By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 1: Representative Ngodup Dongchung from the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi on Monday congratulated the recently appointed convener Sujeet Kumar of the revived All Party Indian Parliamentary forum for Tibet (APIPFT). Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar was informed about the latest information regarding the situation inside Tibet, the Dharamshala-based Central Tibetan Administration and its policy Middle Way Approach.
As per the Tibet.net report, both the representatives discussed varied matters including the larger Tibetan public spread across the diaspora. “Representative [Ngodup] requested Shri Kumar that apart from political [matters], Tibet’s culture, language, religion and environment which are being destroyed by the Communist China to be raised in the Indian Parliament as these are significant to India [as well],” it further said.
The Indian parliamentarian in turn assured his full support to the cause and said that he will do his best to make the forum more ‘active and vigor’ in advocating for the Tibetans. APIPFT was first established in 1970 under the leadership of Mr. M.C. Chagla. Subsequently, Mr. George Fernandes and Mr. Mohan Singh took over the forum.
Last month, the new head of the forum and other members were asked by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi to put a halt on engaging with Tibetan leaders in exile, noting that India should refrain from providing support for “Tibetan independence forces”. The unusually worded letter from the embassy was heavily criticized by the politicians who had attended a reception conducted by Tibetan parliamentarians on December 22.
MP Sujeet had earlier told reporters that the Chinese letter of concern had disappointed him, “I personally treat the letter with the contempt it deserves. It is not the first time the embassy has written to me, it has written to me several times. The embassy does not have any locus standi to write to an Indian parliamentarian. If it had any issue, it could have written to the Ministry of External Affairs. It has violated the protocol.”
“The Tibet support group within the parliaments around the world has existed but we wanted to make sure that this forum for Tibet, not just for its revival, but crucial to create an opportunity for the Indian parliament and Tibetan parliament to reshape the way we have been working so far in the past. [This initiative] also attempts to bring a new variation in terms of Indo-China relationship, by making clear how the Tibet issue still remains a strong part [of the discussion],” MP Namgyal Dolkar told Phayul in December about the purpose of the 10-day delegation visit by members of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.
