Indian Government’s decision to keep its Cabinet Ministers away from the Felicitation Ceremony of His Holiness the Dalai Lama organised by All Party Parliamentary Forum for Tibet in collaboration with few other organisations at India Habitat Centre on 03 Nov 2007 stands in contravention of popular opinion in India and hence stands completely undemocratic.
On behalf of Indian Citizens, I condemn this shameful surrender of Indian Government to the dictates of China. It is a matter of fact that all the Indians are united in offering their deepest gratitude, respect and highest reverence for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his continued contribution towards promotion of human values, religious harmony and non-violence.
It is very strange to observe that our Indian Government felt apprehensive about Felicitation Ceremony of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the ground that the function is ”not in conformity with the foreign policy of the Government.” Such opinion of Government is definitely a result of immature advice. In fact if “Foreign Policy equations” are any criteria to judge “Conformity”, then His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s speech during US Congressional Gold Medal Award Ceremony should be welcomed by our government and the entire initiative to felicitate His Holiness the Dalai Lama should have been from Indian Government.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s observations during his speech while receiving US Congressional Gold Medal, illustrate why Indian Government should not shy away from felicitating him.
He said: “I believe that today’s economic success of both India and China, the two most populated nations with long history of rich culture, is most deserving. With their new found status, both of these two countries are poised to play important leading role on the world stage.”
On 3 Nov at India Habitat Centre he talked at length about his views on India and China. He even went to the extent of saying that he would be the first one to support “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai”, in this new era. Several times, in his speech in IHC he expressed his gratitude to Indian Government and Indian people terming India as “Guru (Teacher)” and as “Only Source of Wisdom”.
For us Indians, it is a very embarrassing situation to see our own government shying away from felicitating a figure like His Holiness. Decision makers with in present Government need to do a serious retrospection in this regard. History will document that there was a time when Indian Government was reluctant to admire and felicitate a personality like His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
As an Indian, I have no hesitation in admitting that I am ashamed over this unwise decision of Indian Government and again emphasize that the same is not supported by popular Indian Opinion.
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Presence of HH the Dalai Lama on Indian soil is a matter of great pride and honour for all the Indians. All the Indians are very happy about HH being awarded US Congressional Gold Medal for his many enduring and outstanding contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights and religious understanding. In fact, there is growing urgency that Indian Parliament recognizes and respects popular opinion of Indians about HH the Dalai Lama and Tibet.
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Issued By:
Anant Kumar Asthana
Campaigner for Tibet
Friends of Tibet (India),
&
Law Officer
Human Rights Law Network
Mob: 09259025656
Email: anant.asthana@gmail.com
