Dharamsala : Speaker of the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Ven. Khenpo Sonam Tenphel addressed the inaugural ceremony of the ‘3rd Leadership Training for the Upcoming Youth Leaders’ organized by National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT) at House of Peace and Dialogue, Upper TCV today. The attendee for the program are a blend of college and school students from Bangalore (KA), Mysore (KA), Delhi, Vadodara (GJ), Harayana (HR), Sarah (HP) and Tibetan schools in Himachal Pradesh respectively.

The leadership program began with the President of NDPT Mr. Tsetan Norbu’s welcome and introductory speech on the aims and objective of both the NDPT and the said program.

 

Thereafter, greeting the gathering Speaker Ven. Khenpo Sonam Tenphel said, ‘Our societal status is that of political refugee and as such, we have additional responsibilities and duties. Moreover, there are numerous spaces in various categories at the moment that are unengaged and need our utmost attention.’

Looking back at past, Speaker said that it is solely by the grace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his untiring endeavors, incorporated with the generosity and felicitation of the people and the government of India and the hard works of our elder generation that Tibet is now recognized all over the world within the 60 years in exile.

He emphasized on the significance of understanding the phenomena of politically exiled circumstances of Tibetans as he drew various comparison between the Tibetans inside Tibet, Tibetans in India and in abroad. Detailing the evolution of world politics from aristocracy to communism to  democracy in the various parts of the world, he pointed out various instances that brought about enormous transformation in the politics of the world and continues to influence even now and stressed on importance of understanding those changes.

‘To be a prominent leader, understanding the pulse of common general people is necessary. A good leader must feel the pulse of common general people of his/her country. Therefore, it is important to have thorough understanding of the circumstances of Tibetans in exile and in Tibet. A leader without the stability of proper understanding and knowledge is bound to be a threat; to his own people and country,‘ he said.

He specifically urged the youths to research and pay special attention towards understanding the phenomena of creation of once-powerful Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on 30 Dec 1922 to its dissolution on Dec 26, 1991, during which the Communist party has ruled one sixth part of the world for sixty nine years. And how with its disintegration numerous countries declared independent such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. He stated that understanding such phenomena could be of very beneficial for the Tibetan struggle movement for future preparation in prospect of possible China’s disintegration or its advancement.

 

He then implored them to strive hard to preserve and sustain Tibetan language and culture, which he said is the principle cause of the Tibetan struggle movement. He drew examples from the minorities under China such as Manchu race, whose language and culture has now been assimilated completely into other culture.

He concluded his speech by stating as a good leader, one must keep in mind the majority of Tibetans who are still inside Tibet and to work for Tibetan struggle movement keeping in mind their plight and situations, not just for one’s selfish gains.

Thereafter, Mr. Kalsang Phuntsok, member of NDPT delivered his ‘thank-you’ speech.

Present at the program were Director of Upper TCV, Representative of Dharamsala Tibetan Settlement Officer and Vice-President of Tibetan Youth Congress. The program will conclude on June 23, 2018.