Dharamshala: MP Garnett Genuis, a staunch supporter of the Tibetan cause, presented a motion Supporting Self-Determination for Tibet on Tuesday at the ongoing session in the Canadian House of Commons.
He called on the House to make a clear call concerning Tibet’s future by recognizing the adoption of the Middle Way Approach and empowering dialogue between representatives of the Tibetan people with the Chinese government to enable Tibetans their rights to self-determination through genuine autonomy.
His motion reads, “[We] call for dialogue between representatives of the Tibetan people (His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives and/or the Central Tibetan Administration) and the government of the People’s Republic of China with a view to enabling Tibet to exercise genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese constitution.”
MP Garnett presented the same motion at the last parliamentary session in May this year and received a majority vote for adoption. He added, “And now with this concurrence debate whereby the House is considering formally expressing its agreement with this motion. We now finally have an opportunity for the Canadian House of Commons to pronounce itself on Tibet’s status decisively and to make a clear call regarding Tibet’s future”.
Expressing his concerns over Tibet’s plight under the oppressive regime, he persuaded the Canadian government and lawmakers to use their power to do the right thing for Tibetans by passing the motion to allow Tibetans their right to self-determination and autonomously shape their future.
He continued, “Tibetan leaders are not using this right of self-determination to seek full independence from China. Rather, they are seeking a middle way, genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese Constitution”.
Asserting it as a well-defined ‘matter of moral principle’ and of ‘international law’, the Conservative MP insisted that the House recognise and support Tibetans’ aspiration for genuine autonomy as an expression of national self-determination. At the same time, he acknowledged the Tibetan people’s strive for Middle Way Approach as a realistic and effective resistance that has been sustained over the last 60 years despite numerous efforts of the Chinese Communist Party to wipe out Tibetan identity. Remarking upon this, he attested to the global concern for Tibet and explicitly pledged to politically champion Tibet’s endeavour to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict via a middle-way approach. Until the Tibetan people’s aspirations for genuine autonomy are not fulfilled, he stated the allies of Tibet would not rest.
“We will not rest until dialogue between China and Tibet has resumed and concluded with the establishment of genuine autonomy for Tibet that gives Tibetans freedom, democracy, human rights and self-determination,” asserted Tibet supporter MP Garnett Genuis.
