(TibetanReview.net, Oct06, 2017) – A three-day forum on what is called the ‘Five and Fifty’ vision, described as a flagship policy of the current President of the Central Tibetan Administration Dr Lobsang Sangay, began on Oct 6. However, it is a closed-door, brainstorming meet with even the names of what is said to be a total of more than 185 participants in it being not disclosed.
The Five and Fifty’ vision calls for a revitalization of the Tibetan people’s struggle to seek genuine autonomy for Tibet through the ‘Middle Way Approach’ in the next five years while strategizing to embolden and sustain the Tibetan movement over the next 50 years as a contingency plan.
The forum, ‘Five-Fifty Forum: Shaping Tibet’s Political Future’, is being held at Hotel Pavilion. Dr Sangay was reported to have explained at a press conference Oct 5 that the Five and Fifty vision was premised on the Dalai Lama’s advice to ‘hope for the best and prepare for the worst.’
The participants, said to include experts, scholars, strategists and old friends of Tibet,reportedly include 82 non-Tibetans from 21 countries, with a spokesperson from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, a former White House staffer from the United States, and former government ministers being reportedly among them.
“They will deliberate on how best to amicably resolve the issue of Tibet based on the Middle way Approach within the next five years, while securing the future of the Tibetan people in the next 50 years,” the CTA’s Tibet.net Oct 5 quoted Dr Sangay as saying.
The meeting is said to focus on four major topics: Resumption of dialogue with Beijing with the exile administration’s middle way approach of seeking autonomy, not independence, for Tibet as the core issue; relationship with Asian nations with emphasis on India; Global support and network for the Tibet issue, and the CTA’s role in the 5/50 vision.
Participants are required to restrict their inputs within the confines of the middle way approach.
Others attending the meeting are said to include Representatives from all the Offices of Tibet, the exile Tibetan administration ministers and department secretaries.
Those excluded from the forum are said to include the non-CTA media and members of the Tibetan parliament in exile.
Mobile phones and recording devices are disallowed.
Those attending the meeting may report information disclosed during the discussions with the proviso that the source of the information may not be named or implied.
The Dalai Lama is said to be set to make a short visit to the meet on any of the three days.
Earlier, on Aug 21, a three-day conference of campaigners and supporters of Tibet’s independence, a marginalized cause within the Central Tibetan Administration setup, opened in the French capital Paris. One former and four current members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile took prominent part in it as speakers. Chief Guest Ms Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar, a young exile Tibetan parliament member, made it clear that fighting for independence was at the heart of the Tibetan people’s struggle and that many had sacrificed their life for it.
It was the fourth such international conference since May 2015.