INAUGURATION OF THE 48TH WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING OF TIBETAN YOUTH
CONGRESS
Around 100 participants from 35 Tibetan Youth Congress Regional Chapters from all over
India, Nepal and Bhutan have gathered in Bangalore, India for the 48 th Working Committee
Meeting of Tibetan Youth Congress which is being held from 29 th August to 2 nd 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, Bangalore University 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 attenders sang
the Tibetan National Anthem followed by the Indian National Anthem. About a minute
mourning was done for the Tibetan martyrs who have sacrificed their precious lives for
Tibet.
The TYC Centrex awarded certificates and cash prize to Tamding Dorjee and Tenzing Kunga
from Herbertpur School, Miao, Nying Dha 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
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 of 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 defence. 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 14 th Dalai Lama’s
visit to National Law School of India 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 14 th 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.
