By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA 5 Feb: Various Indian news agencies have mistakenly reported on the eligibility of Tibetans born after 1987 to exercise their voting rights in Indian elections, citing statements made by Kuldeep Singh Pathaniam, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker, during a meeting in Shimla with a Tibetan parliamentary delegation on Monday. 

“Tibetans born in India after 1987 are eligible to vote in Indian elections,” the Himachal Headlines quoted the Vidhan Sabha Speaker as saying, while his statements on The Hindustan Times read, “Tibetans born in India after 1987 have been granted voting rights by the Himachal Pradesh government, integrating them further into the democratic framework of the country” during his meeting with the Tibetan delegates. 

Since the constitution of India grants citizenship and voting rights only to a Tibetan born between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987 or if either of their parents is an Indian citizen for those born after 1 July 1987, the Tibet Express reached out to Tsewang Phuntsok, CTA’s Chief Representative Office of Shimla, who was present at the meeting, to confirm the accuracy of these reports and the discrepancies it has caused.  

Tsewang said, “It has been a mistake, a sort of slip of the tongue on the part of the Himachal Speaker, we have reached out to them to clarify the matter to which they sort of recognised their mistake and assured to make changes later”. 

Tsewang further stated that “as far as we know, Tibetans born between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987 are eligible to exercise their voting right per the Indian constitution”.

The voting right to Tibetans in India was first granted on 7 February 2014, when the Election Commission of India directed all state and Union Territory Chief Electoral Officers to register Tibetan Refugees born in India before July 1987 and their offspring in the electoral roll.

It is stated in the directives that Electoral Registration Officers should not deny enrolment to the children of Tibetan Refugees where they are satisfied that (1) the applicant was born in India, (2) he/she was born on or after 25 Jan 1950 but before 1 July 1987, and (3) he/she is ordinarily resident in the constituency in which the application for enrolment has been made.

In this case, Tenzin Choephel, who was born in Mcleod Ganj Dharamsala on 18 November 1985, challenged the government’s denial of his passport application. The authorities had rejected his application on the grounds that children of Tibetan refugees could not automatically receive Indian citizenship. 

While the authorities insisted that citizenship required a separate application under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the court referenced a precedent-setting Delhi High Court decision (W.P.(C) 12179/2009) which had established that anyone born to Tibetan parents in India between 26 January 1950, and 1 July 1987, automatically qualified for citizenship by birth under Section 3(1)(a) of the Act. 

The Karnataka High Court concurred with this interpretation, leading to the Election Commission’s subsequent directive on voter registration.