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CALL FOR PEACE: The Dalai Lama, speaking to the media in Dharamsala yesterday, called on Tibetan protestors to end the violence in his homeland and appealed for better relations with the Chinese. -- PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS
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DHARAMSALA - THE Dalai Lama yesterday called on Tibetan protesters to end the violence in his homeland, saying that he might be forced to step down if the current unrest spun out of control.
'I have been saying since 1987 that if the violence in Tibet goes completely out of control, my only option is to resign completely,' he said, while declining to call for an end to the current protests.
Anti-Chinese violence in Tibet has continued for more than a week, taking more than 100 lives by some counts. A Chinese ultimatum for protesters in Tibet to surrender passed on Monday night.
In Dharamsala, seat of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile since 1960, rallies continued yesterday. Groups numbering from a dozen to several hundred marched on the streets, demanding Tibetan independence. Tibetan exile-run shops and eateries here have been shut for days.
Protest rallies were also reported in several other Indian towns.
Speaking to reporters hours after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused the Dalai clique of instigating the violence, the Dalai Lama, 72, denied the charge, saying China was free to investigate his role.
'They can examine my pulse, my urine, my stool - everything,' he said, chuckling loudly.
He said he had called a meeting of Tibetan protest groups today, where he would advise against any use of violence.
'Tibetans and Chinese have to learn to live side by side,' he said. 'Friendship with China is extremely important.'
However, he said, he could offer only counsel. The main political decisions on Tibet were no longer in his power, but lay with the elected Tibetan parliament-in-exile. These representatives had to listen to the voices of frustration from within and outside Tibet.
While in 1959, Tibetans felt no hatred for ordinary Chinese people but only the government in Beijing, there was a change now, he said
'Schoolchildren, prisoners, officials - they have all come to hate the Chinese. This is very, very sad. I want close relations between Tibetans and Chinese.'
The Buddhist spiritual leader said the situation in Tibet gave him an eerie feeling that he was back in the days of the Tibetan uprising in 1959, which was put down with a heavy hand by the Chinese.
'Neither side was willing to listen to me then. I get the same feeling now,' he said, likening Tibet to a young deer in a fierce tiger's clasp.
Professor Samdhung Rimpoche, Prime Minister of the government-in-exile, said the Dalai Lama's threat to resign was meant to convey that he would lose his moral authority to lead Tibetans if the violence continued.
'He will still be the Dalai Lama,' he said.
He also declined yesterday to call for an end to the anti-China protests in Tibet.
'When we are helpless to end the suffering of the people in Tibet, it is not morally possible to ask them to end the protest,' said Prof Rimpoche, who reports to a 43-seat Parliament.
He told The Straits Times that protesters in Tibet were showing unusual resilience and Beijing should start negotiations immediately to defuse the crisis. 'There has been a determination to continue that has surprised us. Sitting across a table is the only way for a resolution to this situation.'
He said he welcomed Mr Wen's remarks that the door for negotiation was open.
'It is up to the Chinese leadership to receive the envoys of His Holiness. They are ready to go whenever the Chinese leadership indicates,' he said.
velloor@sph.com.sg
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