Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 10: A group of Tibetans under the banner of the ‘People’s Movement for Securing the Central Tibetan Administration’ held a press conference on Monday at Dharamshala’s Akash Hotel calling on parliamentarians of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile to amend the charter to enable the appointment of the Chief Justice Commissioner and two additional justices of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC), the apex judiciary body of the Tibetan Government in Exile.
The press statement of the group, ‘The Advocacy of the General Public for the Sustainability of CTA’ stated that since October 8, 2021, they have repeatedly submitted detailed applications of thousands of petitioners to the parliament to safeguard the democratic system of the Tibetan exile administration. However, their efforts have been consistently ignored and disregarded.
“Last year, during the sixth session of the parliament in September, nearly a thousand people from various places in India, Nepal, and other foreign countries gathered in Dharamshala to launch an appeal campaign. Subsequently, during the March 2024 parliamentary session, there were discussions on the report of the ‘Charter Review Committee’ and the draft amendments to the charter. Based on these developments, we were hopeful for amendments that would allow the appointment of the Chief Justice Commissioner and two other commissioners. Therefore, we refrained from organising any mass gathering campaigns,” said Tenzin Yangkar, President of the advocacy group.
The statement also highlighted that instead of amending the charter to allow for the appointment of the Chief Justice Commissioner and two judges, the house made other amendments that allows the oath-taking to be administered by authorities other than the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commissioners, which they said, undermines the importance of appointing the Chief Justice Commissioner and the two remaining justices, and in effect, the legitimacy and standing of the apex Tibetan court.
Tsetan Phuntsok, one the executive members for the group told the press, “The exile Tibetan government is crucial for the sustenance of the Tibetan movement to protect its identity, language and culture. Hence, it is irresponsible of the exile Tibetans to be mute spectators to the deliberate destruction of the Tibetan democracy founded by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
Speaking on the campaign, he emphasised that their movement is non-violent, and in accordance to the laws of the land. He said that around 1,000 Tibetans from 28 different locations, including from India, Nepal, North America and Europe, are participating in the campaign.
The organisers further stated that if the charter amendment is not enacted in this session of the parliament, they plan to set in motion a series of action plans including; Call for the resignation of all the 45 current members of parliament; Begin a hunger strike campaign; Submit a petition to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, invoking his authority under Article 1(ii) of the Charter; Campaign for equal voting rights for MPs from religious sects, Call for changes to be made to the allocation of standing committee members, and the right for overseas Tibetan representatives to be on the standing committee.
The campaign is scheduled to commence from Wednesday at the Gangkyi Basketball Court in the CTA compound. The 8th session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament in Exile is also scheduled to begin from Wednesday until 19th of September 2024.
