Clamour grows louder for honouring Dalai Lama with Bharat Ratna

Guwahati: Clamour growing louder for honouring Dalai Lama with Bharat Ratna. All Tawang District Students’ Union organised a rally seeking Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award to the Dalai Lama.

Recently the 90th birthday celebration of 14th Dalai Lama Tenzing Tsewang Gyatso took place across different areas of the country.

A peace march, organised by the All Tawang District Students’ Union moved through the streets of Tawang, from Chamleng, Tawang Monastery to Buddha Park.


People called to honour the Dalai Lama with the Bharat Ratna. Holding banners and chanting slogans, the participants celebrated the Dalai Lama’s legacy of peace, compassion, and non-violence.

Community leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to the Government of India through local officials. “His Holiness is a global icon of peace and compassion. Honouring him with the Bharat Ratna would be a tribute to his lifelong teachings and his deep bond with India,” said Tsering Dorjee, a community leader and event organizer.

Now 90 years old, the Dalai Lama has spent more than six decades in exile in India. BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha, Sujeet Kumar is gathering support from MPs for the award of the Bharat Ratna to the Dalai Lama.

The initiative for the coveted award to the Dalai Lama is led by the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT), comprising MPs from across the political spectrum including BJP, BJD, Congress, and JD(U).

The forrum has garnered the support of 80 MPs and Arunachal Chief minister Pema Khandu. The forum is looking to garner support of 100 MPs before submitting the same to Prime minister Narendra Modi.

Three foreign born leading personalities have been awarded Bharat Ratna in the past: Mother Teresa (1980), Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990).

BJP MP and Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology Nishikant Dubey who was in Sikkim early this month said “The Dalai Lama is deeply respected by every Indian. He is a spiritual leader not just for the people of the Himalayas but for the entire world.”

He said, “I come from Vikramshila, the village that gave the world Lord AtishaDipankara, one of the greatest Buddhist scholars. He laid the foundation for the traditions of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. For me and my people, it would be a matter of great honour to see the Dalai Lama receive the Bharat Ratna.”