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Tenzin Tsundue

Tenzin Tsundue (born 1975[2]) is a poet, writer and Tibetan refugee and activist.[3][4] As of 2019 he has been taken into preventive custody, arrested or jailed 16 times for short durations for his activism by Indian authorities, as India does not allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China activities in India.[2][5][6][7] When he was 22, he travelled to Tibet. However, he was arrested and sent back to India, "They told me I was born in India and so I did not belong to Tibet."[2]

Tenzin Tsundue
Tenzin, a human, waving a Free Tibet flag.
Tenzin Tsundue protesting across from Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao's hotel room in Bangalore in 2005.
Born1975
Manali[1]
EducationBA & MA English
Alma materLoyola College, Chennai
Mumbai University
Known forActivism and writing
Websitewww.tenzintsundue.com

He won the first-ever Outlook-Picador Award for Non-Fiction in 2001 for his work "My Kind of Exile".[8] He has published four books which have been translated into several languages: Crossing the Border (1999), Kora (2002), Semshook (2007), and Tsen-göl (2012). Tsundue's writings have also appeared in various publications around the world including the International PEN, Outlook, and The Times of India. In 2002 the Indian edition of the international fashion magazine Elle, named him among India's 50 most stylish people along with the Dalai Lama.[9] Tenzin Tsundue joined Friends of Tibet (India) in 1999 and is the current General Secretary. Tsundue lives in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, North India.

Background edit

Tsundue's parents were forced to leave their country, Tibet, in 1959 fearing persecution by the People's Republic of China.[2]

When they reached India, they worked as mountain road construction labourers in Masumari, Bir, Kullu, and Manali. "Hundreds of Tibetans who came across into India died in those first few months as they could not bear the heat of summer, and the monsoon caught them in poor health. But the camp lived on and had many shifts along the road. Tsundue was born somewhere along that journey, in a makeshift tent along a roadside".[10] Once when he asked his mother for his date of birth, she replied, 'Who had time to record a child's birth when everyone was tired and hungry?'. He did his schooling from Patlikuhal village, Kullu valley and Dharamshala, and later went on to study English at Loyola College, Chennai and Mumbai University.[2][4]

Writing edit

His first book of poems Crossing the Border was published while pursuing a master's degree at Mumbai University. He won the Outlook-Picador Award for Non-Fiction in 2001. His second book, Kora has been translated into French and Malayalam (and was also turned into an award-nominated play[11] called "So Many Socks"). His third book, Semshook, a compilation of essays on the Tibetan freedom movement was published in March 2007. His writings have also appeared in on a regular basis in the Tibetan[12] and Indian media and in international publications.

When I was born
My mother said,
you are a refugee.

— From the poem "Refugee", from the 2002 collection Kora[13]

Activism edit

 
Protest against China in India, 19 April 2008

Tsundue has been involved in Tibet's independence movement since his student days. But he caught international media attention in January 2002 when he climbed the scaffolding outside the hotel where PRC Premier Zhu Rongji was staying in Mumbai; he displayed a banner with the words "Free Tibet: China, Get Out" and a Tibetan flag while shouting pro-Tibetan slogans before being arrested by Indian police.[14][15]

In April 2005 he repeated a similar one-man protest when PRC Premier Wen Jiabao was visiting the southern city of Bangalore. Standing on the balcony of a 200-foot-high tower at the Indian Institute of Science, he unfurled a red banner that read "Free Tibet" while shouting "Wen Jiabao, you cannot silence us". As a result of his actions, the Indian police ordered a travel ban and Tsundue was ordered not to leave the town of Dharamshala, when the Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India in November 2006.[16]

In 2008, Tsundue announced his intention of taking part in a return march from Dharamshala to Tibet, that was being organized as a part of the "Tibetan People's Uprising Movement", a united effort put together by five major Tibetan NGOs. Tsundue has been wearing a red band around his head since 2002 which he says is the mark of his pledge that he would work for the freedom of his country, and would never take it off until Tibet is free.

Tenzin wrote in the Hindustan Times in 2019 that, "whenever the president of China visits India, the Indian police locates me, no matter where I am and throws me into the nearest central jail".[17] As of 2019, he has been arrested on 16 separate occasions.[2] Before Xi's visit in 2019, he was jailed in Puzhal Central Prison with 13 other Tibetans for 12 days and was the last to be released.[2]

Walk a Mile for Tibet edit

 
 
 
75km
50miles
 
Dharamshala
 
Delhi
 
Sonipat
 
Karnal
 
Ambala
 
Mohali
 
Anandpur Sahib Gurdwara
 
Una
 
Kangra valley
Planned route[18]

On 12 February 2021, the day of the Tibetan New Year, Tenzin started a 500 km walk from Dharamshala to New Delhi seeking that India re-visits its "one-China policy".[19][20] The main aim of the walk "is to highlight the issue of Tibet".[4] He plans to cover the distance in one month, reaching New Delhi on 10 March, the Tibetan Uprising Day.[18]

As he walks to Delhi, he distributes pamphlets along the way and has crowdsourced translations into other regional languages to reach a wider audience. Tenzin says that he is also "informing people about India’s border security" in three languages. He walks holding both the Tibetan flag as well as the Indian tricolour.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ "My kind of exile". Tenzin Tsundue. 12 March 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2021. I was born in Manali
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Deeksha, Johanna (21 October 2019). "Arrested during Xi's visit, Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue has been jailed 16 times. Here's why". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Dialogue with Tenzin Tsundue". www.phayul.com. 26 October 2005. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d Singhal, Pallavi (26 February 2021). "'In Tibet's independence resides India's security'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Hurling abuses, TN cops dragged Tibetan students out of hostels: Poet Tenzin Tsundue". The New Indian Express. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021. Did you face any harassment? The cops were absolutely professional. They were instructed not to abuse their power. My biggest problem was, personally, as an activist for 25 years, I could not protest that day.
  6. ^ "Tibetan Poet, 9 Others Taken Into Preventive Custody Ahead of Chinese President's Visit". The Wire. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  7. ^ https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-s-tibet-stand-same-sinha/story-K60OTDv8ULYYl2RM960UfI.html
  8. ^ "Fourth Outlook/Picador Non-Fiction Competition". Outlook India. 25 February 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  9. ^ India's 50 Most Stylish People: The ELLE Hotlist! | http://www.friendsoftibet.org/mediaonfot/20020701.html
  10. ^ Saranya & Bolleddu 2016, p. 80.
  11. ^ Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards | http://metawards.com/v1/so-many-socks/
  12. ^ Tsundue, Tenzin (29 July 2014). "TO BE OR NOT TO BE A CITIZEN: The Tibetan dilemma | Tibetan Review". Tibetan Review. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  13. ^ Dhompa, Tsering Wangmo (6 May 2013). "Writing 'About' (Part I)". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. ^ Mishra, Pankaj (18 December 2005). "The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama". The New York Times. p. 58. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  15. ^ D'Souza, Dilip (22 January 2002). "Dilip D'Souza on Tenzin Tsundue's struggle for a free Tibet". rediff.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  16. ^ "Travel ban for Tibetan activist". BBC Online. 14 November 2006. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  17. ^ Tsundue, Tenzin (23 October 2019). "India's One-China policy is flawed. It must be reworked | Analysis". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Tibetan starts march, wants change in India's China policy". Tribune India. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Tibetan activist begins march to Delhi, seeks change in India's 'one-China policy'". The New Indian Express. ANI. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Tibetan activist begins march to Delhi, seeks change in one-China policy". Hindustan Times. ANI. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.

Bibliography

Further reading edit

External links edit

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