Dharamshala: The All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT) appointed Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, pro tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha and MP, BJP, as Convener, and Shri Tapir Gao, MP, BJP, as Co-convener, marking the successful revival of the forum on August 7, 2024.
The announcement was made during a dinner hosted by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and the India Tibet Coordination Office (ITCO). The event was attended by Tibetan Parliament Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, MPs Geshe Lharampa Atuk Tsetan, Lopon Thupten Gyaltsen, Tsaneytsang Dhondup Tashi, Geshe Ngaba Gangri, Geshe Atong Rinchen Gyaltsen, and Tsering Yangchen. Also present were Jigme Jungney, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tibet Bureau (New Delhi), Tashi Dekyi, Acting Coordinator of ITCO, and other staff members.
Speaker Tenphel greeted the newly appointed Convener Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab and Co-convener Shri Tapir Gao and presented a statue of Buddha with ceremonial scarf to Shri Sujeet Kumar (MP Rajya Sabha) to express gratitude for his valuable contributions as the preceding Convener of the APIPFT.
The dinner had the gracious presence of Shri Sujeet Kumar, former Convener of APIPFT; Shri Tapir Gao, MP Lok Sabha; Shri Manoj Tigga, MP Lok Sabha (BJP, West Bengal); Shri Amarsing Tisso, MP Lok Sabha (BJP, Assam); Shri Joyanta Basumatary, MP Lok Sabha (United People’s Party Liberal, Assam); Smt. S. Phangnon Konyak, Rajya Sabha (BJP, Nagaland); Shri Birendra Prasad Baishya, Member of Rajya Sabha (Asom Gana Parishad, Assam; Shri Jagannath Sarkar, MP Lok Sabha (BJP, West Bengal); Associate Professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Lok Sabha MP (INC, Manipur); Shri Indra Hang Subba, Lok Sabha MP (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Sikkim); Shri Pradyut bordoloi, Lok Sabha MP (INC, Assam); Shri Phani bhusan Choudhury, Lok Sabha MP; Shri Mohammad Haneefa, Lok Sabha MP (Independent, Ladakh); Smt. Maneka Gandhi, Member of the Lok Sabha; and Dr. Pankaj Pushkar, Senior Fellow (Legislative Support Group, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and Former MLA, Delhi Legislative Assembly).
Followed by the official announcement of the Convener and Co-Convener of the APIPFT, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, his address extended gratitude to India and its people for their unwavering support and generous hospitality. He spoke about the formation of the APIPFT and on the status of the Tibetan cause on the international platform.
In his address, Shri Sujeet Kumar expressed pride in having served as the Convener of the APIPFT for the past three years. He recounted how Shri Biju Patnaik, the former Chief Minister of Odisha, played a crucial role in the rehabilitation of Tibetan settlers in the state, underscoring the special relationship Patnaik had with the Tibetan community. Additionally, Shri Kumar highlighted that Shri George Fernandes, the former Defence Minister of India, had identified China as the primary threat, rather than Pakistan. He emphasized that the border in question has always been the Indo-Tibetan border, rather than the China-India border.
Shri Tapir Gao, Co-Convener of All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT), shared that the Convener, a vocal on Tibetan cause, couldn’t mark his presence at the meeting due to some unavoidable circumstances. He further shared how Indian Himalayan states and Tibet historically share cultural, economic, and geographical ties, claiming Tibet’s historical fact of being an independent nation and a neighbouring country of India which is now under the occupation of China.
He further spoke about Tibetans’ right to self-determination as per the international law, and stressed on the need of an independent research on the significance of Tibetan plateau while calling for the immediate release of all the Tibetan political prisoners. He further reiterated resuming dialogue between China and the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama through the Middle Way Policy. He requested everyone’s cooperation in countering China’s false narrative on Tibet.
