New Delhi: On February 2, mass gathering with Indian Supporters and speeches by Indian Parliamentarians and prominent Indian leaders marked the final day of Tibetan People's Solidarity Campaign. Over 1500 Indian supporters and 6000 Tibetans took part in the daylong event at Jantar Mantar in the Indian capital of New Delhi. (Watch a short video of the event.)
Over 30 Indian leaders: Members of Parliament, Party leaders and Youth leaders addressed the gathering. Shri Yashwant Sinha, former Finance and Foreign Minister and Convenor, All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, former Railway Minister and present MP & President of Lok Jan Shakti Party, Ravi Shankar Prasad, MP, Chief Spokesperson for BJP and Rajya Sabha Deputy leader of Opposition, Chandan Mitra, MP and National Spokesperson for BJP were the prominent speakers.
Other leaders include Shri Balbir Punj, MP and National Spokesperson for BJP, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, MP, BJP, Smt Bimla Kashyap, MP, BJP, Shri Alok Tiwari, MP, Samajavadi Party, Shri Jayant Chaudhary, MP and General Secretary of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Shri Inder Singh Namdari, former minister of Bihar state and former speaker of Jharkhand State Legislative Assembly, Shri Vijay Kumar Malhotra, MLA, State Opposition leader of Delhi, Shri S.M Qamar Alan, National Secretary of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), Shri Ranjeet Gupta, former Ambassador and many others.
Shri Yashwant Sinha, former Finance Foreign and Finance Minister and Convener, All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, began by saying that 'Self-Immolation is the ultimate sacrifice an individual can make for one's cause.' And pledged to 'work to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to address the Indian Parliament in March this year.' He also called the self-immolation (by Tibetans) "the ultimate sacrifice an individual can make for one's cause".
Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, former Steel and Railway Minister and MP, Lok Janshakti Party condemned the atrocities committed by China in Tibet, and said that 'he has written to the Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh to make efforts to resolve the issue of Tibet.'
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, MP, Chief Spokesperson and Deputy leader of BJP, said that 'he had come here at this gathering not only as BJP official but also as a concerned human being to show his solidarity with Tibet.'
Shri Chandan Mitra, MP and National Spokesperson for BJP said that the 'Tibetan struggle is representative of the struggle of people of the world who love freedom and peace' and stressed that 'Tibetans in Tibet have the right to live their lives with dignity.' He concluded saying that 'Tibet's security will ensure India's security.'
Shri Anurag Thakur, BJP MP said that his 'party (BJP) was, is and always will stand by Tibet.' Anurag condemned 'China's ever expanding control over Tibet and other regions in South East Asia.' He emphasized that 'Tibetans inside Tibet are compelled to resort to self-immolation' and that 'the time has come for Tibet and India to stand united and challenge China.'
Shri Alok Tiwari, MP, Samajwadi Party said that 'his party has long standing relationship with the Tibetan issue since the time of Dr. Ram Mohan Lohia and Jaya Prakash Narayan' and hoped to see a 'speedy resolution to the Tibetan issue.'
Shri Jayant Chaudhary, MP and General Secretary of RLD said that 'the Tibetan struggle is a struggle for truth, justice and a non-violent struggle' and assured that 'he will raise the Tibetan issue in the upcoming Parliament session in March this year.'
TPIE Speaker Mr. Penpa Tsering was the Master of Ceremony for the day. The 4-day 'Tibetan People's Solidarity Campaign' concluded with the delivery of closing remarks by Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay and the conveying of vote of thanks by Deputy speaker of TPIE, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel.
