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Dalai Lama says ‘a great danger’ faces Tibetans

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures as he addresses journalists in Dharamsala yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The Dalai Lama warned Tibetan exile leaders yesterday to be prudent in their plans or risk failure after they said at a key conference they might push for independence for their homeland if China refuses to grant it autonomy soon.

The delegates ended their weeklong conference on Saturday saying they had decided against pushing independence for now and that they would maintain the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” — his push for autonomy through measured compromise that falls short of calling for independence.

But they also said they would push for independence if China failed to respond positively to their initiatives.

“The next 20 years, if we are not careful, if we are not prudent in our plans, there is a great danger,” the Dalai Lama said in an address to the exiled Tibetans yesterday. “It could lead to the danger of failure.”

While the Buddhist spiritual leader did not specify what he meant, he appeared to be speaking about the larger Tibetan cause, which many exile leaders believe is at a crossroads.

The Dalai Lama was speaking to the more than 500 delegates from all over the world who had gathered to discuss the way forward for the Tibetan movement.

Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, told reporters after the meeting on Saturday that delegates reaffirmed support for the Dalai Lama’s approach — but also said it was time to end talks with Beijing.

“Looking at the doings of China in recent times, we will not send the envoys for further contact,” Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, told reporters after the meeting.

She said that “there was a majority for the middle way” and called for the exile government to press on with that approach.

But the leaders also vowed that if moderation did not produce results soon, they would call for independence — a dramatic break with a decades-long conciliatory approach to Beijing.

“If China does not respond positively to our initiative, there is no other options left for us than to go for independence,” Gyari said.

She did not mention a specific timeframe and took no questions.

The decisions by the 581 exile leaders who came to last week’s meeting are only recommendations for the Tibetan parliament, which is to meet in March.
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