French senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio praises Dalai Lama, expresses support for Tibetan culture

Paris [France], July 7 : French senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio wished health and long life to the 14th Dalai Lama and also expressed support towards the defence of Tibetan culture and identity.

"Senator of Val d'Oise, I have had the honour of chairing, for three years, the Senate's international information group on Tibet, which was created in 2000. It has twenty senators, of all political tendencies, all committed to the defence of Tibetan culture and identity," Brinio stated in her piece in Tibet Rights Collective

Ahead of Dalai Lama's birthday, she had said that like every year, Dalai Lama's birthday will be celebrated in conjunction with the Tibet Office with which we work closely.

This event will take place in the presence of members of the information group, representatives of associations, NGOs and the Tibetan community in France, the Val d'Oise senator said.

"On behalf of the International Tibet Information Group, I most sincerely wish full health and long life to His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso. May he remain a landmark in this hectic and constantly changing world, and continue to pour out his ocean of wisdom for many more years," she further stated.

Brinio further stated about a delegation of three French senators that went to Dharamshala earlier this year, where they were warmly received by Dalai Lama in a private audience at his residence.

"This trip focused in particular on the future of the Tibetan plateau and the climatic and geopolitical challenges of this area, which concentrates on the water resources of several countries, including India, Nepal and China. The senators were also able to meet with the Speaker of Parliament in exile and other parliamentarians, actors from civil society, representatives of NGOs, and young people and visit the Tibet Museum, which represents a cultural richness both for Tibetans and for the world," the senator stated in her piece.

Further recalling the visit, the Val d'Oise senator said that during this audience, the Dalai Lama recalled the need to live in compassion. He also recalled that every human being arrives on earth and leaves this earth in the same way, whatever their religion, whatever their state of mind and whatever their beliefs. Thus, he must make sure to live in harmony with his fellow men all his life.

"The Dalai Lama is considered by Tibetan Buddhists as the emanation of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Spiritual leader, his word and his wisdom have a sacred value for all Tibetans," she stated.

The delegation was deeply touched by this meeting and was particularly marked by the central place of the Dalai Lama in the hearts of Tibetans.

Aware of the current difficulties in Tibet, the Dalai Lama nevertheless remains in his place of spiritual leader and keeps hope in the strength of the Tibetans to preserve their culture, their religion and their identity, while respecting this "middle way" that he always defended, Brinio added in her Tibet Rights Collective piece.

Indeed, the senators met eight Tibetan refugees who arrived in March from Nepal, including a very young child and his grandmother who had been picked up in Nepal.

Three out of those eight said that they have come to Dharamsala because they wanted to see the Dalai Lama before he dies.

This trip will have made it possible to further strengthen the commitment of the senators of the group in favour of the Tibetan people who will always find them at their side, Senator Brinio added.

Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio is currently a Senator in the French Senate. She is also the President of the Tibet group in the French Senate. A member of the Republicans, she served as the Mayor of Saint-Gratien, a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, from 2001 to 2017.

She began her political career by running for mayor of Saint-Gratien. From 1983 to 2001, she was deputy mayor in charge of social affairs. She is a teacher by profession. In the Senate, Eustache-Brinio is a member of the Committee on Constitutional Law, Legislation, Universal Suffrage, Rules of Procedure and General Administration, Tibets Right Collective stated.