Sikyong Dr.
Lobsang Sangay speaking at the 5th annual national conclave of Indian students
at Pune, Maharashtra on 13 January 2015.
DHARAMSHALA:
Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected political leader of the
Tibetan people, was appointed as a member of the governing council of the Bharatiya
Chaatra Sansad, also known as the All India Student Parliament. The Bharatiya
Chaatra Sansad is one of the largest students organisations with annual
participation of over 10,000 students.
Other members
of the governing council include eminent personalities and educationists such
as Mr. Rajesh Tope, Minister for Higher & Technical Education, Government
of Maharashtra; Mr. Padmakar Valvi, the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs,
Government of Maharashtra; Mr T. N. Seshan, the 10th Chief Election Commissioner
of India; Mr. Tushar Gandhi, President of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation; Mr.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, former secretary in Prime Minister’s Office, Mark Tully,
former Bureau Chief of BBC, Dr. S. N. Pathan, Strategic Advisor, World Peace
Centre, etc.
Sikyong Dr.
Lobsang Sangay has addressed the 5th annual national conclave of the Indian
student parliament at Pune, Maharashtra earlier in January this year. He has
given a rousing speech on the topic ‘Religion in Storm or Storm in Religion’ at
the conclave wherein he touched on themes including ‘Religion to Religiosity to
Religionism’, ‘Originality to communalism to fundamentalism’, ‘Inclusive to
Exclusive to Exploitative to sometimes explosive’, and ‘Secularism: Anglo
Franco definition, Maoist/Marxist definition and the Indian/Gandhian
definition’. Other speakers at the conclave include Mr. Natwar Singh, former
External Affairs Minister of India, Mr. Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Mr. Haribhau Bagade, Speaker of the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Mr. Anna Hazare, prominent social
activist. (watch video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVHlM56yGIA&app=desktop)
The Bharatiya
Chhatra Sansad was initiated in 2011 by Rahul V. Karad, an eminent educationist
and Dean of MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions. The student group provides
lessons on the functioning of democracy and encourages students to serve the
society by entering public life and assuming leadership roles. The group is
also aimed at enhancing the roles and relevance of youth in democratic
institutions like political parties, social organizations, colleges,
universities and Public institutions.
The Bharatiya
Chaatra Sansad include students from over 2500 colleges from more than 400
universities in the country.
