CMR University School of Legal Studies

CMR Memorial Guest Lecture
By
Dr. Lobsang Sangay. Hon’ble President of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
On
“India and Tibet: Ancient Roots to Modern Times”

The CMR University’s School of Legal Studies hosted the First CMR Memorial Guest Lecture, for the Academic Year, 2018-19, by Dr. Lobsang Sangay. Hon’ble President of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), on the topic “India and Tibet: Ancient Roots to Modern Times”. Also present on the dais, were Dr. T.R.  Subramanya, Dean, School of Legal Studies, CMR University who welcomed the guest and introduced him to the gathering and Dr. M.S. Shivakumar, Vice Chancellor, CMR University, who presided over the event.

As an alumnus of Harvard Law School and as the first Tibetan to be awarded an SJD at Harvard, he said that he enjoyed talking to students of Law. The lecture focused on the millennia old relationship that has been existing between India and Tibet. Dr. Lobsang Sangay, narrated how the Indian subcontinent drifted across the oceans from the African Continent and crashed into the Asian mainland thereby creating the Himalayas. “India from then, have been pushing us to reach higher and higher”, he said.

Referring to the great Nalanda University, he explained how scholars from Tibet would go through a grave and perilous journey to study the Buddhist Texts in their Sanskrit version and translate them into the Tibetan language. This resulted in almost 300 volumes of The Buddha’s teachings to have been preserved in Tibet, the highest such collection anywhere in the world. “We welcome you to learn the Tibetan Language so that we may give you back the knowledge that we learned from here and preserved”, he said.

He opined that had Tibet not fallen into Chinese occupation it would have been a natural barrier between India and China, thereby preventing the recent skirmishes along the Indo-Chinese border. “Tibetan autonomy is good in the interests of Indian National Security” he said.

Earlier, Dr. Lobsang Sangay was given a traditional Tibetan welcome by Tibetan Students studying law at the CMR University’s School of Legal Studies. He also interacted with all the students and left them with inspiring words and great memories.