TYC believes that a good leader should not only possess the mental attributes of leadership skills and knowledge but should also have a healthy and toned up physique to sustain the abrasions of the calls of duty.
The second day of the Tibetan Youth Leadership Training began early in the morning with a professional physical trainer conducting an intensive half an hour of stretches and cardio exercises, followed by a brief religious session conducted by a female participant from Varanasi.
Mr. Ravi Nair, Director of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center, addressed the first session of the second day’s training on the topic ‘UN Mechanism and Lobbying Tactics’. He elaborately spoke on the structure of the UN and explained the various mechanisms of the UN bodies and how the Tibetans could exploit them to serve their own purpose. Mr. Ravi Nair deliberated on the assorted agreements and conventions that China has signed and ratified and suggested arrangements on how these treaties can be used by the Tibetans to target China on international forums.
A sound knowledge and balanced perspective on the history of Tibet is a pre-requisite for any Tibetan. The TYLT has always offered welcome sessions on the history of Tibet, delineating relevant topics for deliberation. Mr. Lobsang Shashtri, Member of Parliament and senior researcher at the Tibetan Library of Works and Archives, chaired the second session of the day on the topic, ‘History of Tibet: 1904 – 1959’. Mr. Lobsang Shashtri chronicled in detail the more controversial era of Tibetan history beginning from the military expedition of Younghusband till the flight of H.H. The Dalai Lama into exile, while pointing out verified facts ascertaining Tibet’s independence.
The participants of the TYLT were privileged to have Prof. Brahma Chellaney, Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research and an expert in international diplomacy and arms control, take the third session on the topics, ‘China: Facts and Fiction’ and ‘Gormo-Lhasa Railways’. For almost two hours, Professor spoke on the Tibetan movement being a model movement for the world, struggling against the ‘very much’ authoritarian state of communist China. With the military budget of China on the increase every year, Prof. Brahma Chellaney specified that China in her pursuit to be ‘a second power to none’ uses tactics of low key submission, modest resistance and discreet competition tactics against USA. In spite of the hyper nationalist Chinese changing more that any other country, he predicted that China will not have the capability to challenge USA in the next 20 years nor it will easily attain the mental capability to understand and practice democracy. “China is riding two horses of market capitalism and authoritarian governance at the same time and as history tells us, the peak of China is short lived, so the Tibetans should never let the spirit of freedom die”, concluded Prof. Brahma Chellaney.
The ‘White Paper on Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet’ released by China in May last has remained elusive to the Tibetan psyche following the decision of the Kashag of not forcing a reply against the mendacious statements and lies packed in its loquacious lines. Fearing that if such a paper filled with fabrications on the case of Tibet, sinks unnoticed into the history, it might, later on remain as a source of reference and unchallenged study, TYC has taken every opportunity to scrutinize and explicate the statements proclaimed in the paper to the Tibetan public. Mr. Lugar Jham, Researcher at the Research and Analysis Department of the TGIE, chaired the last session of the day on the topic, ‘White Paper on Tibet’. Mr. Lugar Jham reflected upon the various white papers that China has published in the past, not only on Tibet but on various other minorities as well, using them as a documental tool to establish and validate their sovereignty over the minorities. Mr. Lugar Jham took the participants through the white paper, explaining in detail the various trivia of the paper, offering his own arguments and opinions to retaliate the lies and fabrications filled in the paper.
A gathering of more than 130 young, dynamic and bright students offers a wonderful opportunity to build a network of new relations and understanding through open interaction and individual indulgence. At the TYLT, the evenings are dedicated to the purpose of interaction, by organizing various games and entertainments to build teamwork and cooperation amongst the participants coming from varied backgrounds. The second hectic day of the TYLT concluded late in the evening with educative games to enhance participation and teamwork amongst the students during which all the participants took active participation, laughing and relaxing the pressures of a full day of training.
