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WeChat Ban

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  WeChat is a messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent . On 29th  of June 2020 the Indian government banned the use of WeChat along with 59 other apps followed by another 47 apps in July after a deadly border clash with China in the Galwan River Valley which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.  WeChat was the only option for the Tibetan refugees living in India to connect with their families living in Tibet. The WeChat ban has affected many Tibetans as the only connection with their family has been lost and it was the major medium through which they could make monetary transactions.  Even though WeChat was the most viable option for communication it was heavily censored, sharing what China calls ‘politically sensitive information’ in the form of texts, photos and videos over WeChat have led to arrests and imprisonment. Chinese authorities arrested 10 people in Lhasa for spreading ‘rumours’ about the coronavirus outbreak on 12 march 2020 on WeChat. De
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Assimilation of Tibetans in India today

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Earlier, we discussed the major waves of migration from Tibet into India. And although the refugee flow has slowed down to a trickle today, it still continues.  In this post, we try to briefly cover two aspects central to the life of the Indian Tibetan diaspora: their identities, and legal statuses. We therefore partially attempt to answer the question: What is life like for the 94,000 odd Tibetans in India today? Whether immigrants to India or born here, most Tibetans usually spend their life in reserved settlements usually in the North or North-east . These settlements house a large number of Tibetans and reflect traditional Tibetan life to a considerable extent. As a result of this, several Indian-born Tibetans have an identity that is very strongly Tibetan.   Poems like these express the struggle of growing up Tibetan, without ever having been in Tibet: Tibetans in India do not get citizenship automatically. Instead, they are required to have periodically-renewed Registration Certi
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Religion and the Dalai lama

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After Tibet was invaded and mistreated by China, the people began to flee Tibet and seek refuge in other countries, India included. As such, the Tibetans brought in their various beliefs and religious practices to India as well. Despite the problems they faced (such as adapting to Indian cultures and practices), they managed to preserve their 1300-year-old religious practices and beliefs. The refugees got a sense of urgency in keeping and knowing more about their identity and religion, and believe that religion is the main aspect of their culture which has remained most intact. Tsepak Rigzin, a 28-year-old translator for the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, states that only 10 percent of the young people accept ordination, compared to 20 percent in old Tibet. It still means that thousands of young monks and nuns are being trained to carry on the monastic tradition that was a central feature of Tibetan life. In special schools along the Himalaya and in full-scale Buddhist universi
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Journey to India and the impact on Tibetan culture

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In this post we will go over the hardships on the journey for Tibetans from Tibet to India and what kind of influence India has had on Tibetan culture. The Tibetan Diaspora happened in 3 waves: in 1959 80,000 refugees followed the Dalai Lama to Dharamsala in India, another wave came in the 1980s and the last wave began in 1996. Making their journey through the Himalayas mostly on foot and if they were lucky, some of it by bus was really not an easy task. Many died along the way, while others who made it to India died due to the heat or other diseases that they became susceptible to. Most journeys took 34 days on average (depending on the share between finding a bus or walking). They came to India having been violated in many ways, being abused both physically and mentally by officers along their journey. Some women even reported sexual assault at gunpoint. There are many personal stories of the hardships they faced throughout the whole experience ranging from losing family members, to
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Tibetan Diaspora in India – A Brief History of its Emergence

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During the 6 th to the 9 th centuries, Tibet was a powerful military empire, much unlike the spiritual, peaceful Buddhist domain as we acknowledge it today. Under the reign of King Songtsen Gampo and King Trisong Deutsen the empire of Tibet annexed and ruled over large territories. Later it renounced territorial claims, finding a path led supremely by Buddhism after King Trisong Deutsen brought teachers from India aiming to spread Buddhism in Tibet, which led to the establishment of Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The event that marked the origin of the Tibetan diaspora was the defeat of the Tibetan army at the Battle of Chamdo in 1950 by the Chinese forces, and Chamdo was only the first step before advancing towards Lhasa, pivotal territory of Tibet. Communist China explained this invasion of Tibet as an attempt to ‘peacefully liberate’ Tibet but Tibetans felt that it not only was an attempt to seize their territory but also to erase its civilization. Uprisings against suppressi
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