By Tendar Tsering
DHARAMSHALA, September 2: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal assured his support for the Tibetan cause in front of a gathering of top Tibetan dignitaries and local Indians and Tibetans in Dharamshala today.
CM Dhumal was speaking as the chief guest marking the 51st Democracy Day of the exile Tibetan set-up.
“I convey greetings to you all on behalf of my national party in Delhi on this special day and I assure our full support to the Tibetan cause until its problem is solved,” CM Dhumal said.
Addressing an audience of over a thousand people and special guests including members of the All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, the Chief Minister said that the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has been empowered with the devolution of formal authority from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the elected leader.
“Among all systems of administration universally, democracy shines as the best system and I am happy that CTA embraced the democratic form of government,” said CM Dhumal.
Referring to the Dalai Lama, whom he met briefly before attending the Democracy Day celebrations, CM Dhumal said that he and his state were “honorued to host the greatest living saint.”
The Chief Minister also expressed his concern about the effects of climate change and global warming in the Himalayan region.
“The melting of Himalayan glaciers in Tibet and Himachal Pradesh at an alarming rate have become a matter of high concern for climate experts,” the chief guest said
Turning to the newly elected Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) Dr Lobsang Sangay, the Himachal Pradesh CM said, “Hopefully you will also do the same to save our glaciers from melting.”
In his address, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay thanked the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and its people for hosting CTA.
After giving a brief historical account of the strides that Tibetan democracy made in exile, Dr Sangay compared the democratic legitimacy of CTA and the Beijing run Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).
“Our exile democratic administration is far superior to China’s colonial rule in Tibet. Tibetans in Tibet live under harsh autocracy and that is crystal clear from the recent protests and self immolation cases in Tawu, and Karze in Tibet,” Dr Sangay said.
“While I have the mandate of the Tibetan world, the Party Secretary of “Tibet Autonomous Region” (TAR) is hand picked by Beijing, and has never been a Tibetan,” the 43-year old Tibetan leader added.
The Democracy Day celebrations at Tsug-la Khang, the main temple in Dharamshala were muted to mourn the demise of former Kalon Tripa Juchen Thupten Namgyal.
Three Tibetan students (Tenzin Tsering, Rinchen Sangmo, and Tenzin Choezom) who topped in their respective streams in the 2011 All India Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations were awarded with the tenth Gaden Phodrang Students’ Award by the Honourable Chief Minister.
