DHARAMSHALA, JULY 11: The Tibetan Parliament in Exile has urged Chinese president Xi Jinping to allow a Tibetan parliamentary delegation into Tibet to asses the situation inside Tibet.
The Tibetan parliament had written a letter to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on June 17 asking it to convey its request to the Chinese president. “The letter was delivered to the Chinese Embassy on June 19. However, there has been no response from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi,” a statement from the Tibetan parliament said.
The Tibetan parliament lamented that the peaceful protests by Tibetans over the years have been met with violent crackdown, torture, arrests and imprisonment. “Especially since the 2008 nationwide protests in Tibet and self immolation protests by 130 Tibetans since 2009, China has escalated its repression instead of addressing the issues and demands raised by the self-immolators,” the statement said.
The Tibetan parliament expressed hope that the new Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping will take a step towards resolving the issue of Tibet and resumption of talks between the two sides through a realistic and pragmatic approach.
“To assess the real situation inside Tibet, we conveyed our request through the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi to President Xi Jinping to allow a Tibetan parliamentary delegation into Tibet. And we are reiterating our request today.”
The Tibetan parliament also appealed the Tibet support groups and various international organizations to provide help towards fulfilling the request.
The decision to request for a visit by its delegation into Tibet was reached after deliberations during the Tibetan parliament’s session on March 20, 2014 and subsequent meetings of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Parliament on April 17, 2014 and June 5, 2014.
The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, based in Dharamshala, which also serves as the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, is the highest legislative organ of the exile polity.
The current 15th Tibetan Parliament has 44 members, who are elected representing the three traditional provinces, four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and the traditional Bon religion of Tibet.
The members are directly elected by Tibetan exiles above the age of 18.
