World Tibet Network News Wednesday, April 29, 1998

NEW DELHI, India, April 29, 1998 (AP) -- For decades, the Dalai Lama has preached calm and patience to fellow Tibetans campaigning against Chinese rule in their homeland.

Now, with growing hunger strikes and the death of a man who set himself on fire, the political and spiritual leader has admitted that his moderate approach has failed in the eyes of many frustrated, desperate Tibetans.

His response could mark a watershed for the Tibetan independence movement: While reiterating that hunger strikes and suicide betray the Buddhist tradition of nonviolence, the Dalai Lama admitted he was unable to offer any alternative solutions.

``For many years, I'd been able to persuade the Tibetan people to eschew violence in our freedom struggle,'' he said Tuesday after visiting Thupten Ngodup, a protester who set himself on fire during a demonstration Monday against China's rule of Tibet.

Ngodup died Wednesday, the first Tibetan exile to die of self-immolation.

``Today, it's clear that a sense of frustration and urgency is building up among many Tibetans as evidenced by the unto-death hunger strike and the tragic incident,'' the Dalai Lama said.

His followers, many of whom believe he is the incarnation of a Buddhist deity, may interpret his admission as approval of more forceful tactics such as hunger strikes and suicides.

The Dalai Lama -- a title that means Ocean of Mercy -- has lobbied heads of governments, popes and potentates to try to push China toward more autonomy for Tibet. But China, which invaded Tibet in 1950 and annexed it nine years later, has not budged.

``In that sense my efforts have failed,'' he said.

Younger militants have expressed increasing impatience with the Dalai Lama's moderate policies.

``We, the people of Tibet, need an answer,'' said Tseten Norbu, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which organized a hunger strike that culminated with Ngodup's self-immolation. ``How long should we wait, wait and wait?''

The Youth Congress has long advocated more forceful steps. It organized the hunger strike even though the Dalai Lama had stepped in to stop similar protests in the past.

The Dalai Lama's admission was a hint that the youth should go ahead with their approach, said Dawa Norbu, a professor of Tibetan studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. ``The Tibetan youth are getting desperate.''

It is unlikely, however, that any Tibetan group would defy the Dalai Lama's principles to the extent of waging a campaign of violence to push their cause, either outside the country or against the Chinese in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama is the religious and political leader for more than 100,000 fellow countrymen campaigning from exile in India for increased freedom for Tibet, and for many of the 6 million people who live in Tibet.

Many Tibetans believe he is the incarnation of a Buddhist deity. Although radicals disagree with his methods, few challenge his authority.

Ngodup, a 50-year-old former Buddhist monk, was to have been among a group to take up the hunger strike after the first six were forced to stop. Five men began fasting Tuesday.

Ngodup set himself on fire after Indian police, claiming they were acting on

humanitarian grounds, forcibly took six other fasting Tibetans to the hospital Sunday and Monday.

``The self-immolation is one of the most dramatic beginnings,'' said Mahendra Lama, a professor at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

But Lama said without international support, protests like hunger strikes and self-immolations cannot grow significantly.

A handwritten sign propped against Ngodup's coffin at a prayer vigil Wednesday declared Tibetans would follow his example ``one by one.'' But such a radical recipe does not appeal to all.

"I feel that with this sacrifice, people will become more determined to achieve independence," said Yang Kyi, a 21-year-old Tibetan who attended the prayer vigil. ``But I personally feel it's better to continue the struggle peacefully.''