Jan 17, 2013

Tibet: India Senior Minister Pledges To Raise Tibet Issue


Shivpal Singh Yadav, Minister of Public Works in Uttar Pradesh, has pledged in a letter to His Holiness the Dali Lama to raise the issue of Tibet before the Indian Parliament.

Below is an article published by Phayul.com:

 

A senior minister in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has pledged to raise the issue of Tibet in the Indian Parliament.

Shivpal Singh Yadav, Minister of Public Works Department, made the pledge in a letter addressed to the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which he issued to a visiting Tibetan parliamentary delegation in the state capital Lucknow.

In the letter, the senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party has expressed his support to the Tibetan cause, objected China’s failed policies in Tibet, and vowed to raise the Tibetan issue in the Indian Parliament.

The north zone Tibetan parliamentary delegation, after successfully lobbying with Indian leaders and leading awareness campaigns in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttranchal, met with several leaders across party lines in Uttar Pradesh.

Pushing for international intervention in the ongoing crisis in Tibet, the Tibetan delegation met with leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Congress Party. According to the delegation members, Indian leaders across the spectrum expressed their solidarity and support for Tibet.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, MP Dawa Tsering said, “We have got support from the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and even assurances from the ruling party in other states. We hope to get support from the entire nation that has helped us keep out culture and tradition alive.”

As part of the campaign, around fifty Indians, including state officials, intellectuals, historians, and social servants took part in a discussion on Tibet over the weekend.

The discussion concluded with a pledge of not using 'Made in China' products until the Chinese government resolves the crisis in Tibet, provides basic human rights to Tibetans in Tibet and returns to India land grabbed by invading Chinese forces during the 1962 border war.

The lobbying campaign in Uttar Pradesh concluded with a public rally by local Tibetans in the capital city.

The Tibetan parliamentary delegation will now take their campaign to the Indian state of Bihar.

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 Tibetan parliamentary delegations are currently on a nation-wide lobbying campaign, meeting Indian leaders and the public, apprising them on the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet, which continued into the new year with the fiery death of a Tibetan youth, Tsering Tashi, on January 12 in eastern Tibet. The self-immolators have demanded freedom and the return of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.