By IANS,
Dharamsala : The Tibetan people will themselves decide about their collective future, the Dalai Lama said Tuesday, adding that he would not, in any way, hinder this process.
“The Dalai Lama concluded that when all is said and done, it is for the Tibetan people themselves to decide about their collective future,” said a statement issued after a special meeting here of Tibetans from all parts of the country the spiritual leader called “to engage in wide-ranging discussions with the aim of identifying realistic and non-violent options for the future course of our struggle”.
The statement was meant to clarify remarks attributed to the Dalai Lama that he had lost hope of a solution to the vexed Tibetan issue due to the intransigence of the present Chinese government.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Dalai Lama said that Tibetans “have long been pursuing a path to find a solution to the issue of Tibet that would be mutually acceptable to Tibetans and Chinese. This has received widespread appreciation from the international community, several governments included. More importantly, it has gained the support of many Chinese intellectuals,” the statement said.
“The spiritual guru went on to say that, unfortunately, the Chinese leadership has so far not responded positively to our overtures and does not seem interested in addressing the issue in a realistic way.”
“Beginning in March this year, a series of protests and demonstrations erupted in Lhasa and in many other traditional Tibetan areas. These were learly a spontaneous expression of the Tibetan people’s deep-seated resentment and dissatisfaction over more than five decades of repressive Chinese communist rule,” the statement added.
“… In the absence of any positive reciprocal response from the Chinese leadership, the Dalai Lama feels that if he cannot help find a solution, he would rather not hinder it in any way. The spiritual guru feels that he cannot afford to pretend that his persistent efforts to find a mutually satisfactory solution to the Tibetan problem are bearing fruit.”
Political observers here pointed out that the Dalai Lama’s reaction came after there was no positive response from China on the visit of the envoys for the next (eighth) round of negotiations.
“China is not sincere about the talks and vilified the Dalai Lama as the mastermind of protests during the Olympics,” said one observer.
“China’s assertion last month that it, and not the Dalai Lama, is the real guardian of Tibet’s culture has proved that it’s not sincere about talks with the exiles,” the observer added.
The Dalai Lama along with many of his supporters fled Tibet and took refuge in India when Chinese troops moved in and took control of Lhasa in 1959.
The Dalai Lama has ever since been heading the government-in-exile from this north Indian hill station. The government-in-exile is not recognised by any country in the world.