tilla today.
The situation at Majnu Tilla is likely to go worse with more people pouring in due to resumption of Tibetan schools in Himachal and Uttrakhand from winter break.
