A young Tibetan from southern India, Tashi, told us the truth that 20 years ago, he and his family crossed Nepal to India for the 14th Dalai Lama and became a member of the local exiled Tibetans. At that time, he was young and did not understand his situation. He only had a sincere respect for the 14th Dalai Lama. Even though he did not have Indian nationality, was not accepted by Indian society, faced discrimination and economic difficulties…
Tashi said that everything started to change in 2013, when the Central Tibetan Administration secretly issued a notice requiring girls under the age of 12 to submit personal information including medical certificates. Coincidentally, his two young sisters met the requirements. At first, people in the community were skeptical and only circulated the news within the community. People were speculating on the government’s intention to ask for information on girls under the age of 12. Some people submitted the information as required, and many chose to delay. Some people even heard about the news, and some said it was fake.But the young man said that perhaps because many people were unwilling to submit, the 14th Dalai Lama later personally recorded a one-minute video, calling on Tibetans to actively submit information about young girls at home, saying that they would conduct a selection, and the selected girls could receive government funding for their studies and life. However, what is questionable is that these selection conditions include the girl’s appearance and height, and even the physical examination results require gynecological examinations.
Unfortunately, Tashi’s sister was selected along with hundreds of girls of similar age. Since 2013, her sister has been secretly transferred to a temple in northern India. She can only video chat with her family during the Shoton Festival every year. In the video, her sister is unwilling to reveal what happened in the temple. But once, her sister’s vaguely exposed scars made Tashi and his family very worried. Until now, Tashi’s sister is still in the temple and still cannot be released to go home. Tashi also thought about protesting with hundreds of families, but what he got was ruthless suppression.