In a show of support for the Tibetan cause, an all-party forum has written to the Central government, urging it to award the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The forum also appealed to the government to allow the Dalai Lama to address a joint session of Parliament,a move that can draw wrath from China.
According to The Economic Times, the letter was sent by the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, which includes MPs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Janata Dal (United). The forum submitted the request to the government after unanimously adopting a resolution in support of the proposal during their second meeting this month.
Secured the signatures of around 80 MPs
The 10-member committee has also launched a signature campaign supporting the Dalai Lama's Bharat Ratna nomination and has reportedly gathered signatures from around 80 MPs, which it plans to submit to the Prime Minister and the President in the coming days.
Talking to ET, Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar said, "The group has been demanding Bharat Ratna for Dalai Lama and has secured signatures of more than 80 MPs on a memorandum seeking the same which it would submit once the forum is able to gather the signatures of 100 parliamentarians. Signatories on the memorandum also included MPs from opposition parties."
"We have initiated a signature campaign to award Bharat Ratna to His Holiness Dalai Lama. Many MPs have come forward and some of them have sent video messages supporting the campaign. We will be writing to the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to convene a joint sitting, which will be addressed by His Holiness," Kumar said.
Dalai Lama rings in 90th birthday
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama celebrated his 90th birthday, with thousands of devotees gathering in the main courtyard of Tsuglagkhang, the Dalai Lama temple, to mark the occasion and honor the 14th spiritual leader of Tibet.
Political leaders from India and abroad also shared the stage with the Dalai Lama, throwing their support behind the Buddhist leader, who has been living in exile in India and has been fighting for the rights of the Tibetan people since the region came under Chinese occupation in the 1960s.
Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Sikkim minister Sonam Lama, and Hollywood actor Richard Gere addressed the gathering.
The opulent ceremony was held just days after his announcement that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and only the Gaden Phodrang Trust will have the authority to recognise his future reincarnation put an end to the speculations about the discontinuation of the Dalai Lama institution.
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