Shimla, October 19 – Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, MP and President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), has made a strong plea to the Centre for setting up a Tibetan university in the country in the light of the recent Delhi Declaration.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he has suggested that the institution be located partly in the foothills of Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh and party in the adjoining Dunera area in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
He said it was the duty of the country to save the Tibetan civilisation, particularly in view of the fact that Tibetans had great respect for the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak, and they flocked the Golden Temple every winter. The people of the holy city had trade links with them, and now that there was a thaw in the Indo-Chinese ties, the trade links should be revived by opening the border points in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
He has also written to the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, urging him to take immediate steps to save the trout and the mahseer, the two famous game fish in Himachal Pradesh, which are facing extinction. He said the trout had been infected by some deadly virus, which threatened to wipe out the species from the streams in the hill state. He expressed the hope that the Centre would seek the assistance of Norwegian experts to cope with the infection.
He pointed out the mahseer had been endangered due to laxity in the implementation of environmental laws. It was not only a game fish but also a scavenger and any harm to the species would add to pollution in the rivers.
He has sent copies of both the letters to Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, and has urged him to take up the issue of setting up a Tibetan university and the protection of mahseer and the trout with the Centre. He has also sent a letter to the Norwegian ambassador in India, seeking the help of experts from his country for saving the trout. A letter regarding the Tibetan university has been sent to Mr Michel Callouet, head of the delegation of the European Commission in New Delhi.
