By Sonam Topgyal Joint Secretary to RTYC of NY/NJ
Tibetans from New York and New Jersey celebrated the Tibetan Youth Congress anniversary on October 4th 2003. The chief guest for the occasion was Dr. Ngawang Rabgyal with Ms. Ngawang Sangdrol as the distinguished guest. The program began with prayers and mendal tensum. The Tibetan Community of NY/NJ distributed the Mani Ribu to the public and then dasil and Tibetan tea (Bolcha) were served right after. The Cholsum Dance group of NY/NJ and TCV alumni presented traditional dances and songs.
It was an honor for the RTYC chapter of New York and New Jersey to present the scroll as Medal of Honor on behalf of Centrex from Dharamsala. The New York and New Jersey chapter also presented a plaque in recognition of her freedom struggle of Tibet. The public gave her a
standing ovation. She later shared her experiences of inhumane treatment by the Chinese officials in Drapchi prison. She said, “Chinese officials are promoted based on how severely they can torture the political prisoners. They intentionally speak Chinese to the prisoners in excuse of prisoners disobeying their commands”. She urged the Tibetans and the rest alike to learn more about what’s happening in Tibet and the best of all if anyone can go to Tibet and see things themselves then it would substantiate one’s reason in helping the Tibetans in Tibet. She said “we should shoulder our responsibility on our own initiatives in order to help the campaigners to make any struggle more successful”.
Beside speeches from Dr. Ngawang Rabgyal and President of RTYC of NY/NJ, Penpa representing RTYC of Minnesota also thanked Ms. Sangdrol for her dedication. RTYC of San Francisco and Toronto could not make it but they were gratified by Ms. Sangdrol’s sacrifices. Mr. Namgyal Shastri also gave a speech. He was then the Information Secretary of seventh Central Executive committee from 1989 to 1992 based in Dharamsala. He affirmed that there is no conflicts of interest in Tibetan Youth Congress stand on complete independence and the Government in exile’s path of middle way approach. Owing to his expertise the public appreciated much of his statements.
The afternoon program began with the talent search for which there were nine participants. We remain thankful to Karma Gyaltsen (EX TIPA) the chief judge, Namgyal Shastri from Voice of America, Tenzin Choedon (Ex TIPA) and Tsering Phuntsok (Ex TIPA) as the judges for the competition. Dhupgyal won the first prize; Dawa won the second and third was won by Sangyal. Ms. Ngawang Sangdrol presented the prizes. New York Bhomo (New York girl) and Bhomo gyakpa enthused the public with much laughter. On public demand Ms. Ngawang Sangdrol sang the song, which was composed by the Drapchi nuns in the prison. The afternoon program concluded with much awaited group dance (Gorshey) and then followed by the fund-raising dance party. For detail information and more pictures please, visit our website www.tibetanyouthcongress.us.
