"Barely a year into exile, 60 men representing diverse regional and religious groups of Tibetans in exile made an oath to the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, India, to follow his wishes to remain united and to build unity among Tibetans. Accepting this traditional contract of unwavering loyalty, burden of debt, and renouncement of dissent, the Dalai Lama initiated the new democratic system for the Tibetan nation. However, a group of individuals who had been chieftains and lamas in regions of Kham, East Tibet, prior to their escape from Tibet met secretly in New Delhi in 1966 to establish the organization they named Bhod Dedon Tsokpa (Tibetan Welfare Association) to protect the group's diverse regional histories and religious traditions. Critics of the organization named them Tsho Khag bcu Gsum, "Organization of 13" or "13 groups," for the group's 13 core leaders. The formation of the TWA established two competing narratives for the Tibetan nation-to-come in the first two decades of exile politics: the goal of unity represented by the exile polity and the marginal narrative of the Tibetan Welfare Association (TWA), who feared that unity would suppress intracultural and religious differences and minority histories"--
The Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet in 1959 after its occupation by China and established a government in exile in India. There, Tibetan leaders aimed to bring together displaced people from varied religious traditions and local loyalties under the banner of unity. To contest Chinese colonization and stand up for self-determination, Tibetan refugees were asked to shed regional allegiances and embrace a vision of a shared national identity.
The Politics of Sorrow tells the story of the Group of Thirteen, a collective of chieftains and lamas from the regions of Kham and Amdo, who sought to preserve Tibet’s cultural diversity in exile. They established settlements in India in the mid-1960s with the goal of protecting their regional and religious traditions, setting them apart from the majority of Tibetan refugees, who saw a common tradition as the basis for unifying the Tibetan people. Tsering Wangmo Dhompa traces these different visions for Tibetan governance and identity, juxtaposing the Tibetan government in exile’s external struggle for international recognition with its lesser-known internal struggle to command loyalty within the diaspora. She argues that although unity was necessary for democracy and independence, it also drew painful boundaries between those who belonged and those who didn’t. Drawing on insightful interviews with Tibetan elders and an exceptional archive of Tibetan exile texts, The Politics of Sorrow is a compelling narrative of a tumultuous time that reveals the complexities of Tibetan identities then and now.
The Politics of Sorrow tells the story of the Group of Thirteen, a collective of chieftains and lamas from the regions of Kham and Amdo, who sought to preserve Tibet’s cultural diversity in exile.
