96 Tibetans self-immolate lives within 3 yr protesting Chinese rule

BHUBANESWAR: Within three year, 96 Tibetans have set themselves alight and 81 of them succumbed to their injuries protesting the brutal Chinese rule, said the Tibetan Parliamentary delegation led by former Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPIE) Pema Jungney here at a Press meet on Thursday.

At the Press meet, the delegation screened a film on current crisis in Tibet and Chinese oppression in their country. They praised India for supporting them in their freedom struggle. “India is the only country, which can challenge China and solve the problem by imposing pressure on the world leaders to settle the issue,” said Dhardon Sharling, a delegate of TPIE.     

The delegation made a clarion call for freedom inside Tibet and return of the Dalai Lama into his country. For which the TPIE launched a massive ‘All-India Lobby Campaign’ to highlight the critical situation inside Tibet and to seek timely support of the Indian leaders and people while alongside calling for immediate global intervention to end the crisis inside their country.

The second leg of the North-East zone lobby campaign kick-started with a ‘Mass Solidarity Rally for Tibet’ on the evening of January 13 in the city. Later the delegation met Governor, Ministers of the State, heads of the main political parties of the State, Chief Secretary and other secretaries, intellectual bodies, luminaries and social activists appealing for urgent diplomatic intervention from the Indian side in the light of the deepening crisis inside Tibet.

After a successful lobbying work in West Bengal and Odisha, the delegation would visit Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Nagaland for the ‘All India lobby campaign’.