Inauguration of 48th Working Committee Meeting of Tibetan Youth Congress
(Report filed by Tibetan Youth Congress)
BENGALURU, August 29: Around 100 participants from 35 Tibetan Youth Congress Regional Chapters from all over India, Nepal and Bhutan have gathered in Bangalore, India for the 48th Working Committee Meeting of Tibetan Youth Congress which is being held from 29th August to 2nd September.
The opening ceremony was held this morning at Tibetan Youth Hostel in Bangalore. The Chief Guest for the function was Prof. (Dr.) R. Venkata Rao, Vice-Chancellor of National Law School of India University, Bangalore and the Special Guests were Tejasvi Surya, Advocate and General Secretary, BJP Youth Wing Karnataka and Veteran Lieutenant Gen. PG Kamath.
Other dignitaries from the Tibetan community, representatives of Tibetan NGOs and former executive members of RTYC Bangalore also attended the same.
The Chief Guest commenced the ceremony by lighting the butter lamp. The attendees sang the Tibetan National Anthem followed by the Indian National Anthem. About a minute’s mourning was done for the Tibetan martyrs who have sacrificed their precious lives for Tibet.
The TYC Centrex awarded certificates and cash prizes to Tamding Dorjee and Tenzing Kunga from Herbertpur School, Miao, NyingDha from Dhondupling school, Clement Town and Pema Norbu from TCV Selukui School for obtaining first position in Tibetan. The TYC Centrex also distributed certificates to former RTYC Bangalore Executive Members.
The Chief Guest did the honour of launching the website www.tibetburning.com as well as a DVD on self-immolation titled, ‘Tibet Burning’.
TYC President Tenzing Jigme, in his address, spoke about the organization’s aims and goals for the future and urged all members to make sacrifices and take responsibility for the movement.
Special Guest, Tejasvi Surya spoke on the importance of the movement of the Tibetan people. He said the struggle of the Tibetan people and Hindus are similar and Tibetans should fight for their basic human right i.e. freedom. He also said that the main enemy in the freedom struggle is not the enemy country but complacency. He stressed that Tibetans should never be complacent and should carry on with their freedom struggle determinedly.
Gen PG Kamath spoke about the minerals and richness of Tibet and why China has occupied Tibet. He said that many rivers in South Asia originate from Tibet and if anything happens to these rivers then about 1.4 billion people get affected because they depend on Tibet’s water for survival. He also said that Tibet issue is also India’s issue because after China occupied Tibet, India has been sharing its borders with China and every year, India spends huge amount of money for its defense. He emphasized that there are many supporters for Tibet all over the world and that Tibetans should not depend upon them. Ultimately it is in the hands of Tibetans to win their freedom movement and hence Tibetans should not give up and work for it.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest spoke about His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to National Law School of India University last year. He said His Holiness spoke about the importance of preservation of the rich Tibetan Buddhist culture during his visit. He also said that we should have passion for what we do and compassion for who we do. He ended his speech by quoting His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, “Choose the power of love over the love of power.”
The opening ceremony concluded around 12 p.m. with the ‘Vote of Thanks’ given by TYC Vice-President, Tamding Hrichoe.
