|
DHARAMSHALA, India: Tibet’s spiritual leader and symbol of hope
for his homeland, the Dalai Lama, has been a thorn in China’s side
ever since he fled in 1959 after a failed uprising against
Beijing’s rule.
Even though the Buddhist “god-king” has
repeatedly reached out to Beijing seeking dialogue and cultural
autonomy for his homeland, China has denounced him as a
“splittist” seeking full independence for Tibet.
And while his India-based government-in-exile
says the latest deadly violence racking Tibet is a spontaneous
result of deep-rooted frustration, China is accusing “a separatist
Dalai Lama clique, inside and outside the country” of
masterminding a plot to oust the Chinese from Tibet.
But the 72-year-old—considered by many to be
the world’s greatest moral force for non-violence — is
continuing to appeal to his fellow Tibetans to use peaceful means to
achieve their ends amid rioting in his homeland that has come as the
world’s spotlight falls on China ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
“I . . . urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort
to violence,” said the Nobel peace prize winner, who espouses what
he calls a “common human religion of kindness” that extends to
“all members of the human family.”
Clad in the maroon robes of a monk, he is
beloved for his contagious laugh and engaging grin, set off by
oversized glasses.
He has been a powerful rallying point for the
six-million Tibetans living in exile or in their homeland, while
also being a friend to kings, politicians, celebrities and the poor.
The spiritual leader has stuck by his call for
“cultural autonomy” rather than independence for Tibet despite
escalating his criticism of China recently, accusing it of
“unimaginable” rights violations.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet across the Himalayas
after a failed uprising against the Chinese in 1959 and was given
sanctuary in the northern Indian mountain town of Dharamshala, where
he set up a government-in-exile.
From there, he launched a campaign to reclaim
Tibet that slowly changed to a plea to Chinese authorities for
autonomy for his people.
His calming influence has bridged a divide
between moderates within the Tibetan government-in-exile and
radicals, including sections of the Tibetan Youth Congress, who
oppose any deal with China outside of full independence.
“Visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi and the
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. have shown us successful changes can
be brought about non-violently,” said the Dalai Lama in late 2007.
But moderates fear the latest violence could
radicalize the movement.
“The use of force by China has caused great
disturbance to Tibetans and we fear the Tibetans will lose the
direction” of what has been a mainly non-violent freedom struggle,
the government-in-exile’s Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpochehe told
AFP last Saturday.
The Dalai Lama insists his moderate “middle
path” approach of autonomy is in the Tibetans’ best interests.
Born into a peasant farming family in the
Tibetan village of Taksar on July 6, 1935, Lhamo Dhondrub was chosen
as the 14th incarnation of the Dalai Lama at the age of two.
He was taken to Lhasa’s palace to be trained
to become his people’s leader. But at 16 he was called upon to
become head of state when China invaded Tibet in 1950.
He tried to keep the peace but the effort failed
in 1959 when China poured troops into the region to crush an
uprising and reneged on a pledge to grant Tibet autonomy.
The Dalai Lama, disguised as a soldier, trekked
for 13 days through the Himalayas and crossed into India, which
offered him Dharamshala as a base.
According to officials, at least 100,000
Tibetans live in exile in India which, after fighting a war with
China in 1962, barred the Dalai Lama from using its soil as a
springboard for a Tibetan independence movement.
-- AFP
|
