By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 15: The legislative wing of the exile Tibetan government, known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration on Wednesday began the budget session of the 2017-18 fiscal year. This is the fifth session of the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.
The session, first of the new year, will deliberate on the financial aspect of the past months of the seven departments that are operational under CTA, and chart out the budget for the remaining fiscal year.
In the customary opening remarks, Speaker of the house, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel reiterated the objection of the Tibetan people and the TPiE over the continued subjugation of Tibetan people’s basic human rights inside Tibet and China’s lack of response to the official stand of the CTA, the Middle Way Approach, as well as the ongoing impasse of stalled dialogue between Tibetan and Chinese representatives.
With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Uprising inside Tibet, the biggest upheaval in Tibet in the recent year, the Speaker said, “Tibetans have staged numerous peaceful protests against China in the last 60 years, prominent among them were the 2008 pan-Tibet uprising and the wave of self-immolation protests that have swept Tibet since 2009.
“Most of the self-immolators have called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans. The Chinese government, instead of addressing their concerns, has resorted to distorting the truth and blaming the Tibetans themselves for creating trouble. Therefore, I urge China to assess the ground situation inside Tibet and fulfill the aspiration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and address the grievances of the Tibetan people,” he said.
The opening day of the session that will go on till March 24, proposed three official resolutions to mourn and acknowledge the self-immolators Tenga, Konpe and Tsekho, as well as Tibet supporter Dr N K Trikha, and former Tibetan MP Lobsang Tenzin. The house also proposed an official resolution to observe solidarity with the Tibetan people inside Tibet, a practice seen observed on the first day of the parliament sessions, over the years.
