Dalai Lama Hits Out At China, Says His Visit Is Non-Political

Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh): Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who arrived in Arunachal Pradesh Sunday for a warm welcome by hundreds of monks, rejected accusations that China was leading a separatist movement, and said his visit to the northeastern Indian state not politics.

“It is quite normal for China to step up the campaign against me, wherever I go. It is totally unfounded by the Chinese Communist government to say that I am encouraging a separatist movement,” the Dalai Lama told reporters at the Tawang monastery after inauguration of a museum.

The spiritual leader of Tibetans, which has thousands of followers around the world descended on this picture-pretty town perched at an altitude of over 11,000 feet, near the Chinese border in a week-long visit.

“My visit to Tawang is political and not to promote universal brotherhood, and nothing more,” he said.

“I am delighted to be here in Tawang as there are many emotions involved. When I escaped from China in 1959, I was mentally and physically very weak as I was ill with dysentery,” he said.

It was through Tawang, a revered seat of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama fled the Chinese to enter India, where he established the base in Dharamsala, in Himachal Pradesh.
Thousands welcome the Dalai Lama in Tawang
Tawang also spiritually significant to Tibetans as the sixth Dalai Lama was born in the 17th century in the Monastery of Urgelling near here.

“The Chinese will not haunt us in 1959, but when I arrived in India, he started talking against me. I am always surprised (by reactions of China),” said the Dalai Lama.

“Tibetan Buddhism and culture is going through a very difficult period. But there is hope of religion and culture to survive in this free zone, especially in India. So there are very responsible people here and in the South India to keep the flag flying, “he said.

Thousands of residents in traditional dress and monks dressed in maroon robes, waiting for each side of eight mile road that runs from the heliport of the Tawang monastery, he greeted a smiling Dalai Lama as their motorcade wound through the field mountainous.

The highly revered spiritual leader appeared jovial as he was seen waving to the crowd.

In the monastery, about 800 monks, including dozens of child monks, the Dalai Lama welcomed amid chanting Buddhist religious hymns as a strong smell of incense hung in the air.

Giant Gongs were interpreted by the monks, while the priests of the monastery prostrate as the Dalai Lama got out. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and other high priests then led the spiritual leader in the monastery

US military action in Afghanistan, Iraq a failure, says the Dalai Lama

Calgary (Canada): The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has proved a failure, said the Dalai Lama
here.

“In Iran and Afghanistan, it is too early to say. So far, I think a failure, using military force. Coverings drives are becoming increasingly difficult,”said the Tibetan spiritual leader told a news conference.

The Dalai Lama, who has been given an honorary degree in law from the University of Calgary, said the killings of innocent civilians in the conflict have created sympathy for the militants. However, military action in serious cases is justified, he said, referring to the U.S. intervention World War II and the Korean conflict.

Earlier, the Dalai Lama had 15,000 of the city, the strong audience riveted with his fun time along the direction of Wednesday.

About his trademark mischievous smile, she laughed: “I’m always smiling. Especially (a) some young women. They think I’m his farm or something.”

Oblique reference to the Chinese called “separatists”, the Tibetan monk said: “Some call me a living Buddha or god-king. Some people call me devil. These are just labels. I’m just a human being.”

An honorary citizen of Canada, the Dalai Lama was in Calgary to open the Conference two days now at the University of Calgary, granted an honorary degree from the law on him.

“I should say a very special thank you because I am actually a very lazy student,”the Tibetan Buddhist leader said that the honor of the university.

Canada is one of the few countries that have given the rare honor Dalai Lama honorary citizenship.

Brutal Crackdown in Tibet: Dalai Lama

DHARMSALA: China has launched a “brutal crackdown” in Tibet since protests shook the Himalayan region last year, the Dalai Lama said on Tuesday in a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent him into exile.

Tibetan culture and identity are “nearing extinction,” he said in this Indian hill town, where the Tibetan spiritual leader and the self-proclaimed government-in-exile have been based since shortly after fleeing their homeland. “The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death.”

“These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet,” he told about 2,000 people, including Buddhist monks, Tibetan schoolchildren and a handful of foreign supporters. The group gathered in a courtyard that separates the Dalai Lama’s home from the town’s main temple, and monks blowing enormous conch shells and long brass horns heralded his arrival. “Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them,” the Dalai Lama said.

While his comments were unusually strong for a man known for his deeply pacifist beliefs, he also urged that any change come peacefully and reiterated his support for the “Middle Way,” which calls for significant Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule.

“I have no doubt that the justice of Tibetan cause will prevail if we continue to tread a path of truth and non-violence,” he said.

While Beijing claims Tibet has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, Tibet was a deeply isolated theocracy until 1951, when Chinese troops invaded Lhasa, the regional capital. Tuesday’s anniversary marked March 10, 1959 riots inside Tibet against Chinese rule which lead to a crackdown and, later that month, the Dalai Lama’s dramatic flight across the Himalayas and into exile.

Last year, a peaceful commemoration of the 1959 uprising by monks in Lhasa erupted into anti-Chinese rioting four days later and spread to surrounding provinces, the most sustained and violent demonstrations by Tibetans in decades.

This year, China has largely sealed off Tibet to the outside world.

Recent visitors to Lhasa have described armed police posted on rooftops. Local governments in Tibetan areas have ordered foreign tourists out, and foreign journalists have been detained and told to leave. Internet and text-messaging services, which helped spread word of last year’s protests, have been unplugged in parts of the region.

Following the protests, China has stepped up its campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama, accusing him of leading a campaign to split the region from the rest of the country.

The Dalai Lama insists, though, that he does not want Tibetan independence, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the region to protect its unique Buddhist culture.