Dalai Lama under fire from Tibetan radicals
DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama came in for tough criticism Monday from prominent radical exiles demanding a review of his non-violent campaign for autonomy within China.
The leader of the pro-independence Tibetan Youth Congress publicly criticised the Dalai Lama's refusal to call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games and urged protests in the Himalayan region to continue.
He said an explosion of protests and rioting in the vast Himalayan region signalled the 72-year-old Dalai Lama, who has lived in northern Indian since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959, was out of step with his people.
"China does not deserve to host the Olympics. Human-rights issues inside Tibet have deteriorated. It's evident that they do not deserve the Olympics," Tsewang Rigzin told reporters in Dharamshala, the hilltop base of the Tibetan exile community.
The Dalai Lama had on Sunday condemned China's "rule of terror" and "cultural genocide" in Tibet, but said Beijing should be "reminded to be a good host" of the Olympics -- and did not call for a boycott.
According to the Tibetan government-in-exile and aides to the Dalai Lama, the Chinese crackdown in Tibet has left at least 80 people dead, most of them Tibetans.
Rigzin said there was now mounting frustration among Tibetans over the Dalai Lama's so-called "Middle Way" policy -- a non-violent campaign for autonomy rather than independence for his homeland, a region that China considers to be an undisputed part of its territory.
"I disagree with his stance," Rigzin said.
"There is a ground frustration within the Tibetan community, especially in the young generation. After six years of dialogue (with Beijing), there are still fundamental differences," the prominent activist said.
"There are a lot of frustrations. I certainly hope the Middle Way approach will be reviewed," Rigzin said. "As we can see from the protests here and all over the world, the Tibetan people remain committed to achieving independence."
The ever-cheerful Dalai Lama argues his approach is the most realistic, with China certain to never give up its sovereignty over Tibet.
But many younger Tibetans say this considered approach has not yielded any results, with Tibetans continuing to flee their homes and China continuing to cement their grip over Tibet.
"Everyone knows my principle -- knows (it is) completely non-violence. Violence is almost like suicide," the Nobel peace laureate said on Sunday.
Another Tibetan radical, B. Tsering of the Tibetan Women's Association, said the Dalai Lama was "still the leader of Tibetan people" despite the mounting frustration in Dharamshala and other concentrations of the more than 100,000 refugees in India.
But Lhagyal Tsering, a teacher in Dharamshala, signalled that many exiles may start to look elsewhere for political leadership.
"We are demanding a peace dialogue between His Holiness and the Chinese. But at the moment, Dalai Lama is out of the picture. It's a Tibetan people's movement," he said.
