Tibetans live in fear

The Dalai Lama has accused China of unsuccessfully trying to wipe out Tibetans and to crush their spirit.

The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader told a gathering in Malmo (Sweden) that Tibetans in Tibet live in fear and anxiety.

“The Chinese authorities have employed all means to eliminate the Tibetan identity and to crush the Tibetan spirit, but in 70 years they have not succeeded,” he said.

The Dalai said they talk about establishing harmony and stability, but these have to come from the heart not as a result of threats and oppression.

Stating that “since the cause of Tibet is a just cause, Tibet supporters are not so much pro-Tibet as pro-justice.”

The 83-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said Tibetans continue to keep up their struggle on the basis of non-violence.

“Since 1974 we have not been seeking independence, but we have been seeking the rights mentioned in the Chinese constitution, rights to be implemented on the ground, not only in the Tibet Autonomous Region but in all Tibetan areas, to preserve Tibetan language and culture,” he said.

”It’s now nearly 60 years since we became refugees and the 150,000 of us outside Tibet are but a handful. Nevertheless, we’ve been quite successful keeping our thousand year old traditions alive,” he said.

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His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. He was born in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence.