New Delhi: The Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in exile Dolma Tsering Teykhang in an interview with ETV Bharat expressed concern over the "Chinese occupation" of Tibet and accused China of resorting to cultural and religious domination of the people of Tibet. Tsering who met several Indian lawmakers including Union Minister Kiren Rijju during her visit to New Delhi also said that one of the key reasons behind her visit was to apprise Indian lawmakers about the "critical human rights situation" in Tibet.
"We are here because the situation in Tibet is so critical. We are under Chinese occupation and it's been almost 63 years that we're living in exile. The Chinese State has been dominating over us including in the sphere of culture and religion. Environmental destruction is also going on in the Tibetan plateau," Dolma Tsering said.
Responding to the question of her engagement with the Indian Lawmakers, Tsering said that "we come to New Delhi whenever the Parliament session is on. The epitome of these engagements was to appraise them about the critical human rights situation inside Tibet and also to have a stable and peaceful border between India and China, resumption of talks between China and representatives of his holiness Dalai Lama. In these engagements, we also interacted with the Indian lawmakers from the North-eastern states to give them a bitter glimpse of the situation in Tibet."
Asked about the political affiliations of the lawmakers she met Dolma Tsering said, "We met several Indian Parliamentarians including 19 from the BJP which included MPs, former MPs, and even the Minister of State, seven from Congress, one from the Aam Admi Party (AAP), and others from the regional political parties as well. We also met Parliamentarians from north-eastern states and we talked in detail about the depletion of the Brahmaputra river, dams, and how the lives of people in that part of India are getting impacted because of the wrong policies of China," said Tsering.
She also said that whenever they are active, China gets angry. "Therefore, we will continue to make them angry," added Tsering. "We also met Kiren Rijiju who is the convener of north-eastern Parliamentarians at the Parliamentary annex, besides Naresh Bansal, Pradan Baruah, and others from the ruling BJP," said Tsering.
As to whether she met foreign envoys, Tsering said, "Yes we met foreign envoys as well. We met the Taiwanese, his excellency the Ambassador. We had a great exchange of views on the exchange of students, how best we can make the Taiwanese people interact with the Tibetan people so that people-to-people relations are built and friendships are flourished.
"Apart from that, we also met the United States envoy to New Delhi and we were greeted very warmly by them. After India, which is our strongest friend and biggest supporter, it is the United States from the West that understands and acknowledges our situation," said Tsering.
Asked whether she has met other envoys apart from the United States and Taiwan, she said that she has met them but refused to disclose their names due to geopolitical issues."Yes of course. We have met other envoys too but I can't reveal their names, due to geopolitical issues," she explained.
On the Chinese Finance Minister Wang Yi's surprise visit to India, she said, "While, Wang Yi's visit was just a photo op as they wanted to manifest to the world that at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, they're meeting India. But India and China are totally different,"
Responding to a question on the health of the Dalai Lama and whether more such engagements from the Tibetan delegation with India and even a possible interaction between Dalai Lama and PM Modi in the near future can be expected, she said that "the good news is that Dalia Lama is fit and fine. It is our biggest priority and it will be an honor to meet India's, PM Narendra Modi."
