|
Democracy Day
The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile' building was completed in the early 1980s. It is a modest structure at the centre of a horseshoe-shaped cluster of building housing the various departments of the Secretariat of the Government-in-exile. There is nothing strikingly Tibetan about the architecture of the Parliament building. The 46 Deputies and eight Kalons sit in two U-shaped rows in a square hall while the officials, journalists and visitors are seated behind them. On a raised platform behind the Chairman's desk is a desk reserved for the Dalai Lama when he addresses the Parliament. An enlarged photograph of the Dalai Lama on the wall behind and an elaborate thangka are the only symbols of Tibet, together with the fact that the proceedings are conducted in Tibetans.
Although it functions like other legislature, the plain, utilitarian structure of the Tibetan Parliament indicates its temporary, exile status. The challenge before the community-in-exile is to survive and progress without laying down roots that may weaken the determination to return home. The permanence of the link with Tibet is emphasised in the electoral system which requires that the Deputies who represent the three Tibetan Cholkas (provincial regions) of U-Tsang, Dotoe and Dhome be people belonging to these regions, although in fact they are elected from the exile constituencies in India, Nepal and the West. Of the 46 Deputies, ten represents the five Tibetan religious sects; they signify and represents the part that religious traditions have played in Tibetan polity though they no longer have the same influence. And finally, every Tibetan above the age of six pays a voluntary tax of at least two rupees a month to demonstrate support to the Government-in-exile and to confirm his or her exile status.
The first steps in educating the Tibetan exiles in democratic procedures were taken soon after the first wave of refugees arrived in India. The Dalai Lama had, in fact, initiated the process of democratisation in Tibet itself before being forced to flee to India. In his autobiography, My land and My People he recalls how he appointed a Reforms Committee of eminent citizens to redress the inequalities prevailing in Tibet, but the reforms were obstructed by the Chinese occupation. In his Foreword to the Constitution for Tibet drafted in 1963, the Dalai Lama stated: "Even prior to my departure from Tibet in March 1959, I had come to the conclusion that in the changing circumstances of the modern world, the system of governance in Tibet must be modified and amended so as to allow the elected representatives of the people to play a more effective role in guiding and shaping the social and economic policies of the State. I also firmly believed that this could only be done through democratic institutions based on social and economic justice."
Before the Chinese occupied Tibet, important decisions were taken by the Tsogdu, at National Parliament in which monks and various occupations were represented along with the Kalons and other officials. No direct elections were held, but the members of the Tsogdu and trade groups. The Tsogdu consisted of abbots of the three great monasteries and other monk-representatives of various classes and occupations, such as artisans, tradesmen, soldiers and boatsmen. The reforms introduced by the Dalai Lama could not be implemented prior to his leaving Tibet. Consequently, the community-in-exile had limited experience of democratic governance when they came to India. Yet, one of the first pronouncements made by the Dalai Lama after settling in India showed that he had already envisaged a process of democratisation that would maintain close links with the land they had been forced to leave. In January 1960, at Bodh Gaya (where Lord Buddha achieved enlightenment), he outlined a detailed programme to the large group of Tibetans gathered there. He advised them to set up an elected body with three exile representatives for each of the three cholkas and one each for the four religious sects. The link with Tibet was thus formalised. Election were duly held and the first elected representative body in Tibet's history-the Commission of Tibetan People's Deputies (CTPD) tood office on September 2, 1960. The Tibetan community observes his historic date as Democracy Day.
It took time for the Deputies to appreciate their responsibilities - they preferred to leave the supervision of the infant administration-in-exile to the Dalai Lama and the Kalons. Initially the role of the Deputies was merely formal since the CTPD had no secretariat and facilities were limited. In 1963, the importance of the Deputies was enhanced when the Parliament was entrusted with the authority to abolish the inherited traditional bipolar practice of appointing monks and lay officials to each office, and to abolish various hereditary titles and prerogatives. Then in 1966, the Deputies were authorised to oversee the working of the departments of the Government-in-exile. But since the Kalons were not responsible to them, the authority of the Deputies was limited.
| 
