Tibetans hold a prayer meet in Darjeeling on Tuesday to remember the victims of the earthquake in China. (Reuters)

Darjeeling, May 20: Dorjee Tsten belonged to a landowning family in Pari, Tibet. But he had to flee from his phayul (fatherland) when he was just eight to escape Chinese “oppression”.

Today, the 58-year-old Tsten as a refugee in India has to work hard to eke out a living. But even then, he did not think twice before organising a prayer in memory of thousands of Chinese who died in the recent earthquake.

Tsten, along with the 653 members of the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre in Darjeeling, is organising the bum doj (one lakh prayers) which will be conducted by 15 lamas over three days at the centre.

The centre, which was set up on October 2, 1959, is home to Tibetan refugees, many of whom had a better life in their homeland. Today, they earn livelihood by weaving Tibetan carpets which are exported across the world. Their children study in the Montesorri run at the Centre itself.

Despite having lost everything, the Tibetans still believe that the face of humanity should not be flecked by politics.

“Things may be difficult for us here. But that does not mean that we are against all Chinese. The prevailing situation is the handiwork of the political leaders. The Chinese oppression is largely because of its political set-up,” said Tsten who, along with six other families, had fled Tibet through Bhutan in 1964 before coming to Darjeeling in 1971.

Tsten, who looks after the welfare of the centre, has played a key role in holding the prayer service, along with the Tibetan Solidarity Committee and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC).

Tsten also talked about 10 relatives in Tibet whom he has never met after having fled his phayul.

Among the group of mourners were also young Tibetans like Nima Dorjee, president of the TYC, who was born in India.

“When I went to Delhi to protest against the Olympic torch rally, I, along with eight friends from Darjeeling, were picked up by police on April 17. We were locked up for 14 days before being released from Tihar jail,” said Dorjee.