I find it funny that they still need conventions like these to appeal to their insecurity. The funny part is, they think Tibet is a country when a country's real identity is its culture, not the piece of land it is on. When will they get that right? as long as Tibetans still know what their cultural identity is, Tibet will always exist. Oh well. All these conventions do not serve much purpose other than as a gathering for CTA's fans because there are no results with China as nobody can persuade China at this point of time.
Second Special Meeting begins in Dharamshala, 432 Tibetans from 26 countries discuss Tibet crisis
Phayul[Tuesday, September 25, 2012 16:39]
The inaugural session of the Second Special General Meeting of the Tibetan People underway in the Upper TCV School auditorium on September 25, 2012. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
DHARAMSHALA, September 25: The Second Special General Meeting of the Tibetan People got underway today in the Tibetan exile headquarters of Dharamshala.
The four-day meeting, held in accordance with the provisions of Article 59 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile is being attended by 432 delegates from 26 countries from around the world.
Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Penpa Tsering, in his inaugural address said the main reason for holding the Special Meeting is “concerned with the question how and in what ways we, the Tibetan people living in exile, should respond to the tragic situation in Tibet today.”
“Over the past 60 years, the Chinese government has continued to pursue a policy of assimilation designed to obliterate the ethnic identity of the Tibetan people,” Speaker Tsering said.
“Because of it, the situation in Tibet became so severely unbearable that to our knowledge thus far, 51 people, our flesh-and-blood brethrens, have been driven to sacrifice even their very lives by setting themselves on fire; 41 of them have died. Many others have been shot dead or rendered disappeared.”
In respect and remembrance of the Tibetan self-immolators, 51 Tibetan national flags have been raised at the school auditorium of Upper Tibetan Children’s Village School, the venue of the meeting.
Delegates at the Second Special Meeting stand to sing the Tibetan national anthem below 51 Tibetan national flags raised in remembrance of Tibetan self-immolators. (Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
Speaker Tsering added that a “state of undeclared martial law continues to remain in force in Tibet” and blamed the Chinese government for attempting to “deceive and mislead the Chinese people and the international community, and to camouflage the reality of the tragic situation in Tibet.”
“In doing so, it has converted Tibet into a territory resembling a prison camp, denying permission for visits by independent journalists as well as by governmental and non-governmental delegations seeking to investigate the real situation there.”
Speaker Tsering also urged the delegates to limit their discussions to the given agendas and not to waste time on historical narrations and other matters.
The delegates, divided into ten committees, will on the first day discuss on actions that should be undertaken by exiled Tibetans under the directives from the Kashag and TPiE of the campaigns being non-violent, lawful, and dignified.
On September 26, the delegates will brainstorm on campaign actions to be undertaken in the international community and in India and Southeast Asia.
On the third day of the Special Meeting, a compilation of the campaign ideas will be drawn and committee reports will be presented in attendance of all the delegates.
On September 28, delegates will attend a tenshug (long-life prayer) offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by the Central Tibetan Administration. In the afternoon, a plenary session of the Second Special Meeting will then adopt the final report and recommendations of the meeting.
(Phayul photo/Norbu Wangyal)
The de facto Tibetan Prime Minister, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, in his address said the “sense of stability” amongst the Tibetan public, a year after the Dalai Lama devolved all his political authority to the elected Tibetan leadership, sends a strong message to China’s leaders that the Tibetan people have responsibly taken on the leadership role.
“This shows the confidence of the Tibetans in being able to fulfill the aspirations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of having a fully democratised system of governance,” Sikyong Sangay said.
He expressed his gratitude and appreciation to leaders and parliamentarians around the world for passing resolutions and making strong statements on the crisis in Tibet, and fully supported the recommendation made by two senior US Congressmen for the formation of ‘contact group on Tibet’.
Dr Sangay reiterated his stance of being prepared to hold talks with the Chinese government “anytime, anywhere” and said that the exile Tibetan administration was in the process of appointing Special Envoys for the talks.
He called for 2013 to be marked as a ‘campaign year’ for Tibet and reminded Tibetans of their past achievement in successfully paving the way for the return of His Holiness the Great 13th Dalai Lama from exile in India a century ago.
“Our generation faces the challenge when Tibet is at the risk of getting wiped off from the face of this earth,” Sikyong Sangay warned. “We must organise more campaigns in support of the demands of the Tibetans in Tibet.”
The First Special Meeting was held in November 2008 following the pan-Tibet spring uprisings that year.
