Yashwant Sinha pledges to stand up for cause of Tibet

Dharamsala, Sep 17 (ANI): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Monday extended his support to the cause of Tibet, and said that he was in favour of a forum of parliamentarians to work out a strategy to highlight the pressing issue.

Sinha, who is also the Convener of the All-Party Parliamentarian Forum on Tibet, said that the prime reason of his visit was to associate himself with the cause of Tibet.

"I just wanted to say that when I had met parliamentarians and representatives of the government, I had said that the prime reason for my visit was to associate myself with the cause of Tibet. I want to highlight that there are several parliamentarians who are associated with this cause," he said.

Sinha said that whenever Tibetans voice their opinion against the repressive policies of the Chinese Government, severe atrocities are meted out to suppress them.

"The Tibetan uprising began in 1950, when China took control of Tibet. After that, there have been several incidents and China's repressive policies have troubled Tibetans. Whenever Tibetans oppose these atrocities and stand up to raise their voice, then atrocities are committed on them and they are subjected to oppression," he said.

Sinha further said there has been a recent spate of self-immolations, owing to the oppression by the Chinese Government on Tibetans.

"Last year, the media reported that the Chinese took control of Kirti monastery and atrocities were committed on the monks. Several people were killed. Following this incident, people in Tibet have been self-immolating themselves. We read about these incidents everyday in the newspaper and other media," he said. (ANI)