181 conditions of Tibetan exile in India are also germane. During the first fifty years of exile, most Tibetans lived in subsistence, lacking knowledge of Indian languages and depending on the Tibetan government-in-exile for rights and resources from India. Additionally, the second-generation Tibetans were often too young and/or confined to their settlements to act without the support of the government-in-exile. It was only after 2010 that Tibetan appeals to Indian courts opened a pathway to citizenship. This “movement of law” marks a particular moment in Indian legal history. The “movement of law” is often understood through processes of “colonialism, religious missionization, independence movements, global legal imperialism, and borderless multinational economies” (Nader, 2002). Anthropological insights also reveal how those marginalized and excluded from formal political arenas engage with the state, employing “political societies” to negotiate with the state (Chatterjee, 2004) and collectively “roar” as political performance to drive change (Mitchell, 2023). The Tibetan example highlights an instance where those labeled noncitizens have motivated transformations in governance structures by leveraging legal mechanisms. Even though Tibetans are a fraction of the world’s most populous country, their efforts disrupt the prevailing national orthodoxy. The state responded, as noted above, by placing conditions upon the citizenship-on-offer. The subsequent section explores diverse positions Tibetan refugees hold toward this offer, disaggregating the three dimensions of citizenship—status, rights, and identity—based on their unique sociopolitical positions and experiences as refugees in India. IT IS JUST CONVENIENCE Like Namgyal Dolkar, Woeser was born to Tibetan refugee parents in India. However, she was born in the sixties, during the early years of exile, in a remote settlement in Northeast India. She has lived much of her adult life in Gangchen Kyishiong, the precincts of the CTA in Dharamsala. GangKyi, as it is known, houses the Tibetan parliament, the monastery of the state oracle, various cultural and administrative buildings, and housing quarters for members of the CTA. Between 2014 and 2015, I lived in GangKyi as a student of the Tibetan language. That’s where I met Woeser. Woeser was deeply embedded in her community. Her house was flooded with relatives and friends, some visiting, some seeking temporary refuge. These entanglements were cultivated through care and immersion in the social world of Tibetans and were an integral part of her sense of being Tibetan. When I’d visit Woeser, she would often cook rajma chawal (red kidney beans and rice) for me. Rajma is a staple in North Indian households. But what made Woeser’s preparation special was that she remembered my delight when I tasted it on previous stays, and she took great care to prepare it when I visited. This care that she showed to me was an extension of an ethos of care in Tibetan settlements. Migrating communities from Himalayan regions create “webs of belonging” that “keep people at once beholden to, and endeared to one another” (Craig, 2020, 10). These “webs of belonging” both mitigate the precarity of statelessness and collectively cultivate Tibetan social worlds in foreign lands. During lunch on March 11, 2018, Woeser’s house was uncharacteristically empty. Afterward, we retreated to Woeser’s terrace garden. She introduced me to the plants she had nurtured with great care, through their Tibetan or Hindi names. Our conversation turned to Woeser’s older sister, Pema. Pema had a vivacious personality, an unabashed boldness coupled with style and glamour—a sharp contrast to the quiet charm of Woeser. Woeser affectionately called her “hero-nie,” a colloquial pronunciation of heroine that you hear in North India. Pema had recently emigrated to Canada. “Would you go to Canada to visit your acha?” I asked. I knew Pema’s departure would have affected Woeser. “No, it is too expensive.” She paused but continued, “Besides, I like it here.” For Tibetans without Indian passports, international travel often meant spending time, effort, and money they did not have to spare. However, Woeser, by her birthdate, could legally obtain a passport. I asked her if she had applied for it. She whispered, “The Tibetan government has told us that if we take up Indian citizenship, we will lose our jobs.” 15552934, 2024, 2, Downloaded from https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/plar.12580 by Test, Wiley Online Library on [07/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License DISAGGREGATING CITIZENSHIP