The Dalai Lama, who is on a two-day Jammu and Ladakh tour, said that Chinese scholars have realised that Tibetan Buddhism is true knowledge and a very scientific religion
File image of Dalai Lama. News18
New Delhi: The Dalai Lama Thursday said that most people in China have realised that he is not seeking independence within People’s Republic of China and want preservation of meaningful autonomy and independent Buddhist culture.
“Some Chinese hardliners consider me separatist and reactionary, so always criticise me. But now more and more Chinese have realised Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, but within people’s republic of China, meaningful autonomy and Tibetan Buddhist culture preserve,” the Dalai Lama told reporters in the Union Territory of Jammu.
The Tibetan spiritual leader’s further said that more and more Chinese are showing interest about Tibetan Buddhism. “Some of the Chinese scholars have realised that the Tibetan Buddhism is truly knowledge and tradition and a very scientific religion,” he added.
‘Not seeking independence from China since 1974’
It can be recalled that in 2018, the Dalai Lama in a video message to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) based in Washington DC stated that they were not seeking independence from China since 1974. He also said that China and Tibet can have mutual benefits if reconciled.
The Dalai Lama had said that in the late 1950s and 60s, the Chinese hardliners had almost a belief that, through use of Chinese military forces, Tibetan issue could be eliminated.
The Dalai Lama on Jammu, Ladakh tour
The Dalai Lama is on a two-day Jammu and Ladakh tour. The Tibetan spiritual leader is likely to stay in Jammu tonight and reach the Union Territory of Ladakh on Friday. It will be his first visit post COVID tour outside Dharamshala in the last two years.
The Dalai Lama’s visit comes ahead of the Sixteenth Commander-level talks to resolve boundary disputes between India and China, which is scheduled on 17 July.
The visit of the Tibetan Spiritual leader is bound to antagonise Beijing, which treats the Dalai Lama as anti-China. In the year 1959, the Chinese military had invaded Tibet and captured its capital Lhasa.
The Dalai Lama, who was in his youth, managed to escape the Chinese military and undertook a perilous through snowy mountains, reaching India and seeking refuge. Since then, the Dalai Lama has been living in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, with the Tibetan government-in-exile operating from India. More than 1,60,000 Tibetans reside in India.
China irked with India over the Dalai Lama birthday wish
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday, which irked Beijing. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a media briefing that “the Indian side also needs to fully understand the anti-China and separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama.”
“It needs to abide by its commitments to China on Tibet-related issues, act and speak with prudence and stop using Tibet-related issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Zhao said in response to a question from China’s state-run media.
“Tibet-related affairs are China’s internal affairs and brook no interference by any external forces. China firmly opposes all forms of contact between foreign officials and the Dalai Lama,” Zhao added.
Meanwhile, India rejected China’s criticism and said that it is a consistent policy of the government to treat the Tibetan spiritual leader as an honoured guest and that the birthday greeting should be seen in this overall context.
“His Holiness is accorded all due courtesies and freedom to conduct his religious and spiritual activities in India. His birthday is celebrated by many of his followers in India and abroad,” external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“The birthday greetings by the prime minister to his Holiness on his 87th birthday should be seen in this overall context,” he said, noting that PM Modi greeted him last year as well.
With inputs from agencies
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