The
Central Tibetan Administration (CTA),
officially the
Central Tibetan Administration of His
Holiness the Dalai Lama, is a
government in exile headed by
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th
Dalai Lama, which claims to be the
rightful and legitimate government of
Tibet.
It is commonly referred to as the
Tibetan Government in
Exile.
Current situation
The
territory of Tibet is currently under the administration of the
People's
Republic of China
, a situation that the Central Tibetan
Administration considers an illegitimate military
occupation. The position of the CTA is that Tibet is a
distinct nation with a long history of independence. The People's
Republic of China's official position, however, states that the
central government of China has continuously exercised sovereignty
over Tibet for over 700 years, that Tibet has never been an
independent state, and that Tibetan independence is "nothing but a
fiction of the imperialists who committed aggression against China
in modern history". The current policy of the Dalai Lama, however,
is that he does not seek full independence for Tibet, but would
accept Tibet as a genuine autonomous region within the People's
Republic of China.
Government
The CTA is
headquartered in McLeod
Ganj
, Dharamsala
, India
, where the
Dalai Lama settled after fleeing Tibet in 1959
after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. It claims jurisdiction
over the entirety of the Tibet
Autonomous Region and Qinghai
province
, as well as two Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures and
one Tibetan Autonomous County in Sichuan
Province,
one Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and one Tibetan Autonomous County
in Gansu
Province and
one Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan
Province —
all of which is termed "Historic Tibet" by the CTA.
The Chairman of the Cabinet of the
CTA, Professor Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche, addresses a fundraising
dinner in Sydney, Australia, February 2006
The CTA exercises many governmental functions in relation to the
Tibetan exile community in India, which numbers around 100,000. The
Administration runs schools, health services, cultural activities
and economic development projects for the Tibetan community. It
also provides welfare services for Tibetan refugees in India.
More than
1000 refugees still arrive each year from China, usually via
Nepal
. The government of India allows the CTA to
exercise effective jurisdiction in these matters over the Tibetan
communities in northern India. According to
Tashi Wangdi, Representative to the Americas of
the Dalai Lama:"A parliament was elected by Tibetans in exile. The
Dalai Lama then brought about gradual changes for the
democratization of the system. The political leadership is now
elected. We have had a parliament in existence since 1961 and seven
years ago we elected a Prime Minister. His Holiness describes
himself as semi-retired."
Recognition
The CTA is not recognized as a government by any country, but it
receives financial aid from governments and international
organizations for its welfare work among the Tibetan exile
community in India. In October 1998, the Dalai Lama's
administration acknowledged that it received US$1.7 million a year
in the 1960s from the U.S.
Government through the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), and had also trained a guerrilla army in Colorado
(USA).
Membership of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
Organization
On 11
February 1991, the CTA became a founding member of the Unrepresented
Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) at a ceremony held at
the Peace
Palace
in The
Hague
, the
Netherlands
.
UNPO is a democratic, international organization. Its members are
indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognized or occupied
territories which lack representation internationally and who have
joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural
rights, to preserve their environments, and to find nonviolent
solutions to conflicts which affect them.
Electoral Politics
In 2001 the worldwide Tibetan exile community conducted a
democratic election for the position of Prime Minister (officially
Kalon Tripa). The election was won by
Lobsang Tenzin, a 62-year-old
Buddhist monk and scholar who is usually known by the titles
Professor Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche. This was the first
democratic election in the history of the Tibetan people.
Indian police
barred several hundred Tibetan exiles from starting a march to
Tibet on March 10, 2008 to protest the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, as Tibetans marked their uprising against
Chinese rule in 1959.
Talks between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese
government began again in May, 2008 with little result, but more
are scheduled to be held in June.
The Green Book
Not having sovereign control over any territory, the Central
Tibetan Administration does not issue
passports or levy taxes. Instead, Tibetans living
outside Tibet can apply at the CTA office in their country of
residence for a so-called "
Green Book", which serves as a
receipt book for the person's "voluntary contributions" to the CTA
and the evidence of his claims for "Tibetan citizenship".
For this purpose, CTA defines a Tibetan as "any person born in
Tibet, or any person with one parent who was born in Tibet", and,
as Tibetan refugees often lack documents attesting to their place
of birth, the eligibility is usually established by an
interview.
Cabinet
See also
References
External links
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