DHARAMSHALA: Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, member of Upper of Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and supporter of Tibet and the Tibetan poeple, hosted a dinner reception in honour of Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay on Monday, 16 December.

Nearly twenty member of Parliaments from various political parties attended the dinner reception. Some of the prominent MPs include Ananth Kumar, Chairman of Standing Committee on External Affair, N. K. Singh, Piyush Goyal, Baijayant Jay Panta and Dr. Kanwar Deep Singh.

Media person from Times Now, Hindustan Times, Washington Post, Rediff.com and former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla joined the event.

Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar on 19 March this year sent letters to speakers of both the houses of the Indian Parliament on the critical situation in Tibet.

Describing the current situation in Tibet and self-immolation by Tibetans as unacceptable, he said the international community, especially Indians in India, should pay more attention on why so many young Tibetans are setting themselves on fire.

“The issue of Indo-Tibetan friendship and Tibet is something that has not been refreshed in recent times in the minds of Indian legislatures and the public in large. I think it would be fitting for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, especially given the fact that he as a spiritual leader and a person who espouses non-violence and dialogue, to address the Parliament and share his views on world and conflicts in specific. We are democracy, and the views and minds of the Indian citizens have to do a lot with how his or her chosen representatives in the Parliament understand these issues,” he said.

He also spoke about the need to invite Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the democratically-elected political leader of the Tibetan people, to meet the External Affairs Standing Committee of the Parliament.