By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, May 14: It is not often that we see a Tibetan refugee file a case against the Indian government, especially not when it is concerned with the implementation of the law in the host nation. Lobsang Wangyal, a 46 year old Tibetan known for hosting the coveted Miss Tibet pageant, says he is not just any refugee, claming he has the legitimate right to be a citizen of India by law. He recently filed a ‘writ petition’ (Public Interest Litigation) in the Delhi High Court in New Delhi (Lobsang Wangyal versus The Union of India) on Friday (May 13) pushing for the implementation of the Indian Citizenship Act, allowing him to legally procure an Indian passport.
The case no.-WP(C) 4275/2016 will see its day in court on July 27, 2016 after the court issued the notice last week. The case, according to Lobsang Wangyal who by profession is a journalist, seeks the implementation of the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 which states that anyone born in Indian territories between Jan 26, 1950 to July 1, 1987 is by law an Indian citizen. He also feels that the bureaucratic red tapes and formalities have impeded the right for him and many other deserving Tibetans seeking Indian passport.
Speaking to Phayul, he said, “I was born in India in 1970, so by that (Indian Citizenship Act 1955) law I am an Indian citizen. The Indian Election Commission ordered all the regional ECs earlier to enroll Tibetans who meet the criteria of the Citizenship Act in the electoral list and issue them voting card. I have procured a voting card and also voted in the 2014 Indian general elections. But when I went to the Regional passport office in Shimla, my application for a passport was rejected. The officer there said the rejection was on the account of my yellow book (Identity certificate/travel document issued to Tibetans by Indian govt.) and that I was by descent a Tibetan.”
He has been intermittingly pursuing various Indian offices for the past two years but to no avail; his correspondence with the Director of the Citizenship, Ministry of Home Affairs, Pravin Horo Singh hasn’t steered him any nearer to his goal. Singh has replied that Tibetans are not entitled to Indian citizenship because of the ‘Clause 9 of the Citizenship Act’ which states that anyone who voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country shall cease to be a citizen of India. But Lobsang says he has not renounced Indian citizenship in favor of another citizenship, and that the Yellow Book (travel document for Tibetans) does not represent citizenship of another country. “The Yellow Book is issued by the Government of India,” Lobsang argues.
Giriraj Subramanium, who represents Lobsang, feels that the law allowing the contested right has not been implemented by “the Central Government and Regional Passport offices”. He says, “The fact that they (Tibetans born in India between 26 Jan 1950 and 1 July 1987) are recognized as Indian citizens is also clear because the Election Commission has given a Voter ID card to each one of these particular citizens. Even though the Delhi High Court has in 2011 held that any person, irrespective of his heritage, who is born in India within these two particular dates is considered as an Indian citizen as a matter of right and is entitled to a passport. We find that the Central government and the regional passport officers are not implementing that decision in letter and spirit. So our hope is that through this writ petition, those citizens of Tibetan heritage… that it will be much easier for them to apply for a passport, to obtain a passport and there will not be any undue delay.”
In December 2010, a similar case was ruled in favor of a Tibetan woman in the Delhi High Court. The case was a welcome precedent for many Tibetans vying for Indian passports, yet many are still trotting between bureaucratic lines and unenforced implementation of the existing law.
The exile Tibetan government’s position on the matter is described as “a personal choice (of every Tibetan)” by the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay (Tibetan Prime Minister) in The Times of India back in 2013.He mentioned, “The CTA cannot prevent any Tibetan from applying for the Indian citizenship. The decision to apply for Indian or any other country’s citizenship is a personal choice.”
Although many Tibetans see getting a passport to be a surface change, something to ease living in the exile limbo, certain sections of the Tibetan community feels the adoption of Indian citizenship contributes towards diverting the political struggle at hand. Writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue told Indian Express, “It dilutes the struggle for a free Tibet because it naturally sets in complacency in the life of people and the urgency is lost in the process. Of course they can continue to be culturally Tibetan, but now they can be supporters, not claimants for Tibet.”
In response to such arguments, Lobsang Wangyal says, “As far as I am concerned, obtaining an Indian passport doesn’t mean abandoning allegiance to the CTA or turning away from the free Tibet movement. The Free Tibet movement is not, in any way, about whether Tibetans in exile will return to Tibet or not. It is about fulfilling the wishes of Tibetans in Tibet. They will not miss anything if exiles Tibetans don’t go (back) to a free Tibet. It (Indian passport) will make life easier, and makes one a complete person in today’s globalised world.”
