Learn about Tibetan resistance at this archival exhibition in Colaba

We are displaying stories that have never been properly told or appreciatedrdquo says film director Ritu Sarin who alongside her husband Tenzing Sonam created an archival exhibition of the Tibetan resistance entitled Shadow CircusThe focal point of this exhibition is the Tibetan guerrilla resistance which began in the 1950s as a response to the Communist Chinese occupation of Tibet The CIA became involved in the Tibetan uprising in the late 1950s Codenamed STCIRCUS its covert operation ran for over a decade before being abandoned in 1969 once US foreign policy became more conciliatory in its approach to China The Tibetan resistance which collapsed in 1974 is frequently reduced to a footnote in the story of the Cold War epoch but Sarin and Sonam are intent on changing thatThey tell midday over email ldquoIt was a struggle that continued even after the fall of Lhasa in March 1959 when the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India A fresh armed movement was then launched from India and Nepal which was partly supported by the CIA and later by the Indian intelligence services Many Tibetans sacrificed their lives in this battle and we felt it was very important to keep the memory of the resistance alive and to reexamine it in the context of the continuing struggle against the Chinese occupation of TibetrdquoFor the married couple at the helm of this project the inspiration behind the archival display goes beyond a mere interest in untold history and instead is rooted in Sonamrsquos fascinating family background The Dharamshalabased writer and film director is the son of Lhamo Tsering a Tibetan freedom fighter who was imprisoned in Nepal for seven years for his role in the resistanceRitu Sarin and Tenzing SonamldquoTseringrsquos involvement in the resistance happened by chancerdquo the couple tells us ldquoHe came from a small village in the borderlands of northeastern Tibet where even in his childhood Tibetans were already swamped by Chinese settlers In the mid1940s as a student in Nanking he met Gyalo Thondup the Dalai Lamarsquos elder brother It was an encounter that would change his liferdquo Thondup now aged 95 and residing in Kalimpong West Bengal remains one of the most wellknown individuals in Tibetan historySarin and Sonam have worked together for over 30 years Their film production company White Crane Films is committed to bringing the legacy of Tsering and his fellow Tibetans to light Shadow Circus which began on July 27 comprises Tseringrsquos personal records of the resistance Sarin and Sonam tell us ldquoHe saved thousands of photographs documents letters and maps After his death in 1999 these came into our custody As part of the Shadow Circus exhibition we will be displaying some of these artefacts in conjunction with material we gathered in the course of our own research These include excerpts from video interviews that we made with former resistance fighters and CIA officersrdquo Lhamo Tsering recorded the struggle in photos and documentsThe couple explains that the decision to display Shadow Circus in India is an intentional one ldquoMost Indians today especially the younger generation are unaware of Tibetrsquos recent history They take it for granted that Indiarsquos northern border is with China but the reality is that until China invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950 India and China never shared a common border We feel it is important for Indians to have a fresh perspective on the IndoChina situation with particular emphasis on the role of Tibet which has always been a buffer between the two countriesrdquoPrimarily however Sarin and Sonam want to use Shadow Circus to tell the truth about a resistance that has so often been undermined and forgotten Historians often omit this story to favour the nonviolent aspects of the struggleldquoWhen we look at the annals of this era there is very little mention of Tibetrdquo Sarin says adding ldquoRelative to the larger battles that were being fought between the West the Soviet Union and China Tibet was simply as one CIA officer put it lsquoa nuisance operationrsquo An insignificant episode And yet for Tibetans it remains an integral and indelible part of their continuing freedom struggle one where thousands put their lives on the line for their country fighting against hopeless odds for independencerdquoWHAT Shadow Circus A personal archive of Tibetan Resistance 19571954WHEN July 27 to August 26WHERE Experimenter Colaba