World Parliamentary Forum Swaps its decision on Tibet
Tibetans at the inauguration of the Intercontinental Youth Camp 2004 under the World Social Forum (WSF) conference |
Mumbai, 18 January: In a major development for the Tibetan delegation at the World Social Forum, World Parliamentary Forum (WFP) which began this morning, swapped its decision and invited Tibetan parliamentarians to attend the remaining of its meeting. The WFP had written to the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPD) earlier this month that it was not in a position to accept participation by three ATPD members, as they had to conform to the position of participating countries.
Although Tibetan participants to the World Social Forum (WSF) are not aware of the discussion that took place on the participation of Tibetan parliamentarians at the WPF, a major role in this reversal of the Forum’s decision was shouldered by a strong delegation of Italian MPs. It was later known that the Italians even threatened to boycott the WFP if their Tibetan colleagues were not allowed to attend the session.
“We welcome this decision by the WPF and thank all those parliamentarians for their support,” said Lobsang Galak, the coordinator of the Tibetan Delegation to the WSF. As the parliamentarians were arriving at the SRP Grounds on the outskirts of Mumbai this morning, around 50 Tibetans held a silent vigil at the gate of the ground with placards saying, “WPF Gags Tibetans”. After some discussion with the police, the Tibetans were allowed to enter the premises and hold the vigil right in front of the WPF venue.
The Tibetan Delegation this afternoon organised its first major event which was a high-level conference on the subject, “Another World is Possible: Make Tibet a Zone of Peace and Ahimsa (Non-violent). Expert speakers include Mr. Pema Jungney, Chairman of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile), Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, a renowned Gandhian, Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, a leading Buddhist scholar and peace activist from Thailand and Major General (Retired) Vinod Saighal, a defence analyst from India.
The conference, attended by more than 300 WSF participants, made it clear why supporting the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to make Tibet a Zone of Peace and Non-violence was legitimate one. The non-violent freedom struggle of the six million Tibetan people was highlighted as a contribution to the aspiration of a demilitarised, peaceful and non-violent world.
During the question and answer session, a Chinese woman took the floor saying that “the Chinese people and Chinese government love the Tibetan people” and that China was pouring lots of money to develop and help Tibet. Several speakers, including one of the panelists reacted to her comments. Mr. Sivaksha said that it was easy to say that the Chinese people love the Tibetan people but that he wondered whether the Chinese girl had the inner love for the Tibetans.
Dr. Anand Kumar, professor of social sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, moderated the conference
During the past two days, the Tibetan Delegation to the IV WSF engaged itself in various activities making daily walks around the venue to be visible and distributing various literatures, including the Tibetan Appeal, “Make Tibet a Zone of Peace.” The Tibetan children yesterday performed twice at the WSF-organised cultural programme drawing the appreciation and affection of the participants.
This morning, majority of the Tibetans joined Indian supporters and Indian Buddhists in Mumbai to take part in a 7 km march led by Mr. Pema Jungney and senior Indian supporters towards the venue of the WSF.
The final event for the Tibetans today will be a cultural performance at the Intercontinental Youth Camp (the youth forum) to the WSF. A photo exhibition on the current human rights and environment situation in Tibet has been organised at the youth gathering.