First Round of the Campaign (South India)
The 1st Round of the Campaign Talks started on 19/05/2010 in Mundgod, a Tibetan settlement in South India, and continued to Kollegal settlement and then onto Byakuppe, Ooty, and Bangalore before ending in Hunsur settlement. The majority of these meetings were held in community halls of the different settlements.
The following individuals spoke in Mundgod:
NDPT President:-Mr. Chime Youngdung,
NDPT Bylakuppe Coordinator:-Ven Loga lak,
NDPT Regional Coordinator:-Mr. Tseten Norbu lak and Mr. Gudrag lak.
NDPT Office Assistant:-Tenzin Younten.
Bud ki Bangchen Press:-Thupten lak
After a brief introduction made by each of them, Mr. Chime la gave a speech which touched on several topics, including:
1. The importance of having a two party political system (ruling party and opposition party) in the Tibetan exile government and the support His Holiness has shown for this.
2. Problems faced by Tibetans in Tibet due to lack of basic human rights (including democratic rights’), and contrasting those to India, where there is full freedom but also a tendency to neglect democratic responsibilities.
3. The importance of bicameral legislation. Mr. Chime told people about the hardship of taking steps in creating this bicameral legislation but still he urges people to keep faith and strive hard.
4. The need for the people to take part in voting and state that voting is the right of each and every individual in democratic world. People must stand up for their political rights.
5. Mr. Chime introduced the NDPT’s two Kalon Tripa nominees to the public with the big banner hanging in hall and introduced candidates for members of parliament. He also distributed a brochure containing information about the Kalon Trips candidates to each and every individual in the community hall. With that, the meeting came to end.
On 22/05/2010, the NDPT held a talk in the 4th camp and later in Jangchup Choeling nunnery. On 23rd May, another talk was held at Gaden monastery, where they were welcomed by the head of monks in Lachi. In the afternoon, we successfully established a new NDPT regional chapter in Mundgod.
NDPT representatives reached Kollegal on 27th May and immediately held a meeting with the heads of 22 camps representatives. The meetings with Kollegal Tibetan people started on 28th May 2010, and begin from camp block wise-1st block D and ended at block Q village community hall. Around 60-70 people came and mostly it was around 75 to 80 people. The actual meeting started with the introduction of the NDPT President by the Chief of Kollegal village. Then Mr. Chime la started his speech to public on the importance of voting and the significance of the year 2011, sticking to mostly the same themes that he had previously spoken about.
On 30/05/2010 the meeting held in Dekyi Lharso Bylakuppe Tibetan community hall featured the presence of around 800 to 900 people. Mr. Lhakyab, Mr. Sonam Dorjee, V. Loga and NDPT President Mr. Chime Youngdung, participated in the talk. There was active participation by the public and many media were also present. After the talk, leaflets were distributed to the people. On 31/05/2010, anew regional chapter of the NDPT was established successfully at Bylakuppe. The members were really enthusiastic on the foundation of this RNDPT and the elected committee members are;
President: V.Loga lak
Vice president: Sonam Dorjee
General secretary: Dorjee Namgyal
Accountant: Pema Tsewang
Co-ordinator: Sonam Dorjee
In the evening, a talk was organized at Bylakuppe Sera monastery (Lachi) with lots of monks present. They arrived very early to Sera, as many of the monks here were present with Mr. Chime during the protest march to Tibet in 2008. They wished to meet him and greatest thing is that they expressed their admiration for his tireless work in the cause of freedom . The meeting was attended by huge number of monks, approximately around 2500 to 3000 monks. Even though the topics were same at almost all the places, the reactions were always different from place to place. The monks listened very intensively but a lack of time prevented a question and answer session. On 2nd June 2010, the talk at Rabgyaling, Hunsur was attended by around 200 to 250 Tibetans. Here the Regional NDPT chapter, the Regional TYC president, and the Regional TWA, warmly welcomed the NDPT representatives. At Hunsur, a new topic was discussed which was on the successful founding of regional chapters that haven’t been able to last long for unforeseen reasons. For example, Hunsur has the largest number of NDPT members, and a new chapter was initiated successfully but it didn’t last long due to people not attending meetings. There are also other issues which make it difficult to sustain NDPT regional chapters. The last one meeting was held at Zonga choeden monastery with around 100 to 150 monks.
On 03/06/2010, Mr. Kunchok, President of the Ooty NDPT Regional Chapter, warmly welcomed Mr. Chime la and Mr. Younten. On 4th June 2010, the meeting was held in the Ooty Tibetan market’s office with around 50 to 60 people. After a brief introduction by Mr. Kunchok la, President Chime Youngdung began his speech. The question and answer session in Ooty was the most active one of all. Participation was very good and it was like a true debate, covering many issues but focusing on the two Kalon Tripa nominees.
On 6th June 2010, a brief meeting with Tibetan students at Bangalore Youth Hostel was held, and after that Dr. Lobsang Sangay la interacted with students. With that the 1st Campaign talk tour of NDPT ended in Hunsur with great success. The 2nd Campaign talk tour will be held soon. This round will feature both NDPT Kalon Tripa nominees, as well as several NDPT MP nominees.
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