Dharamsala, June 3 – The Central Tibetan Administration of the Dalai Lama has sought support from the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for providing land and livelihood to Tibetans in India.
In a letter to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Kashag (cabinet of the Tibetan Government-in-exile) expressed the hope that the new government would continue the earlier tradition and treat Tibetans like any other citizen of the country.
Congratulating Dr Manmohan Singh on becoming the Prime Minister, the Kashag said ever since India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru extended his government’s assistance to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, almost every subsequent political party coming to power has continued the support and cooperation.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan government-in-exile is finally coming out with its formal reaction to the White Paper released by the Chinese government titled “Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet” on May 23.
According to sources, Tibetan ministers and senior officials are in the process of holding meetings to chalk out the modalities of their reaction. It is expected to be out by the weekend.
Even though various Tibetan organisations in McLeodganj, have condemned the White Paper, there has been no word from the Tibetan government on the issue so far.
Asked if the government was also getting public opinion on the it, Masood Butt, press coordinator, said, “The discussions are confined to the high-ups of the government and private organisations have not been consulted so far.’’
The reaction would be formally released by the office of the Secretary, Department of Information and International Relations, Tibetan government.
Through the White Paper China has asked the Dalai Lama to give up his bid for Tibetan independence. “It is hoped that the Dalai Lama will look reality in the face, make a correct judgement of the situation and do something beneficial for the progress of China and the region of Tibet,’’ reads the paper.
T.T. Karma Chophel, president, National Democratic Party of Tibet, said the only good thing about the paper is that the Chinese government has made it clear that they are not going to concede anything more than status quo.
