By IANS,
Dharamsala : The Himachal Pradesh Police do not expect any major law and order problems during a gathering near here to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising next week, a senior official said Thursday.
Hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist exiles will assemble at McLeodganj, 13 km from here, to hear a crucial address of their spiritual head the Dalai Lama March 10.
“We (the police) do not expect any major disturbances during the sensitive anniversary function. It’s an annual phenomenon… this time the gathering is likely to be large,” Additional Director General of Police I.D. Bhandari told IANS.
“The police have stepped up vigil in areas where Tibetans-in-exile reside and are keeping a close watch on their activities. But our intelligence inputs indicate that there would be no provocative actions by the exiles,” he said.
All 43 members of the Tibetan-parliament-in-exile and nearly 30 exiled Tibetan leaders from across the globe will attend the function.
“His Holiness (the Dalai Lama) will deliver a keynote address on the day of the 50th anniversary in the main temple (McLeodganj),” said Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary at Dalai Lama’s office.
Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the government-in-exile, will also address the gathering.
Fifty years ago, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing brands a separatist, fled into exile and established his government-in-exile at McLeodganj near here.
The Dalai Lama has been following a “middle-path” policy that demands “greater autonomy” for Tibetans, rather than complete independence.
But many radicals, particularly the youth, still believe that Tibet was an independent nation before the Communist troops invaded in 1950.
The Tibetan-government-in-exile is not recognised by any country in the world.