Parliament to hold campaigns to defuse crises in Tibet/ENG

2012. január 29./CTA/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan Parliament in Exile said it would be holding a series of campaigns to express solidarity with the Tibetans inside Tibet and garner international community’s support to press the Chinese government to defuse the escalating tension in Tibet.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Parliament Speaker Penpa Tsering said a four-member Tibetan Parliamentary delegation led by Karma Choephel, MP, would head to Delhi on 29 January to seek support from the UN officials, foreign embassies, including Chinese embassy, on the crises in Tibet.

The Speaker said the unrest in Tibet has been a result of People’s Republic of China’s government policies of assimilation of Tibet, environmental destruction through resource exploitation, economic marginalisation, forced relocation of Tibetan nomads, restrictions on religious freedom, and marginalisation of Tibetan language

“All these policies and programs apart from inhuman political repression are aimed at destroying the identity of the Tibetan people,” Speaker Penpa Tsering said.

“We call upon the governments around the world to not only express your concern but also seek your intervention in de-escalating the prevailing dangerous situation inside Tibet and help find a lasting solution to the issue of Tibet for a mutually beneficial agreement through dialogue,” the Speaker said in the memorandum, which will be submitted to the embassies in Delhi.    

“We hope that the governments would take strong policy decisions based on the inputs that we have submitted to them,” he added.

The Tibetan Parliament would send appeals to the United Nations, and governments of the US, Germany, France among others, to seek their immediate intervention to ease situation in Tibet, he said.

“We are also sending an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao regarding the critical situation in Tibet to seek a lasting solution to the issue of Tibet,” the speaker said.

The Tibetan Parliament urged the Tibetans around the world to organise peaceful campaigns to show their solidarity with the Tibetans inside Tibet.

It appealed to the Tibetans to recite special prayers on every Wednesday to relieve their brethren of sufferings.

It also called upon the Tibetans to join the global solidarity vigil organised by the Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration on 8 February.

It appealed to the Tibetans to carry out customary religious rituals on the Tibetan New Year (Losar) on 22 February, and shun pompous celebration.

The members of Parliament living in exile would fast till 5 pm after attending the early morning prayer ceremony on the first day of Losar, Speaker Penpa Tsering said.

Coinciding with the first anniversary of self-immolation by Phuntsok on 16 March, the Parliament, when it comes into session on that day, would devote its entire day to deliberate and find ways to mitigate the sufferings of Tibetans inside Tibet, he said.