DHARAMSHALA, January 4: A Tibetan parliamentary delegation leading a month-long lobbying campaign in south India met with the Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka state Jagadish Shettar and Governor H.R. Bhardwaj.

The six-member delegation met with CM Shettar at the Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore and apprised him of the critical situation inside Tibet, while urging the Indian leadership to take a firmer and more assertive political stance on Tibet vis-a-vis China.

Tibetan MP and member of the delegation, Lobsang Yeshi told Phayul that during the meeting, CM Shettar expressed his “deepest concern” over the issue of Tibet and assured them of his government’s continued “solidarity and support” for the cause of Tibet.

The south zone Tibetan parliamentary delegation on Wednesday met with the Honourable Governor of Karnataka state H.R. Bhardwaj at the Raj Bhawan.

Governor Bhardwaj called the Tibetan cause “always dear” to the Indian people and recalled with respect the help that Tibetans have given during India’ “most difficult times.”

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a highly compassionate person and a messenger of world peace,” the Honourable Governor was cited as saying by Yeshi. “His presence is strength to us and his followers are like our brothers and sisters.”

He said the wave of self-immolations in Tibet is “very tragic” and assured that India will never go against Tibet.

The delegation also met with former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Shobha Karandlage, Minister of Energy, Murugesh Nirani, Minister for Industries, and Ganesh Karnik, Member of State Legislative Assembly.

Shobha, who has visited Tibet twice, gave a detailed account of China’s “destructive policies” in Tibet, which she said is “threatening to annihilate” the Tibetan race. “China does not need Tibetans. They only need the land of Tibet. Therefore they do not care about the welfare of the Tibetan people,” the minister was cited as saying.

Former CM Yedyurappa called on the central government to do more to resolve the issue of Tibet and advised the Tibetans to hold regular meetings with Indian leaders in the city, said Yeshi.

The first leg of the solidarity campaigns in south India will conclude with a major public rally and a prayer vigil on the January 5 in Bangalore, the state capital.

The south zone delegation will then take the solidarity campaign to eight other states and will meet senior political leaders in the major Indian cities of Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Pondicherry, Chennai, Panaji, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur.

The month-long All-India ‘Solidarity with Tibet’ campaign initiated by Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is part of the exile Tibetan administration’s attempts at garnering wider support for international intervention in the ongoing crisis inside Tibet.

From January 1 to 29, three Tibetan parliamentary delegations of six parliamentarians each will be travelling across India, taking the Tibet campaign state by state.