Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the politics of identity and belonging among young Tibetans living in the Himalayan state of Sikkim

Paper long abstract:

Since 1959 more than 120,000 Tibetans have followed the Dalai Lama into exile fearing religious, political and economic persecution and marginalization. Around 3,000 Tibetans continue to leave each year, crossing the Himalayas into Nepal and India. The majority of these refugees live in India which is also home to the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the government-in-exile established in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

Drawing on research undertaken in Gangtok and Ravangla undertaken during 2013/14, this paper explores the complex and increasingly contested issue of Tibetan culture, identity and politics in the context of Tibetan settlements in the Indian Himalayan state of Sikkim.

A significant proportion of Tibetans live in settlements established by the CTA with the support of the Indian authorities. Within these settlements, and the Tibetan community more generally, there is a strongly held view that the future of Tibet - and of Tibetan language, culture and identity - depends upon the next generation of Tibetans, most of whom have never visited their homeland and who feel politically, economically and socially marginalized in India and who are increasingly looking to take advantage of opportunities for resettlement in the US, Canada and Europe.

At the same time there are growing political differences between young Tibetans about the best way of securing a future for Tibet, exemplified by calls by the Tibetan Youth Congress for a move away from the Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle Way’ approach, and increasing incidences of self-immolation within Tibet, many involving young people under the age of 25.

These shifts raise important and as yet unexplored questions about the extent to which it will be possible to maintain a consistent narrative around Tibetan identity, language and culture and the ways in which any generational differences and differences between young Tibetan themselves might translate politically.