(TibetanReview.net, Jul07’25) – A cross-party forum of Indian Members of Parliament has passed a resolution, urging the government to confer the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and invite him to address a joint sitting of Parliament as he marked his 90th birthday on Jul 6.
The All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT), which includes MPs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal (United), and others adopted the resolutions during its second meeting this month, reported the timesofindia.com Jul 6.
The group had drawn sharp criticism from Beijing following its inaugural sitting in December last year, the report noted.
Led by BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sujeeth Kumar, a 10-member committee of the APIPFT has also launched a signature campaign supporting the Bharat Ratna nomination for the Dalai Lama, the report said.
“We have initiated a signature campaign to award Bharat Ratna to His Holiness Dalai Lama. Many MPs have come forward and some of them have sent video messages supporting the campaign. We will be writing to the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to convene a joint sitting which will be addressed by His Holiness,” Kumar, who is also the convenor of the forum, has said.
The report noted that members of the forum, which includes BJP MPs Ashok Bajpai, Lahar Singh Siroya, Vinay Dinu Tendulkar, Tapir Gao (who is Co‑convenor of APIPFT), and Rajendra Agrawal, had strongly opposed China’s interference in the spiritual succession of the Tibetan leader. They were stated to have emphasised that the people of Tibet alone have the right to decide on the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama.
Tapir Gao was stated to have proposed a mass rally in support of Tibet to raise public awareness of the issue.
“He further suggested that the Dalai Lama address the Central Hall of the Parliament on topics such as peace and compassion,” the APIPFT resolution was quoted as saying.
The forum has also expressed admiration for a recent pro-Tibet bill passed by the US Congress, recognizing Tibet as an occupied territory, and encouraged similar legislation to be introduced in India’s Parliament.
A dynamitenews.com report said Jul 7 that a total of 80 MPs had signed the petition for conferring the Bharat Ratna on His Holiness the Dalai Lama.