Tibetans vote for the first time in HP assembly election

Even as the exiled Tibetan community remains at variance over the right to vote in the country, quite a number turned up to cast their vote in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections on Thursday.

In February 2014, the Election Commission (EC) had directed all the states to include Tibetans and their India-born children in the electoral rolls. This followed a 2013 court order that granted Indian citizenship to Tibetan refugees born in India after January 26, 1950 and before July 1, 1987.

There are around 1,400 Tibetan voters in the state, with a little more than a 1,000 from Bir-Billing area in Kangra district, 200 odd from Dharamshala and the rest of them are strewn across settlements in other parts of the state.

“It lends power to our voices. As a voter, I can approach my representative regarding the issues facing our community. So, it is for own good that we vote in our host country,” said Lobsang Wangyal, director of the famous Miss Tibet pageant. This is the third time that Wangyal exercised his franchise after the 2014 general elections and 2016 municipal polls.

The 47-year-old disagrees with those who say Tibetans participating in the Indian electoral process may dilute the Tibetan movement. “If I vote, it doesn’t mean I’m forgetting my own country,” said Wangyal.

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