Assam stands in support of Tibet

Tibetan Parliamentary delegation with the Honourable Governor of the State of Assam, JB Patnaik DHARAMSHALA, May 17: Political leaders from across party lines in the northeast Indian state of Assam have come out in strong support of finding a lasting resolution for Tibet following lobbying efforts by exile Tibetan parliamentarians. A three-member Tibetan parliamentary delegation, led by former speaker of the Dharamshala based Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile have been on a six-day lobby campaign which concluded yesterday. The Tibetan parliamentarians met with the Honourable Governor of Assam, JB Patnaik, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly, senior ministers of the state cabinet, and several other national and state lawmakers in the state capital Guwahati. According to MP Dhardon Sharling, a member of the delegation, Governor Patnaik “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,” Governor Patnaik told the delegation while expressing the need for “expedient intervention of United Nations in the escalating crisis inside Tibet.” Calls for UN intervention on Tibet also came from the Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Pranab Kumar Gogoi. “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,” Gogoi told the Tibetan MPs. The delegation met with Members of the Indian Parliament, including, Bhubaneshwar Kalita (Congress State President and also observer for the All India Parliamentary Forum for Tibet), Raman Das (BJP), and Bijoy Chakravarty (BJP). Successive meetings were also held with leaders of the four major political parties of the State. “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,’” Sharling said. Tibetan Parliamentary delegation with Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Pranab Kumar Gogoi The Tibetan MPs also met with state minister and Members of Legislative Assembly, including, Minister for Planning and Development, Tanka Bahadur Rai, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Basanta Das, Minister for Cooperation and Border Areas Development, Siddique Ahmed. During their meetings, 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,” Sharling said. Since 2009, as many as 117 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire calling for freedom and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. 100 Tibetans have died in the spate of fiery protests. The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile announced the all-India lobbying campaign in December last as part of the exile Tibetan administration’s attempts at garnering wider support for international intervention in the ongoing crisis inside Tibet. The Assam leg of the campaign concluded with a press conference held yesterday at the Press Club of Guwahati. Following their visit to the state, the northeast zone delegation will take their campaign to the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. In January, the delegation had carried out lobbying campaign in West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh, and Jharkhand.