Bhartruhari Mahtab Appointed Convener, Tapir Gao Co-convener of All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet

By Tsering Choephel

DHARAMSALA, 8 August: Pro Tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha and BJP MP Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab was appointed Convener of the All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT), while Shri Tapir Gao, BJP MP, was appointed Co-convener on 7 August, according to tibet.net, the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government in exile.

The new heads of the APIPFT were announced at a dinner hosted by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and the India Tibet Coordination Office (ITCO). The event was attended by a large number of dignitaries from both Tibetan and Indian groups.

The Tibetan group was led by Tibetan Parliament Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, and attendees included MPs Geshe Atuk Tsetan, Lopon Thupten Gyaltsen, Representative of the Tibet Bureau in New Delhi Jigme Jungney, and Tashi Dekyi, Acting Coordinator of ITCO, among others.

The Indian entourage included Shri Sujeet Kumar, former Convener of APIPFT; Shri Tapir Gao, MP Lok Sabha; Shri Manoj Tigga, MP Lok Sabha (BJP, West Bengal); 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), among many others.

In his address, Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel expressed gratitude to “India and its people for their unwavering support and generous hospitality.” He also spoke about the APIPFT’s origin and “the status of the Tibetan cause on the international platform,” according to the report.

The APIPFT was established in 1970 under the leadership of Mr. M.C. Chagla. Subsequently, the late George Fernandes, who had served as Indian Defence Minister, and Mr. Mohan Singh took over the Forum.

Shri Surjeet Kumar, the outgoing APIPFT Convener, in his address paid tribute to the late Shri Biju Patnaik, the former Chief Minister of Odisha. He recounted Patnaik’s significant role in “the rehabilitation of Tibetan settlers in the state of Odisha.” Interestingly, Patnaik also played a crucial role in the formation of Establishment 22, a Tibetan guerrilla force formed in 1962. Kumar’s address also highlighted the late Fernandes’ early insight in identifying “China as the primary threat, rather than Pakistan.”

Shri Tapir Gao, the newly appointed Co-convener of APIPFT, spoke about the strong cultural, economic, and geographical ties that the Indian Himalayan states and Tibet have historically shared. He highlighted the historical fact of Tibet as an independent nation neighboring India. Furthermore, Gao outlined “Tibetans’ right to self-determination as per international law,” called for independent research on the Tibetan plateau, and urged “the immediate release of all Tibetan political prisoners.” As a vocal Indian MP on the Tibetan cause, he reiterated his call for “resuming dialogue between China and the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama through the Middle Way Policy,” as stated in the report.