Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 9: The Tibet Advocacy Alliance–India began its advocacy week in New Delhi from December 6–13, bringing together major Tibetan NGOs such as the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT), Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), and the International Tibet Network (ITN).
Now in its fourth phase, the coalition has held a series of meetings with Indian parliamentarians, including Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey, Shri Dorjee Tsering Lepcha, Shri Balwant Baswant Wankhade, Smt. Priya Saroj, Shri Devesh Shakya, Shri G. Kumar Naik, Shri Ramashankar Vidharthi, Shri E. T. Mohammed Basheer, and Shri Deepender Singh Hooda. The engagements marked the third day of the advocacy week, Tenzin Lobsang, General Secretary of TYC, told Phayul.
Lobsang further told Phayul that the alliance has put forward four key appeals during its meetings. The first urges India to recognise and reaffirm that Tibet was historically an independent nation and to acknowledge the Indo-Tibet border. The second calls for honouring His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who turned 90 this year, by issuing a statement in Parliament recognising his unparalleled contributions to global peace and to the promotion of India’s ancient civilisational values. This appeal also urges the Government of India to publicly affirm support for Tibetan religious rights, including the Gaden Phodrang Trust’s exclusive authority to determine the future reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, without interference from any external entity.
The third appeal seeks stronger advocacy for the protection of Tibetan culture and language, including an immediate end to China’s colonial boarding school system in Tibet. Lastly, the alliance calls for recognition of the strategic and ecological importance of Tibet and its plateau, urging India to raise formal concerns over China’s construction of the world’s largest hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River near the Indian border, and to press relevant ministries to support a moratorium on environmentally destructive projects in Tibet.
Concluding his remarks, he said the alliance members also had the opportunity to meet Shri Dorjee Tshering Lepcha, a steadfast advocate for recognising the Indo-Tibet border, who has consistently urged the Indian government to adopt the terminology that India’s Himalayan border is shared with Tibet, not China.
