DHARAMSHALA, January 11: Tibetan parliamentarians on a lobbying campaign in south India wrapped up the second leg of their campaigning in the state of Andhra Pradesh with a press conference and a public event during which local Indians called for a review of India’s China policy.
Addressing the press in the state’s capital city, Hyderabad, the Tibetan parliamentary delegation introduced the ‘Solidarity with Tibet’ Campaign and screened a short documentary film on the current crisis in Tibet.
According to a member of the delegation and Tibetan MP Lobsang Yeshi, members of the press showed keen interest in the campaign and covered it widely.
As part of the campaign, a public event was held at Indra park in the city yesterday evening. More than 300 people comprising of local Indians, Tibetan college students in the city and from Vijaywada, and Tibetan sweater sellers took part in the event.
Local Indian dignitaries, including G. Niranjan, Congress Party General Secretary, Narander Rao, Congress MLA, Murthy, President of Jai Bharat, Ranga Raja, retired Colonel of the Indian Army, Ven. Khemachara Bhikkhu, Chairman of Siddhartha Buddha Vihara Trust, Dr M.N. Rajesh, Assistant Professor at the University of Hyderabad addressed the gathering.
Niranjan, the general secretary of the ruling Congress party, while lauding the Tibetan peoples’ undying spirit, reassured his party’s support for the Tibetan cause.
“The Tibetan people’s aspiration will be fulfilled. The oppression in Tibet by the Communist China will end. Things will change. We fully support your non-violent struggle and we will be with you always,” he said.
Representing Jai Bharat, Murthy, who came with over 50 Indian supporters, questioned the Indian government’s China policy, slamming it for not representing the will of the Indian people.
“Tibet was never a part of China. Indian government’s policy does not represent the will of the Indian people. It does not represent the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi. We urge the Indian government to review its policy on China,” the grassroot leader said.
The event closed with a candle light vigil in solidarity with the Tibetan self-immolators and prayers for world peace.
The Tibetan parliamentary delegation had earlier met with state’s Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy and other prominent ministers and MLAs as part of their lobbying campaign.
The Dharamshala based Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile launched the month long all-India lobbying campaign aimed at garnering wider support for international intervention in the ongoing crisis inside Tibet.
Three parliamentary delegations are currently lobbying in different parts of India, raising awareness on the critical situation in Tibet heralded by the 95 known cases of self-immolations in Tibet since 2009. The self-immolators have demanded freedom and the return of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
