They have been preparing for this for the last 15 years.”
Kolkata:
China is expected to intervene in the Dalai Lama’s succession, and anticipating that event, the Tibetan government-in-exile has drawn up a plan for a democratic transition of the leadership role by a spiritual one.
Penpa Tsering, chairman of the Tibetan government-in-exile, in an interview to PTI said that a repeat of the 1995 appointment of the rival Panchen Lama by the Communist government of China, while a boy chosen by the Dalai Lama was chosen as the avatar. The Lama has been banished from the public eye, to be expected.
“What will happen after the present Dalai Lama is no more is a big challenge for Tibetans, especially if the Sino-Tibet dispute is not resolved,” he said on Tuesday.
“We believe that China will definitely interfere in the process of Dalai Lama’s succession… They have been preparing for this for the last 15 years,” he said.
Tsering, who also has the title Sikyong, said the Chinese government issued a “dictate” in 2007 requiring all reincarnated lamas to join the succession.
He added, “It was done with the aim of using religion as a political tool… (even though) China has no role to play and neither does any other government.”
“They (the Chinese) intervened in 1995 when they chose a boy (Gyanken Norbu) as the Panchen Lama. The boy identified by His Holiness (the Dalai Lama) was identified as the Panchen Lama (Gedhun Choyi Nyima) and we Still no news whether he is alive,” he said.
Nyima has not been observed by any independent observer since May 17, 1995. While the Chinese government claims she is living a “normal” life, Tibetan exiles and human rights groups believe she is being held as a prisoner of conscience in a “Chinese Gulag”. ,
Tibetan Buddhists believe that the soul of a High Lama or “Living Buddha” can be reborn as a “Soul Boy” after his death and can be found through the interpretation of mystical signs.
“Communist China claims not to believe in religion, yet it wants to interfere in a purely religious act,” Tsering said, with the Dalai Lama joking that if “the Chinese government reincarnates is so interested, it should study Tibetan Buddhism”.
To prepare the world and Tibetans for the day when the 14th Dalai Lama passes away, a six-point plan has been drawn up. The cornerstone of the plan, Tsering said, is a democratic transition.
While religious leadership remains with the Dalai Lama, since 2011, political leadership of the Tibetan community has passed to the directly elected Sikyong, or President of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Until that time, the ‘Kashag’ or the temporary head of the Tibetan government elected by the parliament-in-exile was the Prime Minister with the ‘Kalon Tripa’ or Dalai Lama.
A popular uprising in 1959 against the Chinese who had invaded Tibet, which left thousands of civilians bloodied, saw the Dalai Lama and many of his followers flee to India. A year after that, the Dalai Lama established a democratically elected parliament.
Tsering said, “The Dalai Lama, impressed by Indian democracy, which he saw firsthand during his visit in 1956-57, is preparing us for a democratic future.” The Tibetan leader said the Dalai Lama found that while India’s democratically functioning parliament allowed people to speak freely, the Chinese top legislature, of which he was a high official, was a place where one could speak one’s mind. which prompted him to adopt democracy in the running of affairs. Tibetan exiles.
He said, “That is why I, the son of a farmer, have been able to take over as Tibetan political leader… We will move forward democratically.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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