"Seeking meaningful autonomy within China, not Independence"- Dalai Lama

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Thursday said that more and more people in China were realising that he was not seeking independence, but a meaningful autonomy within China and preservation of the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

He said that some hardliners in China consider him ‘a separatist and reactionary’ and the country objecting to his visit to Ladakh is a ‘usual thing’. The Dalai Lama arrived in Jammu on Thursday afternoon and was likely to visit Ladakh on Friday. This was his first visit outside Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh in the last two years.

“Not Chinese people, but some Chinese hardliners consider me separatist and reactionary. More and more Chinese are realising that Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, but within China a meaningful autonomy and preservation of Tibetan Buddhist culture... More and more Chinese are showing interest in Tibetan Buddhism,” he said in Jammu.


The Dalai Lama’s visit to Ladakh comes at a time when the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh remains tense. “I have a programme to go to Ladakh on Friday, but I don’t know if the weather will permit as it is raining,” he told reporters in Jammu, adding: “Some Chinese scholars realise that Tibetan Buddhism is truly Nalanda tradition and a scientific religion. Now things are changing.”

On the crisis in Sri Lanka, he said: “Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, which is in a lot of trouble. My main message wherever I go is that all 7 billion human beings are brothers and sisters and there is no point fighting… Fighting is usually caused by the narrow-minded ideas of nation, country and ideology… All seven billion people are a family. So, whether we like it or not, we must live together. Like in a family, we have to solve little problems through dialogue.” On the continued violence in Kashmir, he said, “It is a complicated issue.”