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.
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.
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.’
