04-18-2005, 12:34 AM
Armenians in India !
who would have thought?...thanks kaushal for the link.
here is some info on another community that fled to india.
the Tibetans.
it is sad that india has more or less given up their cause due to the harsh reality of geo politics. it is sad that the tibetans are becoming a minority in their own country. IMHO, the free tibet movement has the most legitimacy among all the "freedom" movements in the world and it is also the one given least attention.
i heard that many of the second generation tibetans have more or less given up any hope of going back to their homeland and are getting into the mainstream and the melting pot that is india.
an excellent news resource for indo-tibetans
http://tibetindia.danielbrett.com/
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tibetans continue to flee to India for asylum
Tibetans continue to seek asylum in India, preferring to face the hazards of travelling through areas controlled by Maoist insurgents in Nepal or getting arrested rather than stay in their homeland.
On Saturday, the Nepalese security personnel arrested yet another group of Tibetan asylum seekers trying to reach Dharamshala in India, the seat of their exiled leader Dalai Lama.
The 34 people, including six women and six children, had crossed into Nepal from Humla district in the country's remote northwest and travelled down southwards through areas controlled by the Maoist insurgents.
They were caught near Accham district in far-west Nepal, a Maoist stronghold, and arrested for not possessing travel documents.
They are expected to be brought to Kathmandu and handed over to the UN High Commission for Refugees that facilitates the asylum seekers' entry into India.
However, there have been earlier incidents when the Nepalese government handed over the illegal entrants to China, sparking an international furore.
With the arrival of the new group, the number of Tibetans who have escaped to India this year crosses 1,000, according to the Tibetan Welfare Centre in Kathmandu. Last year, the number was close to 2,000.
If they are not sent back to China, the Tibetans in Nepal face the possibility of being jailed for violating immigration rules.
To be released, they need to pay a fine as well as visa fee, which is often beyond their means.
Though the UNHCR tries to raise the money, sometimes it is unable to do so immediately if it is a large group. At present, at least one Tibetan is in prison, waiting to raise the money for his release.
China refuses to acknowledge fleeing Tibetans as asylum seekers or refugees, calling them illegal immigrants.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destination...ckpackers_x.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mountains and monasteries of India's 'Little Tibet' attract trekkers and seekers
By Elizabeth Dalziel, Associated Press
LEH, India â They are trekkers and seekers, backpackers and Buddhist followers, and they come here for both spiritual sustenance and for rugged hikes amid ancient monasteries and snowcapped mountains.
This northern region of India known as Ladakh is a cold desert plateau, a western extension of the Tibetan Plateau in the great Himalayas, on the frontier with China. Local residents include Tibetan refugees who crossed into the Indian Himalayas through what is known as "the roof of the world" and settled into an area now known as Little Tibet.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
old piece, but still heart warming
http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2000/10/2_1.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1. For Tibetans, India matters more than West
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maneesh Pandey
The Times of India, Sunday 1 October 2000
NEW DELHI: Contrary to the idea that Tibetan diaspora survives on dole from
the West, it's India's invaluable support since 1959 - by way of aid and
administrative policies - that has sustained it, says Tsewang C Tethong,
Minister for Information and International Affairs in Central Tibetan
Administration.
"India's role on Tibetan issue holds no parallel," says Tsewang, who has
been a witness to it.
Tsewang had his schooling in Darjeeling and was about to start medical
studiesin Calcutta, when the mass infux of Tibetans into India started. This
altered his life. Instead of becoming a physician, he became a volunteer
tending to over 1,000 refugees in the first Tibetan camp at Missamiri Day
School, Assam.
"India's generosity starts here," says Tsewang. The camp, started by
Government of India,
sheltered 7,000 Tibetans later. In the beginning, they faced many hardships.
More than 90 per cent were unskilled, uneducated and unfamiliar with Indian
languages. They worked on the road camps in India - in Himachal and
north-eastern states, Tsewang recalls.
The death rate was high. The Tibetans were not used to the tropical heat in
India and TB was
rampant in the camp. "We were losing five to six people every day," he said.
But then, aid started pouring in from Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and
West Bengal. More came from elsewhere. "And that `acclimatised' us fully,"
he laughs.
"For the homeless, nothing is more precious than shelter, which India
provided. It meant much more than money or consolatory advises," Tsewang
says. "Today, the generosity of the West towards Tibetans is much talked
about. But compare the data: Of the 1.5 lakh Tibetan refugees scattered
worldwide, 1.3 lakh are settled in India, and just over 13,000 are living in
the West."
Tibet can't repay its debt to India. "It was India which helped us fulfil
Dalai Lama's twin wish to resettle the refugees and pursue their education
in exile. From their first agricultural settlement in Bylakuppe, near Mysore
in 1960, Tibetans today have over 35 settlements in India," says Tsewang.
About education in exile, he says, over 80 Central Tibetan Schools run by
the Indian government have made it possible for 85 to 90 per cent Tibetans
children to enroll. "Economically and socially too, we're stable.
Agriculture, agro-industries, carpet weaving and exports have become the
mainstay of our 70 per cent exile population in India," says the minister.
And even the future of Tibet depends on India, he points out. He reiterates
Dalai Lama's point that better Sino-Indian ties would heavily influence the
Tibetan cause. He urged India to take the lead in advancing the Tibetan
cause, raise it in bilateral meetings and work for a negotiable settlement.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
tibetans show their gratitude in helping us in times of need
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=9402&t=1&c=1
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India Thank American Tibetans for Tsunami Help
Office of Tibet, New York[Saturday, March 26, 2005 08:05]
NEW YORK, March 25 - In a letter addressed to Representative Nawang Rabgyal of the Office of Tibet, the Indian Consul General in New York thanked the Tibetans in North America for their "very generous donation" to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund".
Representative Rabgyal presented a check for US$ 22,132 to the Consulate two weeks ago, following this today with another check for $2,000 from the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey.
While presenting the first check, Rabgyal reaffirmed the Tibetan people's solidarity with India in her time of difficulty and requested the Consulate General to "accept this small amount as a token of North American Tibetan community and our friends' gratitude to the government and people of India."
"Wherever we are, the Tibetan people will never forget the kindness and generosity of your country to our leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and to our people over the past so many years," Rabgyal said.
"Our hearts would always beat for the people of India, just as our prayers are always with you."
Rabgyal hoped for a time "when India's wisdom of tolerance and non-violence will shine throughout the world to dispel the darkness of hatred and violent strife plaguing so much of humanity today."
Speaking about the Tibetans in North America, Rabgyal said he was deeply moved by the community's selfless motivation and cooperation "in our efforts to raise funds for the Tsunami victims of India."
In 2001 also, the Tibetans responded wholeheartedly to our call for donations for the victims of Gujarat earthquake.
"At that time, we were able to raise US$23,000," Rabgyal said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src='http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/budhist/71096.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Tibetan Buddhist Women Dancing in Dharmasala
the original story of his holiness the dalai lama escaping from chinese invasion of tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/2788343.stm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1959: Dalai Lama escapes to India
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has crossed the border into India after an epic 15-day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains.
There had been no news of his safety or whereabouts since he left Lhasa on 17 March with an entourage of 20 men, including six Cabinet ministers.
Many thought he had been killed in the fierce Chinese crackdown that followed the Tibetan uprising earlier this month.
Travelling at night
<b>The Dalai Lama had to cross the 500-yard wide Brahmaputra river, and endure the harsh climate and extreme heights of the Himalayas, travelling at night to avoid the Chinese sentry guards</b>.
He finally crossed the Indian border at the Khenzimana Pass, and is now resting at the Towang Monastery, 50 miles inside the Indian border.
It is not known whether the Indian Government will offer him asylum. <b>The government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been heavily criticised internationally for failing to condemn the Chinese crackdown.</b>Â <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â (<i> my comments: WTF is BBC talking about? if it was about the self-determination of tibetans, WTF did the UK/west do about the kashmir invasion by pak?)</i>
Dusk-to-dawn curfew
The Chinese repression of the rebellion in Lhasa is now complete. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed, and a military commission is now ruling the city.
It is estimated that 2,000 people died during the three days of fighting between the Tibetans and the Chinese army.
<b>In the worst single incident, four days ago, the Chinese army fired about 800 artillery shells into the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace, razing the ancient building to the ground. </b>
The area contained over 300 houses, and thousands of civilians died and were injured in the inferno.
Mass deportations
The tragedy marked the end of the uprising in Lhasa. <b>All fighting-age men who had survived the revolt were deported, and those fleeing the scene reported that Chinese troops burned corpses in the city for 12 hours.</b>
A day later, China announced in an order signed by leader Chou En-lai that a large-scale rebellion had been crushed in Lhasa, although it said the revolt was still continuing outside the capital.
It announced that the Tibetan governing body had been dissolved under martial law, and said the Dalai Lama had been replaced by the Panchen Lama, his pro-Chinese rival, as the nominal head of a committee to set up a Tibetan Autonomous Region within the Chinese People's Republic.
In Context
The Dalai Lama was offered asylum in India and settled in Dharamsala, in northern India.
<b>He was followed into exile by about 80,000 Tibetans, most of whom settled in the same area, which has become known as "Little Lhasa" </b>and is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
80,000 !!
i never knew that so many where in exile. it is so sad to think how their children are now growing up and knowing about their homeland only thru stories from their parents.
i hope we r tolerant to them as we always have and facilitate in absorbing them as our own and offer them solace. i have been to a tibetan fair in bihar where they sold blankets and sweaters..i was struck by their honesty. never had to haggle since their prices where very fair .
the dalai lama then
<img src='http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40927000/jpg/_40927521_dalailamaap238.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
and now
<img src='http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1345000/images/_1347735_apdalai_hands300.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
kaushal,
i have read some pieces, mostly from iranian sources, which say that the pallava dynasty is descended from the pahlavi dynasty of erstwhile persian empire...something like a lineage which moved east and established in a small way and gradually grew into the magnificient pallava empire.
how much truth is there in that?
who would have thought?...thanks kaushal for the link.
here is some info on another community that fled to india.
the Tibetans.
it is sad that india has more or less given up their cause due to the harsh reality of geo politics. it is sad that the tibetans are becoming a minority in their own country. IMHO, the free tibet movement has the most legitimacy among all the "freedom" movements in the world and it is also the one given least attention.
i heard that many of the second generation tibetans have more or less given up any hope of going back to their homeland and are getting into the mainstream and the melting pot that is india.
an excellent news resource for indo-tibetans
http://tibetindia.danielbrett.com/
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tibetans continue to flee to India for asylum
Tibetans continue to seek asylum in India, preferring to face the hazards of travelling through areas controlled by Maoist insurgents in Nepal or getting arrested rather than stay in their homeland.
On Saturday, the Nepalese security personnel arrested yet another group of Tibetan asylum seekers trying to reach Dharamshala in India, the seat of their exiled leader Dalai Lama.
The 34 people, including six women and six children, had crossed into Nepal from Humla district in the country's remote northwest and travelled down southwards through areas controlled by the Maoist insurgents.
They were caught near Accham district in far-west Nepal, a Maoist stronghold, and arrested for not possessing travel documents.
They are expected to be brought to Kathmandu and handed over to the UN High Commission for Refugees that facilitates the asylum seekers' entry into India.
However, there have been earlier incidents when the Nepalese government handed over the illegal entrants to China, sparking an international furore.
With the arrival of the new group, the number of Tibetans who have escaped to India this year crosses 1,000, according to the Tibetan Welfare Centre in Kathmandu. Last year, the number was close to 2,000.
If they are not sent back to China, the Tibetans in Nepal face the possibility of being jailed for violating immigration rules.
To be released, they need to pay a fine as well as visa fee, which is often beyond their means.
Though the UNHCR tries to raise the money, sometimes it is unable to do so immediately if it is a large group. At present, at least one Tibetan is in prison, waiting to raise the money for his release.
China refuses to acknowledge fleeing Tibetans as asylum seekers or refugees, calling them illegal immigrants.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destination...ckpackers_x.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mountains and monasteries of India's 'Little Tibet' attract trekkers and seekers
By Elizabeth Dalziel, Associated Press
LEH, India â They are trekkers and seekers, backpackers and Buddhist followers, and they come here for both spiritual sustenance and for rugged hikes amid ancient monasteries and snowcapped mountains.
This northern region of India known as Ladakh is a cold desert plateau, a western extension of the Tibetan Plateau in the great Himalayas, on the frontier with China. Local residents include Tibetan refugees who crossed into the Indian Himalayas through what is known as "the roof of the world" and settled into an area now known as Little Tibet.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
old piece, but still heart warming
http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2000/10/2_1.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1. For Tibetans, India matters more than West
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maneesh Pandey
The Times of India, Sunday 1 October 2000
NEW DELHI: Contrary to the idea that Tibetan diaspora survives on dole from
the West, it's India's invaluable support since 1959 - by way of aid and
administrative policies - that has sustained it, says Tsewang C Tethong,
Minister for Information and International Affairs in Central Tibetan
Administration.
"India's role on Tibetan issue holds no parallel," says Tsewang, who has
been a witness to it.
Tsewang had his schooling in Darjeeling and was about to start medical
studiesin Calcutta, when the mass infux of Tibetans into India started. This
altered his life. Instead of becoming a physician, he became a volunteer
tending to over 1,000 refugees in the first Tibetan camp at Missamiri Day
School, Assam.
"India's generosity starts here," says Tsewang. The camp, started by
Government of India,
sheltered 7,000 Tibetans later. In the beginning, they faced many hardships.
More than 90 per cent were unskilled, uneducated and unfamiliar with Indian
languages. They worked on the road camps in India - in Himachal and
north-eastern states, Tsewang recalls.
The death rate was high. The Tibetans were not used to the tropical heat in
India and TB was
rampant in the camp. "We were losing five to six people every day," he said.
But then, aid started pouring in from Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and
West Bengal. More came from elsewhere. "And that `acclimatised' us fully,"
he laughs.
"For the homeless, nothing is more precious than shelter, which India
provided. It meant much more than money or consolatory advises," Tsewang
says. "Today, the generosity of the West towards Tibetans is much talked
about. But compare the data: Of the 1.5 lakh Tibetan refugees scattered
worldwide, 1.3 lakh are settled in India, and just over 13,000 are living in
the West."
Tibet can't repay its debt to India. "It was India which helped us fulfil
Dalai Lama's twin wish to resettle the refugees and pursue their education
in exile. From their first agricultural settlement in Bylakuppe, near Mysore
in 1960, Tibetans today have over 35 settlements in India," says Tsewang.
About education in exile, he says, over 80 Central Tibetan Schools run by
the Indian government have made it possible for 85 to 90 per cent Tibetans
children to enroll. "Economically and socially too, we're stable.
Agriculture, agro-industries, carpet weaving and exports have become the
mainstay of our 70 per cent exile population in India," says the minister.
And even the future of Tibet depends on India, he points out. He reiterates
Dalai Lama's point that better Sino-Indian ties would heavily influence the
Tibetan cause. He urged India to take the lead in advancing the Tibetan
cause, raise it in bilateral meetings and work for a negotiable settlement.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
tibetans show their gratitude in helping us in times of need
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=9402&t=1&c=1
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India Thank American Tibetans for Tsunami Help
Office of Tibet, New York[Saturday, March 26, 2005 08:05]
NEW YORK, March 25 - In a letter addressed to Representative Nawang Rabgyal of the Office of Tibet, the Indian Consul General in New York thanked the Tibetans in North America for their "very generous donation" to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund".
Representative Rabgyal presented a check for US$ 22,132 to the Consulate two weeks ago, following this today with another check for $2,000 from the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey.
While presenting the first check, Rabgyal reaffirmed the Tibetan people's solidarity with India in her time of difficulty and requested the Consulate General to "accept this small amount as a token of North American Tibetan community and our friends' gratitude to the government and people of India."
"Wherever we are, the Tibetan people will never forget the kindness and generosity of your country to our leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and to our people over the past so many years," Rabgyal said.
"Our hearts would always beat for the people of India, just as our prayers are always with you."
Rabgyal hoped for a time "when India's wisdom of tolerance and non-violence will shine throughout the world to dispel the darkness of hatred and violent strife plaguing so much of humanity today."
Speaking about the Tibetans in North America, Rabgyal said he was deeply moved by the community's selfless motivation and cooperation "in our efforts to raise funds for the Tsunami victims of India."
In 2001 also, the Tibetans responded wholeheartedly to our call for donations for the victims of Gujarat earthquake.
"At that time, we were able to raise US$23,000," Rabgyal said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src='http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/budhist/71096.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Tibetan Buddhist Women Dancing in Dharmasala
the original story of his holiness the dalai lama escaping from chinese invasion of tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/2788343.stm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1959: Dalai Lama escapes to India
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has crossed the border into India after an epic 15-day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains.
There had been no news of his safety or whereabouts since he left Lhasa on 17 March with an entourage of 20 men, including six Cabinet ministers.
Many thought he had been killed in the fierce Chinese crackdown that followed the Tibetan uprising earlier this month.
Travelling at night
<b>The Dalai Lama had to cross the 500-yard wide Brahmaputra river, and endure the harsh climate and extreme heights of the Himalayas, travelling at night to avoid the Chinese sentry guards</b>.
He finally crossed the Indian border at the Khenzimana Pass, and is now resting at the Towang Monastery, 50 miles inside the Indian border.
It is not known whether the Indian Government will offer him asylum. <b>The government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been heavily criticised internationally for failing to condemn the Chinese crackdown.</b>Â <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â (<i> my comments: WTF is BBC talking about? if it was about the self-determination of tibetans, WTF did the UK/west do about the kashmir invasion by pak?)</i>
Dusk-to-dawn curfew
The Chinese repression of the rebellion in Lhasa is now complete. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed, and a military commission is now ruling the city.
It is estimated that 2,000 people died during the three days of fighting between the Tibetans and the Chinese army.
<b>In the worst single incident, four days ago, the Chinese army fired about 800 artillery shells into the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace, razing the ancient building to the ground. </b>
The area contained over 300 houses, and thousands of civilians died and were injured in the inferno.
Mass deportations
The tragedy marked the end of the uprising in Lhasa. <b>All fighting-age men who had survived the revolt were deported, and those fleeing the scene reported that Chinese troops burned corpses in the city for 12 hours.</b>
A day later, China announced in an order signed by leader Chou En-lai that a large-scale rebellion had been crushed in Lhasa, although it said the revolt was still continuing outside the capital.
It announced that the Tibetan governing body had been dissolved under martial law, and said the Dalai Lama had been replaced by the Panchen Lama, his pro-Chinese rival, as the nominal head of a committee to set up a Tibetan Autonomous Region within the Chinese People's Republic.
In Context
The Dalai Lama was offered asylum in India and settled in Dharamsala, in northern India.
<b>He was followed into exile by about 80,000 Tibetans, most of whom settled in the same area, which has become known as "Little Lhasa" </b>and is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
80,000 !!
i never knew that so many where in exile. it is so sad to think how their children are now growing up and knowing about their homeland only thru stories from their parents.
i hope we r tolerant to them as we always have and facilitate in absorbing them as our own and offer them solace. i have been to a tibetan fair in bihar where they sold blankets and sweaters..i was struck by their honesty. never had to haggle since their prices where very fair .
the dalai lama then
<img src='http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40927000/jpg/_40927521_dalailamaap238.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
and now
<img src='http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1345000/images/_1347735_apdalai_hands300.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
kaushal,
i have read some pieces, mostly from iranian sources, which say that the pallava dynasty is descended from the pahlavi dynasty of erstwhile persian empire...something like a lineage which moved east and established in a small way and gradually grew into the magnificient pallava empire.
how much truth is there in that?