DHARAMSHALA, January 9: Tibetan Parliamentarians on an all-India lobbying campaign for global intervention in the crisis in Tibet have met with the Honourable Chief Ministers of Uttaranchal and Andhra Pradesh states.
Top leaders of Uttranchal state, which shares its borders with Tibet, met with the north zone Tibetan Parliamentary delegation over the last few days in the state capital Dehradun. CM Vijay Bahuguna, Speaker of the State Assembly Govind Singh Kungwal, former speaker Harbans Kapoor, MLAs, and other high officials received the delegation and expressed their support for the Tibet issue.
The delegation apprised the Indian leaders about the recent wave of self-immolations and the ongoing critical situation in Tibet and urged both the Indian state and its people to put pressure on the Chinese government to address the grievances of the Tibetan self-immolators and resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Later, the parliamentary delegation addressed a press conference and also led a public rally in Dehradun in which around a thousand Tibetans, including monks, nuns, students, and Tibetans from the nearby areas took part.
A special interfaith prayer service was also held in honour of the Tibetan self-immolators. Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Islamic priests and religious leaders performed prayers during the service.
The north zone parliamentary delegation will now take their campaign to Bihar state.
Down south, a group of six parliamentarians began the second leg of their month long campaign in Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.
Fresh from their meetings with top leaders in the adjoining state of Karnataka, the delegation met with the honourable Chief Minister of Andhara Pradesh Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy along with his cabinet ministers and MLAs Ranga Reddy, Vijay Kumar, and Srinivas and submitted a memorandum seeking support from the state and people of India.
CM Reddy expressed his concern over the Tibet issue and assured the Tibetan parliamentarians that he will forward the memorandum to the Central Government in New Delhi for appropriate attention and action.
The Tibetan delegates also visited the party headquarters of the ruling Congress party, BJP, the main opposition party, and the regional Telugu Desam Party.
At the state BJP headquarters, the delegation met with G Kishan Reddy, MLA and State President; Ravi Mehra, State Convenor; and K. V. S. N. Raju, Secretary.
The state lawmaker re-affirmed his party’s consistent support to the Tibetan cause and assured that the cause of Tibet is “very close to the heart” of the Indian people.
The south zone parliamentary delegation will be organising a major public meeting at the Indra Park in the Hyderabad tomorrow where a number of local Indian leaders and Tibet supporters are expected to come and show their solidarity.
The month-long All-India ‘Solidarity with Tibet’ campaign initiated by Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is part of the exile Tibetan administration’s attempts at garnering wider support for international intervention in the ongoing crisis inside Tibet.
