The spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhists, the
Dalai Lama, feels it is his moral responsibility to tell India how much
it had done for the Tibetans in exile at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.
He completed the 50th anniversary of his escape to India from Tibet.
“The non-sectarian principles are very much alive in this country. Fifty years ago, I came to India as a 24-year-old homeless refugee and has been greatly inspired since then by great leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. I call myself a son of India. Over the years Tibetans have developed very close ties with the country,” says the Dalai Lama.
He escaped from the Norbulingka Palace in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, at night on March 17, 1959 after a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan national resistance movement against the Chinese. He reached India after a 14-trek through the mountains.
March 31 is observed by the Tibetans in exile as the “National Uprising Day”.
“I personally think my life in India has been very neaningful and I have gathered experience from followers of other traditions like Hindusim, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism,” says the
spiritual leader.
The spiritual head, who has been engaged in eight round of talks with the Chinese
government for an amicable solution to the Tibetan refugee issue feels it is very difficult to predict the course of ties with China 50 years from now.
“Despite having a third eye, it is very difficult to say what will happen after 50 years between Tibet and China. But we definitely have more support and solidarity from within the Chinese community and from the world,” the Buddhist leader says.
In the last round of negotiations, the Tibetan government in exile had been able to hand over a more detailed memorandum to the Chinese government explaining how to implement the new constitution drafted by the government at Dharamsala for an autonomous Tibet, the Prime Minister of the elected government of Tibet Samdhong Rinpoche claimed.
The Dalai Lama urged the Chinese media at the Press conference and the Indian media in general to investigate “if the situation in Tibet was as peaceful as the Chinese government claimed or there was resentment.”
“Ask the Chinese government for a visa and visit Tibet,” he told the Press.
“Everyone- the European countries, Australia, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand- knows about our position, but the Chinese. It is your responsibility to make it clear to your government. Otherwise, your reportage is meaningless,“ he told a correspondent from China.
The Dalai Lama claims his government's aspiration that the Tibetans be brought under an autonomous administration was in keeping with the very objective of the principle of regional autonomy. “We Tibetans are looking at a legitimate autonomy that would enable Tibetans to live within the framework of the People's Republic of China,” he said.
The spiritual leader says after the crackdown by the Chinese government on Tibetan protesters in 2008, majority of the Tibetans preferred a middle-way policy. “We are committed to Ahmisa and peaceful negotiations,” he said.
The elected democratic government in Dharamsala took over day-to-day administration in 2001, though the Dalai Lama still remains the spiritual and official head of the community in exile.
--Madhusree Chatterjee and Jay Akbar