(L-R) Shri RK Khrimey, National Convener, Core Group for Tibetan Cause, Shri Indresh Kumar, Patron, Bharat Tibbat Sahyog Manch, President Dr Lobsang Sangay, Dr. Anand Kumar, National President, India Tibet Friendship Society and Shri Surender Kumar, National Co-Convener, Core Group preside over the 6th All India Tibet Support Groups Conference held at Central Tibetan Secretariat, 15 June 2019. Photo/Pasang Dhondup/CTA

Dharamshala: The Sixth All India Tibet Support Groups Conference was convened from 15 to 16 June 2019, at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India. 216 delegates representing Indian Tibet Support Groups from 21 states across India assembled for the conference to express their solidarity with the Tibetan people in their legitimate quest for dignity, justice and peace in Tibet and to show their gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his unrelenting works for the promotion of world peace. 

This Sixth All India Tibet Support group commemorated the 60th year since the first-ever Tibet support conference across the world called “All India Convention on Tibet” held in Kolkata in 1959 and also commemorated the 60th year since His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetans came to India.

The keynote speakers at the two day Conference were Shri Rinchen Khando Khrimey, the National Convener, Core Group for Tibetan Cause, Hon’ble Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, President of Central Tibetan Administration, Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk, Department of Health, CTA, Shri Indresh Kumar, Patron, Bharat Tibbat Sahyog Manch, Professor Anand Kumar, National President of India Tibet Friendship Society, Shri Surender Kumar, National Co-Convener, Core Group for Tibetan Cause, Shri Ajai Singh, President, India Tibet Friendship Association, Dharamshala and Shri Arvind Nikose, Regional Convener, Core Group for Tibetan Cause.

The delegates of the sixth all India Tibet Support Groups Conference passed the action plan and adopted a declaration titled Dharamshala Declaration in Support of Tibet. See the full text of the Declaration below:

DHARAMSHALA DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF TIBET 

The Sixth All India Tibet Support Groups Conference, 

Having been convened from 15 to 16 June 2019, at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India, Having been gravely concerned by – the systemic violations of human rights in Tibet under the illegal occupation of the People’s 

Republic of China, – the repressive policies enforced by the Chinese authorities to suppress the distinctive cultural, religious and national identity of Tibetans which have led to 153 self-immolations by Tibetans within Tibet as means of peaceful political protest, – the pervasive surveillance of the Tibetan people and the militarization of the Tibetan plateau which threatens the peace and stability of Asia especially the Indian sub-continent, – the extensive environmental destruction of the “Roof of the World”- Tibet and the 

continuous damming of rivers of Tibet by the Chinese authorities, 

Remembering the ancient spiritual, religious, social and cultural ties between India and Tibet lasting for over 1,400 years, 

Recalling the Indian citizens’ initiative to support the Tibetan cause which led to the first-ever Tibet Support Conference, All India Tibet Convention at Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1959 under the leadership of Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan, 

Recognizing that Tibetans are entitled to enjoy the basic human rights which are universally accepted, 

WE, the 216 DELEGATES of Indian Tibet Support Groups from across India assembled at the Sixth All India Tibet Support Groups Conference hereby, 

Express Our Immense Gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is a messenger of peace, hope and harmony for his unrelenting works for the promotion of world peace, 

Reaffirm Our Commitment to support Tibetan people’s legitimate quest for dignity, justice and peace in Tibet, 

Recognize the Central Tibetan Administration as the legitimate representative of Tibetans within and outside Tibet, 

Acknowledge and Extend our complete support to the Middle Way Approach policy which we are convinced to be a viable and honorable solution to the issue of Tibet, 

Support the Five-Fifty vision of the Central Tibetan Administration, 

Undertake to create awareness across India about the last 60 years of repression of Tibetans under the Chinese regime and 60 years of resistance by Tibetans against the Chinese oppression, 

Strongly Urge the Government of India to confer Bharat Ratna, India’s Highest Civilian Award to the Nobel Laureate His Holiness the Dalai Lama for His immense contribution in creating goodwill for India across the globe and for being an ambassador of the great ideas of 

Indian culture such as ahimsa, compassion, inner values, religious harmony and global fraternity, and 

Call Upon the Government of India to prevail upon the People’s Republic of China to initiate constructive negotiations with the representatives of Central Tibetan Administration under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for speedy resolution of the issue of Tibet, 

Call Upon the Government of People’s Republic of China to IMMEDIATELY STOP 

– the suppression, oppression and repression of the Tibetan people and respect their rights to freedom of religion and belief, freedom of movement, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom to preserve their distinct language, culture and way of life, and other basic human rights, 

– the militarization of the Tibetan plateau leading to arms race which threatens the peace and 

stability of Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent, 

– the destruction and degradation of Tibet’s ecology and the damming of the rivers of Tibet 

which affects the lower riparian countries like India, Bangladesh and others, 

Call Upon the international community to support Central Tibetan Administration, the legitimate representative of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet in their pursuit for peaceful resolution of the issue of Tibet and in their legitimate quest for dignity, justice and peace in Tibet, 

And hereby so declared.