Tibetan youth movement reaffirms complete independence goal
(TibetanReview.net, Jun03, 2013) – The 15th General Body Meeting of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), the largest exile Tibetan non-governmental organization, ended at Dharamsala Jun 1 with the election of Mr Tenzing Jigme from Minnesota, USA, as its new president. Tamding Sichoe from Pokhara, Nepal, and Tashi Lamsang from Dharamshala are the new vice-president and general secretary respectively. During its six-day meeting, the more than 130 delegates representing over 40 RTYC chapters reaffirmed the movement’s founding objective of struggling for Tibet’s complete independence from Chinese rule.
The reaffirmation, necessitated by demands by some regional chapters’ call for the TYC’s founding objective to be changed to the goal of the middle way policy, which is favoured by the Dalai Lama and being vigorously pursued by the exile Tibetan administration, was made by a majority vote on May 27, the meeting’s first day.
Voice of Tibet, Oslo-based Radio broadcast service, reported May 29 that despite the first day’s resolution, delegates representing eight regional chapters were still insisting that the TYC charter be amended to adopt the middle way policy. And although Tibetan news portals have been silent on the issue, timesofindia.indiatimes.com Jun 3 reported that 34 members representing the TYC chapters in Bangalore, Bylakuppe, Mundgod, Hunsur and Kollegal in south India, as well as those from Dalhousie, Pondoh and Ladakh refused to attend the meeting from the third day, insisting that the TYC’s founding objective be scrapped and the exile administration’s middle way adopted.
The middle way policy accepts Chinese rule in exchange for grant of autonomy under existing Chinese constitution for an ethnographic Tibet that includes the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province as well as the historical Tibetan territories which China has currently made parts of its Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. China has repeatedly trashed this demand as a disguised campaign for Tibet’s independence and never agreed to discuss it despite 9-10 rounds of talks in with envoys of the Dalai Lama from Sep 2002 to Jan 2010.
On the meeting’s first day, outgoing President Mr Tsewang Rigzin make clear the TYC’s unequivocal faith in and obeisance to the Dalai Lama, and vowed that the youth independence movement would never cause any sort of offence to him. He expressed apologies to the Tibetan spiritual leader in case there had been any such unintended results from the TYC’s actions and statements and sought his forgiveness for them.
Mr Rigzin also expressed TYC’s continued support for the Central Tibetan Administration at Dharamsala.
The TYC’s website says it has 87 regional chapters, with 69 of them being in Asia, 13 in North America, four in Europe and one in Australia.
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Last updated on Jun 03, 2013 16:55:37
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