Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala: June 16: Seventy-Six Tibetan university students attended an 11-day youth leadership workshop, “Introducing university students to Tibetan Democratic Polity and Policies” organised by New Delhi-based Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre (TPPRC), which concluded here yesterday.
The workshop, which began on June 5, had students coming from 18 different universities from different parts of India.
The workshop is part of a series of youth leadership workshops that TPPRC has been organising regularly for sometime now.
Through these interactive panel discussions, the organizers say, young Tibetans will be groomed and directed towards shouldering future Tibetan political responsibilities.
In his opening speech, the director of the Centre, Mr. Penpa Tsering, briefed the students on the administrative set-up and functions of the various organs of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
In this all-inclusive workshop, the participants had the rare opportunity to hear from and, hold question and answer sessions with Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Educational Minister Mr. Thupten Lungrik, former Chairman of Tibetan Assembly Mr Pema Jungney, current Chairman Mr Karma Choephel, Deputy speaker Miss Gyari Dolma, and Geshe Lhakdor, Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives on issues and topics relevant to their respective official capacities.
Evolving Tibetan democracy, relevance and importance of maintaining the religious and moral ethos to preserve the Tibetan identity, policies of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile (TGIE), status of Sino-Tibet dialogue process, basic framework of the exile Tibetan Charter, the education policy of TGIE, situation inside Tibet and the issue of Tibet in the International political scenario are the main topics of discussions during the workshop.
Besides, the students were introduced to various departments of CTA and their functioning. The participants also had the opportunity to visit different Tibetan non-governmental organisations and institutions based in and around Dharamsala.
TPPRC is a joint project of the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation and Tibetan Parliament in exile.
