Dalai Lama calls for renewed and stronger Tibetan freedom movement
by Abhik Kumar Chanda
DHARAMSALA, India, Feb 18 (AFP) - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama marked the 60th anniversary of his enthronement Friday by
calling for a strengthening of the movement to end Chinese oppression in
his homeland.
The Nobel peace laureate presided over a glittering religious ceremony
attended by top Tibetan monks including the 14-year-old Karmapa Lama,
who escaped from China to India last month.
The 64-year-old leader told his followers that the future of the Tibetan
freedom movement lay with them.
"Today is a good day to renew and reinforce your dedication for the
Tibetan freedom struggle," he told several thousand admirers in the
northern Indian hill resort of Dharamsala where he has lived since
fleeing Tibet in 1959.
"The most important thing today is to save Tibetan Buddhism and culture.
The younger generation has to take more responsibility ... and work for
the Tibetan issue in a non-violent way."
The Dalai Lama thanked officials of his exiled government for working
ceaselessly over the past 40 years for the Tibetan cause.
"You are really dedicated and hardworking. But there is always scope for
improvement," he said.
He also expressed happiness that the Karmapa Lama -- spiritual head of
one of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism -- had managed to escape
from Tibet to Dharamsala, where he arrived on January 5.
"I am very glad that the Karmapa Lama has been able to flee Tibet. He is
safe here. He is very young right now," he said, referring to the newly
arrived adolescent monk.
The Karmapa, who was attending his first official function in
Dharamsala, has been tipped by many Tibetan experts as a possible
successor to the Dalai Lama as the figurehead of the Tibetan freedom
movement.
The Dalai Lama was honoured by senior monks of the four schools of
Tibetan Buddhism at a ceremony replete with pomp and circumstance.
Sitting on an ornately carved throne in front of a gilded statue of Lord
Buddha in an audience room plastered with religious scrolls known as
'tankhas,' he first accepted greetings from senior monks.
He was then presented with sacred Tibetan relics -- including a knotted
garland of gold, holy banners, the eyes of a fish crafted in gold, and
silver vases by the Sakya Dhatri Rinpoche, the head of the Sakya school
of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Dalai Lama, who in 1988 toned down his demand for independence to
greater autonomy for Tibet, urged new refugees from Tibet to return
home.
"It is not easy to go back to a motherland where there is repression.
But I ask you to go back with happiness because the future of Tibet
depends on the six million Tibetans living there."
The Dalai Lama also stressed the role played by "westerner friends" and
the international community "who have shown interest, sympathy, support
and solidarity" for the Tibetan cause.
"It is because of them that the Tibetan cause is known in every corner
of the world. Ours is a demand based on truth and justice. I appeal to
the world community for more support."
Friday's ceremony included traditional dances by men and women dressed
in colourful brocade robes, offerings of rice cakes and Tibetan tea and
holy scarves to the Dalai Lama.
The dancing continued in the streets of Dharamsala throughout the
afternoon, as vendors hawked photographs of the Dalai Lama and the
Karmapa.
The underlying message of the day was that the Dalai Lama remained the
fulcrum on which the Tibetan movement balanced. Banners carried slogans
like "The Dalai Lama is the guiding force of the Tibetan freedom
struggle."
Thubten Samphel, an official at the information department of the exiled
Tibetan government said Friday's celebrations were tempered by the fact
that Tibet was still under Chinese rule.
"The estimated 134,000 Tibetan refugees worldwide are of course happy
today but their joy is subdued by the fact that these should have been
held at the Potala Palace," the traditional seat of the Dalai Lama in
the Tibetan capital Lhasa, he said.
