New rules have been set for Tibetans availing Indian passports following the earlier court ruling in favour of Tibetans request to seek Indian passports. The MEA’s ruling has laid out four conditions to be fulfilled by the Tibetans who are applying for the Indian passports instead of the Tibetan travel document I.C. issued by the Indian government.
The set of new rules laid out for the Tibetans availing Indian passports have put the Tibetans in dilemma as fulfilling those for the sake of the passport would render them homeless, for the second time, as stated by one of the first Tibetans seeking the Indian passport.
“Registration/refugee certificate (RC) and identity certificate should be cancelled; the applicant should not be staying in designated Tibetan refugee settlements; an undertaking that he/she no longer enjoys CTA benefits; and a declaration that he/she no longer enjoys any privileges, including subsidies by being an RC holder,” the letter by the Bengaluru regional passport office said last month.
This statement clearly points out four conditions from the MEA’s office for the Tibetans applying for the Indian passport.
- Tibetans should surrender the Registration/refugee certificate (RC) and Identity Certificate (IC) which are their stay permit in India and the travel document respectively.
- A Tibetan applying for an India passport should to be living in any of the Tibetan settlements across India. Availing a passport on this addressed has and will render them ineligible.
- The Tibetan shall not be allowed to receive any benefits from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the headquarter of the exile Tibetan administration based in Dharamshala.
- The Tibetan should not be taking the privileges and subsidies of being an RC holder and should have surrender all such benefits being enjoyed.
The Central Tibetan Administration’s stand upon the Tibetans availing Indian passports have been neutral. It has been quoted as a personal decision of the individual Tibetans and the administration can not interfere. However, a recent guideline from the CTA to its subordinates have clarified that the administration can only advice the Tibetans to follow any rules set out by the Indian government.