Tibetan refugees elect Babu Kalsang as local leader in Nepal

Kathmandu, Jun 7: Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu elected their local leaders from Bauddha and Jorpati. Although the group is living in Nepal as refugees, they have elected Babu Kalsang as their leader by holding local level elections.

 

 

 

 

Jorpati is a populated locality and is located in Bagmati Zone, Central Region, while Bauddha is situated nearby to Phubari, and close to Gumba in Nepal. Babu Kalsang was elected as the chief of the Tibetan refugee camps in Kathmandu metropolitan city 6, Bauddha and Khampa camps in Jorpati. In the election, where 1028 votes were cast, Babu Kalsang got 577 votes and Furbu Tansi got 476 votes.

 

 

 

 

 

The Nepal govt has allowed Tibetan refugees to hold internal elections for the sake of democracy and human rights. Earlier, the govt of Nepal had not allowed the election. In this regard, organizations active in the field of refugees were urging the Nepal govt to hold elections for the Tibetan refugees.

 

According to the 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet has been occupied and ruled over by China and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) since 1951 in "a calculated and systematic strategy aimed at the destruction of their national and cultural identities." This has often been described by the Tibetan people as cultural genocide.