Assam State leaders urge United Nations intervention in the Tibet crisis Political parties pledge support for Parliamentary resolution on Tibet

Assam State leaders urge United Nations intervention in the Tibet crisis
 Political parties pledge support for Parliamentary resolution on Tibet

Guwahati, May 16, 2013: The 6-day lobby campaign in Assam concluded today at Guwahati following a press briefing by the Tibetan Parliamentary delegation at the Press Club of Guwahati. A 3-member Tibetan Parliamentary delegation called on the political leaders, bureaucrats and intellectuals, in the Indian State of Assam for stronger expressions of solidarity and support to finding a lasting solution to the Tibetan struggle.

Honourable Governor of the State, Shri J.B. Patnaik, received the delegation at Raj Bhavan on May 11. The Governor lamented the unprecedented spate of self-immolations inside Tibet and said that ‘it should stop as the stone- hearted Chinese leadership will not be moved by such acts.’ “One must survive to struggle,” said the Governor who served as the former Chief Minister of Odisha.

The Governor expressed the need for ‘expedient intervention of United Nations in the escalating crisis inside Tibet.’ Honourable Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA), Shri Pranab Kumar Gogoi reiterated the same. “Lone, isolated voices across the globe will not undo the atrocities in Tibet, instead a tenacious and resolute action from the United Nations will effectuate the effective addressing of the plight” said Gogoi.

Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Shri Bhimananda Tanti expressed appreciation for the ‘non-violent movement and the unflinching spirit of the Tibetan people.’

Over the 6-day lobby campaign in the State capital, the delegation met with Members of Indian Parliament: Rajya Sabha MP Shri Bhubaneshwar Kalita (Congress State President and also observer for the All India Parliamentary Forum for Tibet), Lok Sabha MP Shri Raman Das (BJP), Lok Sabha MP Smt Bijoy Chakravarty (BJP). Successive meetings with the leaders of the four major political parties of the State: Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), All India United Democratic Front party (UDF) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) proved successful. The delegation also briefed Shri Sarbananda Sonowali - BJP State President and former Lok Sabha MP and D. Bora -Secretariat member of Communist Party of India (CPI).

The Parliamentarians and party leaders concurred with the view that ‘India has a single, united voice on the Tibetan issue,’ and pledged steadfast support for the passing of an ‘All-Party Parliamentary Resolution on the Tibet crisis’. Assam has 21 members in the Indian Parliament with a breakdown of 14 in Lok Sabha and 7 in Rajya Sabha including Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh who filed for his re-nomination yesterday at the State Capital.

The Tibetan delegation met with the Ministers of the State: Minister for Planning and Development, Shri Tanka Bahadur Rai, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Shri Basanta Das, Minister for Cooperation and Border areas development, Shri Siddique Ahmed.

 The delegation also met with members of Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA): MLA Shri Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (former Chief Minister of Assam and now party president of AGP), MLA Captain Robin Bordoloi (INC), MLA Shri Sherman Ali Ahmed, (AIDUF) and MLA Shri Monowar Hussain (AIDUF).

The other 122 MLAs of Assam with whom the delegation couldn’t engage in a direct face-to-face meeting were apprised of the campaign and its goals through a memorandum sent via priority mail.

The delegation visited the National Law College in the capital and met with the Vice Chancellor Dr. Gurjeet Singh and Registrar Kausar J Hilaly.

Since the year 2009, the Tibetans inside Tibet have resorted to a new heightened form of non-violent political protests: that of self-immolation. Since February 27, 2009 till April 24, 2013, 117 Tibetans (men, women, monks, nuns) have set themselves alight protesting the brutal Chinese rule and 100 of them have succumbed to their injuries.  They have made a clarion call for: freedom inside Tibet and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama into Tibet. Tibet today remains under virtual lockdown and a communications blackout thus exacerbating the situation.

 This year the Tibetan Parliament in exile launched a massive ‘All-India Lobby Campaign’ to highlight the critical situation inside Tibet and to seek bolstered support of the Indian leaders and people while alongside calling for immediate global intervention to end the crisis inside Tibet.

While deeming the unflinching support of the Indian Government and its people towards the Tibetan people as significant, the delegation appealed the State leaders for substantial and public expressions of solidarity and support amid the unprecedented spate of self-immolations by Tibetans inside Tibet and the subsequent deepening crackdown by Chinese Government. The delegates also urged India to engage in urgent diplomatic actions that assert multilateral pressure on the Chinese leadership to address the true grievances of the Tibetan people inside Tibet.

Led by former speaker Pema Jungney, the delegation also includes two women parliamentarians- Yangchen Dolkar and Dhardon Sharling. The first phase of the ‘East and Central India’ lobbying campaign was held in the month of January in four Indian states: West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Four North-East States: Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya constitute the second phase of the ‘All-India Lobby Campaign.’