Central Tibetan Relief Committee
GS Paper – 2, India and its Neighbourhood, Effect of Policies & Politics of Countries on India’s Interests.
Why in the news?
The Union government has extended the system that provides grants-in-aid to the Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for another five years, till fiscal year 2025-26.
The plan allows for an annual allocation of Rs.8 crore to CTRC to cover administrative costs of Settlement Offices as well as social welfare costs for Tibetan refugees living in Tibetan settlements dispersed throughout 12 Indian states and union territories.
What exactly is the Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC)?
- It was first introduced in 2015. The committee’s major goal is to coordinate the activities of individuals, voluntary organisations, and the Indian government to rehabilitate and settle Tibetan refugees.
- Members are selected from each of India’s, Nepal’s, and Bhutan’s 53 Tibetan settlements.
- Is committed to conserving Tibet’s cultural and religious history, as well as to establishing and sustaining sustainable, democratic communities in exile.
- Is reliant on considerable foreign support from governments, particularly those of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, as well as charitable organisations and people.
- All CTRC actions are carried out with the Board of Directors’ permission and agreement, as well as the approval of TPiE. (Tibetan Parliament in Exile).
- The TPiE has its headquarters in Dharamsala, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, and over 1 lakh Tibetans have settled in India as a result of its efforts.
What caused the Tibetan Refugee Exodus?
- No Chinese government exercised jurisdiction over what is now China’s Tibet Autonomous Region from 1912 until the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. (TAR).
- Many Tibetans maintain that they were effectively autonomous for the most of that time and have challenged China’s control established when the People’s Liberation Army conquered TAR in 1950.
- Until 1951, the Dalai Lama’s administration was the sole ruler of Tibet. Tibet was not considered “Chinese” until Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) marched in and changed that.
- The Tibetan people and third-party critics have frequently referred to this as “cultural genocide.”
- The Tibetan Uprising of 1959, in which Tibetans revolted in an effort to topple the Chinese government, forced the 14th Dalai Lama to escape to India.
- The Dalai Lama founded the Tibetan exile administration in the north Indian hill resort of Mussoorie on April 29, 1959.
- The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the continuation of independent Tibet’s administration.
- The CTA was relocated to Dharamsala in May 1960.
What exactly is India’s Tibet policy?
- Tibet was India’s true neighbour for millennia, as most of India’s borders and the 3500km LAC are with the Tibetan Autonomous Region, not the rest of China.
- Tibetan delegates, together with Chinese representatives, signed the Simla accord with British India in 1914, delineating boundaries.
- However, upon China’s full annexation of Tibet in 1950, the treaty and the McMahon line that separated the two nations were rejected.
- Furthermore, in 1954, India and China reached an agreement in which they agreed to acknowledge Tibet as the “Tibet area of China.”
- Following the Tibetan rebellion in 1959, the Dalai Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader) and many of his supporters fled to India.
- Former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru provided him with sanctuary, as well as assistance in establishing the Tibetan government in exile.
- The Dalai Lama is regarded as a spiritual leader by the Indian government, and the Tibetan population in India, which numbers over a lakh exiles, is not permitted to engage in political activities.
- In the face of rising tensions between India and China, India’s Tibet policy has shifted.
- This policy move indicates that the Indian government is actively negotiating with the Dalai Lama in public venues.
