Offering solace to 'torture' victims

More Tibetans fleeing China after Olympics

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 is now being seen as a turning point of sorts that reflected upon the ever-waning ties between China and Tibet.

For long, the Tibetan community, settled in China and in safe exile clusters elsewhere in the world, has accused China of brazen human rights violations, even torture, of Tibetans toeing the 14th Dalai Lama’s political ideology. Their demand, post the Beijing Games in 2008, has only got shriller.

The cases of number of Tibetans “tortured”, as officially written and claimed by the Tibetan government-in exile, that are being handled in McLeod Ganj have seen a drastic rise since the Beijing Olympics, Kalsang Lhamo, the Project Head of the Tibetan Torture Settlement Project (TTSP) in McLeod Ganj told Deccan Herald.

She said “in just one year after 2008 Games, the cases of torture reaching us increased more than 100 per cent.” The Olympics in China provided Tibetans a global platform in front of an international media to highlight their freedom ideology. It was an “uprising”, Kalsang said, that saw China dealing with an embarrassing situation with a stick.

“Since then, the number of Tibetans fleeing China after facing clampdown and “torture” has seen a sharp increase,” she said.  The TTSP in McLeod Ganj, the sleepy township in Himachal Pradesh is the headquarters to the Tibetan Parliament and  government in exile, looks after care and rehabilitation of Tibetans who flee Tibet following  Chinese torture. Sample this: Ever since 2004, the number of  such cases reaching the TTSP hovered around 30 every year.

The numbers fell to just 16 in 2008. But that was the best Tibetans saw. The Tibetan torture count surged up to an alarming 40 the next year in 2009. “The trend is still continuing. Last year (2010) we dealt with 37 such cases. We are concerned about the situation and have stepped up resources to deal with the rise in such cases,” the project head said.  The TTSP aid-- 80 per cent funded by an official US agency for purposes of social support--  has also increased since last year, she said.

The exiled settlements of Tibetans in the twin towns of Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj have become safe haven for Tibetans who have fled China. A monthly cash flow up to Rs 3,500 to each such individual takes care of his routine living cost. Kalsang said the payout continues for at least three years and is extended in case there is a requirement.

Medical aid to these individuals comes free. The TTSP works relentlessly on tailor-made rehabilitation programmes that include a range of livelihood trainings for secure independent living without aid.  

The project in-charge points to a recent case of a middle aged Tibetan who fled China last year and is now firming up his rehabilitation plans. She said, “On December 21, 2010, Kalbe Thar reached McLeod Ganj as a victim of torture. He was a farmer in China all these years and a staunch supporter of Dalai Lama’s political ideology which he propagated. He has chosen to learn tailoring and is recovering.”

She added that Kalbe had burns and multiple fractures for which he was treated here. “My wife and four children are still in Tibet. I fled because I had no choice left,” Kalbe said. Tsewang Dhondup, who is 37, is another such case. Officials in the government in exile said Dhondup was shot in the elbow in Tibet, reportedly because he helped distressed monks reach the hospital. “He hid in the mountains and finally reached us,” Kalsang said.

Besides helping such cases, the TTSP also undertakes mental health programme and schemes to check spread of HIV and Aids  among the community. “A lot of the community in Tibet is not aware of our welfare programme. This is a safe haven for Tibetans sympathetic towards the case of Tibet,” Kalsang said.