In an article entitled “It’s time Tibetan exiles became Indian citizens” published recently on the Asian Age, an Indian media, revealed Tibetan exiles’ miserable life and privileges of the“leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile”.

The exiled Tibetans are living in Dharamshala, a small hill station in Himachal Pradesh, India, where the settlement was built for them in the early 1960s.

According to the article, the old settlements are“disintegrating, filled with poor, often broken families who are frustrated with policies that consign them to isolation and exclusion by prolonging their unsettled legal status.”

It is reported that under Indian law, Tibetans in India are not recognized as refugees, but are listed as foreigners.

“The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has never had any independently recognized international identity and with the retirement of the Dalai Lama, the original covenant with the Indian government is null. But the CTA still asserts de facto control over the exiles,” the article reported.

The so-called head of the “Tibetan government-in-exile”, who has for years resided in the United States, obtained a US green card and eventually settled his family in a comfortable home near Boston, repeatedly said that his struggling brethren must remain refugees for the cause, as it is reported.

However, the article pointed out that the “leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile” has not explained how it helps the cause to prevent his people shackled to a decaying, isolated camp system where they cannot work, vote, buy a house or register a business in India.

The real aspiration of the “leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile” of leading the exiled Tibetans toward prosperity was questioned by the article by saying “Yet, the CTA officials frequently state that Tibetans should remain refugees to keep their benefits, which bring far fewer benefits than those conferred by citizenship. Perpetuating the outdated prototype of the needy-but-cheerful Tibetan refugee distorts the realities and needs of exiles."

The author of the article also criticized the“leader of the CTA”for appreciating of the citizenship, but preventing the Tibetans from applying for it.

As it is reported the “leader of the CTA”“can well appreciate the value of citizenship. The Bank of America website confirms that he was able to pay off his mortgage in full one week prior to being sworn in as the new exile leader. With a US green card, he is able to travel internationally without restrictions while Tibetans with only an RC cannot obtain visas and will face difficulty in obtaining a US mortgage.”

No matter how euphemistic the leader of “the CTA" has said, one fact which can’t be changed is that the Tibetan exiles are living a miserable life while the “leader” of the “Tibetan government-in-exile” is enjoying privileges.

It is hard to imagine that a privileged “leader” will really fight for the “cause” of his miserable people.