Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 10: Former political prisoner and one of the founding members of the Gu Chu Sum Movement Association of Tibet, Yeshi Togden, has been elected the new President of the organisation after securing 26 votes out of 33 cast during its 10th General Body Meeting held on Friday at the Tibetan Welfare Office’s hall in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.
A total of 15 executive board members were elected for a three-year term— five from India, five from Australia, two from the United States, and three representing Europe (France, Switzerland, and Belgium). The election followed an online meeting convened on April 18, 2024, by the outgoing 9th executive board members, during which former President Gyalthang Tulku Kunkhen Jamchen Choeje, who had served two consecutive terms, was unanimously expelled from his position.
The 10th General Body Meeting was overseen by representatives from four major Tibetan NGOs—the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), and the National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT), who supervised the election process. In his address, Gonpo Dhundup, the former President of the TYC, criticised the tenure of former President Gyalthang Tulku, noting that he had severed ties with other Tibetan NGOs, thereby aborting all collaborative activism such as the Tibetan National Uprising Day commemoration and the founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
Under Gyalthang Tulku’s leadership, several of Gu Chu Sum’s hallmark programs, including travelling exhibitions, observances of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, International Human Rights Day, and the Day of Imprisoned Writers, were reportedly abandoned. The organisation’s long-standing programs which provided monetary assistance to former political prisoners in need and free meals to those requiring support were also halted during his tenure, even though only a few beneficiaries continued to rely on them.
Yeshi Togden, the newly elected President who had also previously held the post, told Phayul that he was aware the organisation had become largely inactive in recent years. Emphasising that his re-election was the outcome of a proper democratic process, he said he could not turn away from the responsibilities entrusted to him. He expressed his commitment to revitalising the organisation, stating his intention to renew collaborative efforts with the four major Tibetan NGOs and to resume the association’s previously discontinued programs to the best of their ability.
A four-point resolution was adopted during the meeting. Speaking to Phayul on the resolutions, Yeshi highlighted that the board members unanimously endorsed the decision to expel Gyalthang Ngawang Gaden from both the executive committee and membership. The expulsion, he said, had been unanimously decided by the 9th Executive Committee on April 18, 2024, in accordance with Article 11(V) of the organisation’s code of conduct.
He further stated that all materials disseminated and documents issued under the name of the organisation between November 14, 2022, and October 9, 2025, have been officially revoked and rendered null and void.
He also clarified that any remarks or actions disrespecting His Holiness the Dalai Lama made by Gyalthang Ngawang Gaden in the name of the organisation are solely his personal responsibility, bearing no connection to the executive board or the members of the Gu Chu Sum Movement Association of Tibet.
The Gu Chu Sum Movement Association of Tibet was established on 27 October 1991 by former Tibetan political prisoners to advocate for the rights of political prisoners, raise awareness on human rights violations in Tibet, and support ex-political prisoners and their families in exile. The Tibetan words Gu-Chu-Sum stand for the numbers 9, 10, and 3, which refer to three months in the late 1980s (September 1987, October 1987, and March 1988) when major Tibetan protests were crushed by the Chinese government in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
