Naresh K Thakur
Hindustan Times
March 17, 2015
If the House approves the amendment in Tibetan Charter in majority, the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, which is currently in session, will be having increased number of seats in future.
The amendments to increase the number of seats were proposed during the budget session of the exile parliament- also its 9th session, which began here on Monday.
If the proposed amendments get a nod of the majority of the House, the number of seats in the exile parliament will go upto 47 from existing 44.
Most important amendment is proposal to officially recongnise Jonang- one of the Schools in Tibetan Buddhism- as distinct school. If it is approved, the amendment will pave a way for allotment of the seat to the J
onang in the exile Parliament.
The existing 44 members of the exile parliament come from traditional Tibetan provinces, different schools and western world.
Ten members are elected from each from U-Tsang, Do-tod and Do-med, the three traditional provinces of Tibet, while the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug and the traditional Bon faith elects two members each.
Four members are elected by Tibetans in the west, two from Europe, one from North America and one from Canada.
However, speaker of Tibetan Parliament- in-exile Pempa Tsering, in his opening remarks, said that the amendment must come only through democratic system as per the Tibetan charter and the House would deliberate on the issue in detail.
Sources, the Central Tibetan Administration, also called the government-in-exile said that the final decision on the issue may come by Wednesday evening.
Origin of Jonang in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century. The tradition, widely thought to become extinct in late 17th century as Jonang monasteries, were annexed into Gelug School- a sect to which spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama belongs.
Later, the Jonang re-established their tradition and currently it has 40 monasteries and an estimated 5,000 monks and nuns practicing it in different parts of Tibet.
Reason for the outer world, not knowing about Jonang, was that they didn’t flee Tibet in 1959. They first emerged in 1990 and have been demanding CTA to recognise their tradition.
Besides Jonang, the amendments also propose allotment of seats to the Australasia region and an additional seat for North America.
Apart from the 12-day session, which concludes on March 28, will discuss and approve the budget of the CTA for the year 2015-16, already presented in the House on day 1.
