India should recognise ‘Tibet’ as an Independent state : Tibetan citizens 

Tibet raises its voice against China

Lhasa (Tibet) – Tibet has raised its voice against the Chinese aggression and intrusion of Tibet. On Thursday, citizens of Tibet and India protested outside the Chinese Embassy in Kolkata. They demanded that the Indian Government recognise Independent Tibet.

Indo-Tibetan Coordination Office (ITCO), a part of the Central Tibet Organisation, led a crowd of demonstrators waving Tibetan and Indian flags as well as photographs of the Dalai Lama in a city.

A ‘buffer State’ between India-China a necessity 

  1. Jigmey Tsultrim, Coordinator of ITCO, said that Tibet, known as the ‘roof of the world’, was an independent country and was a buffer between India and China till China occupied it. They also demanded that Tibetans should officially be given refugee status and that the Dalai Lama be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.
  2. The demonstration coincided with the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa against Chinese rule in 1959, which led to Dalai Lama and many of his followers fleeing Tibet for refuge in India.

Need of a Minister for Tibetan Affairs

Ruby Mukherjee, convenor of ITCO’s eastern region, pointed to the increasing cases of incursions by the Chinese Army into Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh as signs of the need for a “buffer state” between the two great Asian (India and China) powers. Mukherjee further advised that India should consider appointing a Minister to look after Tibetan affairs.

Demonstrations in Kullu as well

Tibetan residents of Kullu raised their voices demanding Independence. Thousands of Tibetan citizens residing in the Kullu District came out on the streets raising slogans against the Chinese Government.