The Times of India
September 19, 2013
Cutting across party lines, various leaders from Arunachal Pradesh have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to display solidarity with Tibet and initiate immediate dialogue with China to bring about a positive solution.
In a memorandum to the PM on Tuesday, leaders from various political parties of the state reasoned that reaching a permanent solution favourable to the Tibetan people would be beneficial to India and the security of Asia.
“Traditionally, Arunachal Pradesh maintained cordial relation with the then free Tibetan state and trade took place among the two regions. Hence, people of Arunachal Pradesh sympathize with Tibetan people,” the memorandum said.
“We urge you to make Tibet one of your top priorities, especially given the desperate protests occurring in Tibet over the years. It is crucial that India takes a leading role in active engagement on proceedings that could improve the human rights situation in Tibet,” it said.
India should undertake the task of promoting dialogue without preconditions to reach a solution on Tibet and press for respect for human rights and preservation of Tibetan religion, language and cultural heritage, it added.
“Regrettably, the policies of the Chinese government towards Tibetan people have only increased their level of repression,” the leaders said.
The leaders welcomed the statement of UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, on Tibet on November 2 last year where she said, “Allegations of human rights violation in Tibet, which have led to an alarming escalation of ‘desperate’ form of protests in the region, including self-immolation.”
“We believe Pillay’s statement should serve as a clarion call for a new level of collaborative and coordinated pressure and engagement with the Chinese government on the Tibetan issue, including lifting restrictions on media access to the region and renewed engagement in dialogue with the 14th Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions,” the memorandum said.
“In addition, continued attention must be paid to promote dialogue between Chinese officials and Tibetan leaders to achieve a negotiated solution to the problem afflicting Tibet and Tibetan people,” the leaders pleaded in the memorandum.
“China has time and again claimed that Arunachal Pradesh is part of its territory and Tawang in particular. The irony is that by laying claims to additional Indian territories on the basis of their purported ties to Tibet, China blatantly plays the Tibet card against India, going to the extent of citing the birth in Tawang of His Holiness, the 6th Dalai Lama, a politico-religious institution it has systematically sought to destroy,” the memorandum said.
The memorandum said the Tibetan government-in-exile is not demanding full independence of Tibet from China. Instead, it asks for genuine autonomy for the region. In 1979, the Dalai Lama had said “except independence, all other issues can be resolved through negotiation”.
In a memorandum to the PM on Tuesday, leaders from various political parties of the state reasoned that reaching a permanent solution favourable to the Tibetan people would be beneficial to India and for the security of Asia.
