Rome , March 12 : The commemoration of the 64th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising was held in Rome. More than a thousand Tibetans and friends of Tibet travelled to Rome from across Europe for this event. Among those present included MP of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile Thupten Gyatso, the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tibet Bureau Geneva Thinlay Chukki, Italian Senator De Priamo Andrea and French Senator, Elsa Josephe.
The participants marched from Largo Corrado Ricci to Piazza Della Madonna di Loreto, waving Tibetan flags. In their speeches, Tibetan and European representatives spoke about the illegal occupation of Tibet by China and the ongoing human rights violations there.
Earlier, on March 9 the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup for Tibet was launched in the Italian Senate Hall. The Intergroup was launched by the Co-Ordinator of the Intergroup Senator De Priamo Andrea and members of the Intergroup Senator Terzi di Sant’Agata Giulio, Member of Chamber of Deputies Malavasi Ilenia, Senator Domenica Spinelli and former coordinator of the Intergroup Luciano Nobili.
Others present at the launch included Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile Dolma Tsering Teykhang, Thinlay Chukki of the Tibet Bureau Geneva, Tibetan MP Thupten Gyatso, President of the Italia Tibet Association Claudio Cardelli and President of the Tibetan Community of Italy Tseten Bergamo.
A joint press conference was organized in the Senate to announce the launch of the intergroup as well as to announce the Europe Stands with Tibet protest march on March 10. During the press conference, the Coordinator of the Intergroup Senator De Priamo Andrea committed to working towards the passage of important resolutions on Tibet as well as to highlight the situation in Tibet in the Italian parliament. Members of the Intergroup Senator Teryi di Sant’Agata Giulio, On. Malavasi Ilenia and former coordinator of the Intergroup Luciano Nobili also reiterated the commitment and spoke at length about the worsening human rights situation inside Tibet under the Chinese government rule.
Representative Thinlay Chukki expressed her gratitude and congratulated the parliamentarians on the successful formation of the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup for Tibet. Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Dolma Tsering Teykhang highlighted the serious concerns about the colonial-style boarding schools in Tibet where nearly 1 million Tibetan children were being forcefully assimilated into Chinese culture.
Speaking at the conference, Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from Europe Thupten Gyatso noted that Tibet has historically been a sovereign state and the invasion and occupation of Tibet remains an unresolved international conflict.
Recently, Spanish Senators also established a Tibet Support group in the Spanish parliament. (ANI)