Zahid Bhat does “tilla,” Kashmiri embroidery, and works in his family’s hosiery business, reflecting his Tibetan roots and Kashmiri birthplace.
SRINAGAR, INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR – Zahid Bhat, 27, works in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, in his family’s traditional Tibetan hosiery business and in the “tilla” industry making Kashmiri embroidery. His livelihoods are a mixture of Tibetan and Kashmiri cultures – much like his life, as he is Tibetan but was born in Kashmir.
More than 50 years ago, Bhat’s grandparents and parents fled Tibet, an autonomous region in southwestern China, after a failed uprising against Chinese occupation. They settled in a refugee colony in Eidgah, a neighborhood in Srinagar.
Many Tibetan refugees still live in colonies in Srinagar, Bhat says. But the state government refuses to grant them permanent resident certificates, although they have lived in the state for more than 60 years or their whole lives.
“We’ve been living here since 1959 but don’t enjoy the same rights as those of the natives of Jammu and Kashmir,” Bhat says.
Under Kashmiri law, noncitizens face certain restrictions, including not being allowed to purchase land, work government jobs or attend state universities, says Shailendra Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kashmir. Tibetans continue to live in Kashmir under refugee status, even if they were born in the state.
China sent troops into Tibet in 1950, after an independent government had been leading the autonomous region for nearly 40 years. Many Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, fled the region after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
More than 42,000 refugees left Tibet in January 1960, according to the Central Tibetan Administration.
More than 140 Tibetan families fled together from Tibet to Srinagar in 1960, Kumar says. There are now 6,000 Tibetans – roughly 1,200 families – living in three neighborhoods of Srinagar.
“Tibetans are settled here at three places,” he says. “That is: Makhdoom Sahib, Badamwari and Eidgah.”
The Jammu and Kashmir state government counts Tibetans in its census and allows them to vote, says Eshrat Ganaie, a Tibetan born in Kashmir. But because it will not grant them citizenship, they lack access to other basic rights.
“We are counted, possess voter identity cards and cast votes as well,” she says, “but without any facilities.”
Not being able to own land or property is the biggest challenge for Tibetans, says Aabida Parveen, a young Tibetan born in Kashmir.
“Housing is a main problem,” she says.
Tibetans living in Kashmir cannot purchase land or homes, Bhat says.
“Even if we’ve resources, we can’t purchase land to construct a house, as we don’t possess state-subject certificates,” Bhat says.
The Kashmiri government provided free housing for the Tibetan refugees after they started arriving in 1959, says Abdul Rahim, a Tibetan born in Kashmir.
“After we came here, [the] government provided us the space,” he says. “Initially, we lived here in an old building. Later, a well-developed colony came up here.”
Almost 35 families live in the government-allotted colony in Eidgah, Ganaie says.
The government replaced an old housing structure 10 years ago and built their current colony, she says. Refugees pay only for electricity and water.
“Each family has been provided with two bedrooms, a lobby, a kitchen and an attached bathroom,” Ganaie says.
When families grow, they run out of room in the government-provided housing, she says. But the refugees and their descendants cannot buy their own property if they want more space. They can only rent.
“Once the number of family members increases, space within the allotted flat shrinks, and they can’t all live together in an accommodation provided by the government,” Ganaie says. “As such, they move out to live on rented accommodation.”
Refugees’ inability to obtain permanent resident certificates also hampers their economic growth because they cannot attend Kashmiri public universities or work government jobs, Bhat says.
Tibetans cannot attend state universities, but they can apply to private universities or leave Kashmir to attend Indian universities, which do not require applicants to be citizens, Bhat says.
Because of the state restrictions on education, the younger Tibetan generation in Kashmir usually studies only through high school, Parveen says.
“After that, it becomes difficult to study for us,” Parveen says.
Parveen applied to enroll in courses at the University of Kashmir, even though she is not legally allowed to attend, she says. But she did not pass the entrance examination, so she will apply again next year. If the university does not accept her, she plans to attend a university outside the state that accepts noncitizens.
After completing secondary education, most Tibetan young adults in Kashmir move to other parts of the country, either to acquire higher education or to search for a job, Bhat says. He briefly lived and worked in New Delhi, India’s capital, but returned to Kashmir because the cost of living was too expensive for him.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, they can apply only for private jobs or go for some self-employment units,” he says. “Mostly, they are engaged with hosiery, embroidery work, provision store [work] and likewise.”
Although Bhat, who does not have children, is satisfied with his work, he says people within the Tibetan community want their children to have more employment opportunities, instead of assuming the family business.
“[The] younger generation isn’t interested in it,” he says. “We want our children to receive good education and get well-settled in life.”
But this is difficult when it is impossible to become a Kashmiri citizen, Bhat says.
The state has no plans to give permanent resident certificates to Tibetans, Kumar says.
“Tibetans are not our citizens, though we’ve all concerns and sympathies with them,” he says. “But not at the cost of our citizens.”
Tibetans are not the only group that cannot obtain citizenship, Kumar says. Other refugees, including those from Nepal, are also ineligible.
Noncitizens, including the Tibetan refugees, can apply for citizenship in India except in Jammu and Kashmir state, says G.N. Shaheen, the former secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association Srinagar, a voluntary association of practicing lawyers. This is because Article 370 of the Indian Constitution grants Jammu and Kashmir state a special status in India.
To address the overcrowded colonies, the Indian government is constructing a housing block in Eidgah for 36 families under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor, a program to aid urban development, Kumar says. The families will move into the housing in about a month.
But the construction has taken a long time, Parveen says.
“There is a building under construction here since three years,” Parveen says. “It is for those people who are currently living on rent. We want the construction to be completed soon so that their problems get addressed.”
Mubarak Gul, speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, visited Eidgah in April 2013 and urged the government for the speedy completion of the building so that Tibetan families can move into it, according to a press release from the state Department of Information and Public Relations.
Despite living as refugees in Kashmir, the Tibetans – many who have never been to Tibet – do not plan to return to their ancestors’ land.
Ganaie says she has been living in Kashmir since her birth and does not want to return to Tibet.
“I have never seen Tibet, so why should I aspire to go there?” she asks.
Rahim says there is no point in returning to Tibet.
“There is no one there,” Rahim says. “All our relatives are here.”
Editor's notes: Interviews were conducted in Urdu and English.
Afsana Bhat is not related to Zahid Bhat.