DHARAMSHALA: Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected political leader of the Tibetan people, graced the concluding session of the 10th annual meeting of Tibetan settlement officers on 16 July. The meeting was held from 13 July at the Tibetan Reception Centre, about 8 kms from here.
In his address to the settlement officers, Sikyong underlined the importance of legal documentation of the Tibetan people and settlements for the long-term sustenance of the Tibetan settlements in India.
Explaining the importance of sustaining the Tibetan settlements in India, Sikyong hailed the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy Act 2014 announced by the central government of India last year for its political and symbolic significance. “Since 1982, the successive Kashags of the Central Tibetan Administration has made every endeavor for such a policy from the Indian government, which finally came into fruition last year,” Sikyong said.
Sikyong particularly lauded the wordings of the policy announcement, which explicitly states that Tibetans are forced to flee into exile in India after the occupation of Tibet by China. He explained that such wordings on an official document of the Indian government bears a powerful political significance.
Sikyong also explained that the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy has ensured the sustenance of the Tibetan settlements in India and urged the Tibetan settlement officers to function accordingly. “The lands ceded by the government towards the Tibetan people are the responsibility of the Central Tibetan Administration. These settlements are headed by a settlement officer, who has been given the legal authority and recognition by the Indian government,” Sikyong said.
One of the most significant outcomes of the policy is that Tibetans are now formally recognised by the Indian government as a long term resident with full rights to pursue livelihood in India. Earlier, the status of Tibetans in India was not clear with a lot of loopholes, Sikyong remarked.
Sikyong also added that such a policy for the Tibetan people had never been passed by any other country, excluding the Tibet Policy Act passed by the United States several years ago.
Sikyong concluded his address to the settlement officers by highlighting the immense contribution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the elder generation of Tibetan people for the sustenance of the settlements till now.
The concluding session of the meeting also saw the reading of the home department’s annual report by Home Secretary Khorlatsang Sonam Topgyal.
Over 44 settlement officers from Tibetan settlements across India, Nepal and Bhutan took part in the four-day meeting cum workshop.
