CTA inaugurates second 5-50 youth forum
DHARAMSALA, 16 Aug: The President of the Central Tibetan Administration has called on Tibetans to integrate but not to assimilate at the ‘Second Five-Fifty Youth Forum, Shaping Tibet’s Future’.
CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay made the remarks in his inaugural address earlier today at its headquarters in Dharamsala.
Irrespective of how much success and fame a Tibetan can achieve after moving abroad, they will always be addressed as an immigrant by the native people of the host country, President Sangay remarked while reminding the Tibetan youth of their roots.
As His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s overseas trip has dwindled lately due to his advancing age, Sikyong Sangay said the responsibility now falls on the Tibetan youth to represent and garner support for the Tibetan movement.
Encouraging the participant’s active participation, he called for a sound exchange of opinion from “the best and the brightest of the Tibetan youth” from across the world at the forum.
The political head of the Tibetan people further announced CTA’s ‘5 under 35’ to declare the 5 outstanding leaders among the participants.
A total of 100 Tibetan youth between the age of 20-35 from 13 different countries across the world are taking part in the forum. Of the 100 participants, 50 are from India, Nepal and Bhutan while the other half is made up of participants from overseas.
The Speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile who attended the event as the Chief Guest spoke on the importance of Tibetans to speak Tibetan language and highlighted the pressing issue of a large number of Tibetans immigrating abroad which he described as an alarming trend caused by a shift in how parents think and advise their children since 1991.
The CTA maintains that its five-fifty Vision is premised on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice to “Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst”. The vision calls for maximizing efforts to resolve the Tibet issue within five years based on the Middle Way Approach while ensuring CTA’s resilience to sustain the Tibetan freedom struggle and preserve Tibetan culture for the next fifty years if needed.
Most of the participants Tibet Express spoke with concurred that the forum presents an important platform to exchange ideas and opinions with their peers from all over the world and an opportunity to get to know the intricacies of CTA’s functions and its operations.
Organised by the Department of Information and International Relations of CTA, it is the exile Tibetan administration’s fourth 5-50 forum.
