The Tibetan Cause

Situated in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and on the southern edge of the Himalayas, Dharamsala is anything but your typically Indian village. In some ways, it hardly feels like India at all. This is largely due to the fact that since 1959, Dharamsala has become home to the Dalai Lama and several thousand Tibetan refugees. Through hard work, they have recreated the country they left behind. Dharamsala has even earned the nickname “Little Lhasa” in the process, after Tibet’s capital city. Thus, it is hardly surprising that walking through this beautiful mountain town one stumbles upon much more than pine trees and pristine nature. Everything from the monasteries to the temples to the schools pulse with the life of the thriving Tibetan community that now call Dharamsala “home.”

I first ended up in Dharamsala, India four summers ago in 2012 while interning at Delek Hospital under the direction of the Dalai Lama’s personal physician. I knew little about the Tibetan cause, but I quickly became familiar with the topic. In order to provide some context for this project, I have included a brief summary here. China’s invasion of Tibet formerly began in 1949 and continued into 1950; an act that is largely seen as one of unprovoked aggression. After attempts at a Sino-­Tibetan dialogue and failed appeals to the international community, a Tibetan delegation was coerced in May of 1951 to sign an agreement renouncing Tibetan religious and cultural autonomy. Further included in the proposal were stipulations on China’s authority over Tibet’s defense, trade, and foreign relations. Overall, the Tibetans largely expressed hope that the treaty would maintain Tibet's historical priest-­patron relationship with China.

For several years after the signing, such an outcome seemed possible, with the Tibetan Government largely maintaining its autonomy. These desires, however, ultimately proved idealistic as tensions between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Tibet began to escalate towards the middle and end of the 1950’s. Spurred partly by the PRC’s policies centered on land reform, a Tibetan militia emerged leading to a period of fighting between 1956-­1959. Following the spread of the conflict to Lhasa, the Dalai Lama, his government, and approximately 80,000 Tibetans fled Tibet, settling mostly in Dharamsala, India. Although in the past the Dalai Lama had acted as both Tibet's secular and religious leader, in 1963 the Dalai Lama established a new Tibetan democratic constitution. Based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the constitution established an elected parliament and administration.

Since the constitution, the Central Tibetan Administration has served as the Tibetan Government in Exile and carried out numerous political, cultural, and educational policies aimed as rehabilitating the Tibetan refugee population and restoring freedom in Tibet. The influence of these policies can be seen throughout my photographs, especially in the establishment of the Tibetan Children's Village (see KIDS for more). As for conditions within Tibet since 1959, multiple sources note extensive cultural, religious, environmental, and political repression in the name of assimilation. The 145 Tibetan self-immolations that have occurred in Tibet and China since February 2009 point not only to these repressive measures, but the available means for protest and self-expression. Overall, the list of atrocities committed at the hands of the Chinese can be difficult to undeniably confirm due to the restriction of information in and out of Tibet.