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By Ben Sheppard Agence France-Presse
DHARAMSHALA, India: Leading Tibetan exiles entered on Tuesday the
second day of their week-long meeting in northern India that could
usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against
Chinese rule in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader,
called the gathering after admitting that his attempts to secure
greater autonomy for the region through negotiation with the Chinese
government had failed.
Before the talks began, he urged the 500
participants to consider all aspects of policy regarding
China—ensuring that the thorny issue of whether to push for full
independence would be tackled.
Dalai Lama’s frustration
The meeting should air “the real opinions and
views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions,”
said the Dalai Lama, who has expressed uncharacteristic frustration
over failing to win concessions from Beijing.
Many exiles feel that his campaign for
“meaningful autonomy” for Tibet—which he fled in 1959
following a failed uprising against Chinese rule—should now be
replaced by a more aggressive pro-independence stance.
“We certainly hope the cause of independence
for Tibet is stronger by the end of the week,” said Tsewang
Rigzin, president of the influential Tibetan Youth Congress and a
delegate at the meeting.
“I was a bit surprised when the Dalai Lama
called this meeting,” Rigzin told Agence France-Presse. “But it
was high time. As he says, he has done everything in his power and
not made progress.”
The conclave in the northern Indian hill town of
Dharamshala opened with the arrival of a large portrait of the Dalai
Lama, which was set at the front of the meeting hall. Participants,
accompanied by traditional pipe players and drummers, sang the
Tibetan anthem, after which a moment of silence was observed for
victims of unrest in Tibet—most recently in March.
Middle-path
approach exhausted
The Dalai Lama said earlier this month that his
“middle path” approach had been exhausted, and that there was
now “no other alternative than to ask people” about how to
proceed.
Tenzin Bayul, another of the delegates, said she
felt it was a moment of historic importance.
“Non-violence is central to our culture, but
frustration is strong among young Tibetans and people get very angry
about the lack of success,” said Bayul, a 28-year-old activist
studying at Tufts University in Boston.
“This situation has gone on for so long, and
the Dalai Lama is tired.”
The meeting has no policy-making power—any
recommendations would require the approval of the exiled Tibetan
parliament—but it comes as the Tibetan movement braces for change.
One looming issue is the health of the Dalai
Lama, 73, who had to cancel trips abroad after being hospitalized in
August and undergoing surgery to remove gallstones last month.
He has since returned to his grueling schedule
and still commands huge respect from Tibetans and supporters around
the world—but he now describes himself as semi-retired.
17,000 Tibetans consulted
The talks will also center on current conditions
inside restive Tibet.
Before the meeting, 17,000 Tibetans still living
in China were consulted, said the speaker of the government of
exile, though he declined to say how their opinions had been
gathered.
“About 8,000 said they would follow whatever
the Dalai Lama decides, and 5,000 said the middle way policy should
change and the Tibetan government should work for complete
independence,” T.T. Karma Chophel told reporters.
In March, protests against Chinese rule in the
capital, Lhasa, erupted into violence that spread to other areas of
western China with Tibetan populations.
Tibet’s government-in-exile said more than 200
Tibetans were killed in the subsequent Chinese crackdown.
The clashes were cited by some Tibetans as proof
that a new and more radical strategy was needed.
Independence policy divisive
“The only way for us to survive as Tibetans is
by holding fast to the hope of an independent Tibet,” said
delegate Jamyang Norbu.
“Independence is what motivates the troops. It
needs to be our focus.”
But any such policy shift could divide the
Tibetan movement and see much of its international support seep
away.
A Chinese government spokesman earlier dismissed
the meeting, saying that such “separatist attempts will get
nowhere.” He could be prophetic—if you give weight to a worry
some delegates had over the Tibetan calendar’s description of
Monday November 17 as an “inauspicious” and “ominous” date.
In his welcoming address to around 500 leading
exiles, Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan
government-in-exile, remarked that some delegates had noted the
conclave opened on an “ominous day” in the Tibetan calendar.
“We should have been a little more careful
about finding the suitability of the day by consulting our own
system of astrology,” Rinpoche admitted.
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