Speaker for the event Mingyur Dorjee, the current Member of the 17th Tibetan Parliament in Exile, addressing the gathering.

Bengaluru: The Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) organised a week-long Umaylam (Middle Way Approach) Awareness Program for college students in Bangalore and Mysore as well as for class XI students at the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Bylakuppe and Tibetan public in the Bylakuppe settlement from 11 May to 17 May 2023. This awareness program was primarily designed to provide deeper knowledge and a better understanding of the Middle Way Approach. The Awareness Program includes an introductory talk on the Middle Way Approach by Mingyur Dorjee, the current Member of the 17th Tibetan Parliament in Exile who has served for 37 years in various posts in the Central Tibetan Administration, followed by a two-day awareness workshop by Tibet Advocacy Section staff Tenzin Kunkhen and Rinchen.

Parliamentarian Mingyur Dorjee briefly explained the meaning of the Middle Way Approach and the origins of the Policy, which was later adopted by the Central Tibetan Administration as the most pragmatic and viable solution to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict in his introductory remarks. He pointed out that, The Middle Way Approach for Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People is a policy conceived by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and adopted as the official policy of the Central Tibetan Administration through a democratic process.

Moreover, he stressed the importance of knowing the Five-Point Peace Plan of 1987 and the Strasbourg Proposal in 1988, the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People and Noted on the Memorandum to have deeper knowledge and understanding on the Middle Way Policy. He also insists participants to read these documents.

After the talk, the speaker answered questions from students related to the Middle Way Policy as well as the important role of Tibetan youth in the Tibetan struggle.

Parliamentarian Mingyur Dorjee served for 37 years in various posts, including Chief Representative, Ladakh, Secretary of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and later Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi in 1991, Political Secretary of Kashag in 1995, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the U.K. in 1997, Deputy Envoy in Brussels for the EU, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in South Africa, and Kadrung (Cabinet Secretary) of 12th and 13th Kashag. He also previously served as a Member of the 16th Tibetan Parliament in Exile.

The two-day awareness workshop began on 11 May 2023 and was attended by students studying in their third year of college education at the Dalai Lama Institute of Higher Education. In addition, Parliamentarian Mingyur Dorjee will speak to the entire staff of the Institute and students studying in their first and second years of college education on the evening of 11  May 2023. The workshop will continue in Mysore on 13 and 14 May for Tibetan students studying at Mysore University. The awareness workshop will conclude in Bylakuppe with students of class 11 at the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Bylakuppe.

-Filed by the Umaylam Desk, Tibet Advocacy Section, DIIR