Tibetan Uprising Day: Tibet supporters in India mark 60 years since uprising

The Dalai Lama -- chosen at the age of two in 1937 as the 14th incarnation of Tibetan Buddhism's supreme religious leader -- was enthroned as head of state after the Chinese invasion.

His co-existence with the Beijing authorities was tense and when the Chinese authorities summoned him to an event without his bodyguards on March 10, Tibetans feared a trap that could endanger their leader.

Thousands of his supporters assembled at his summer palace to prevent him from leaving; thousands more demonstrated in Lhasa to demand the Chinese depart, the Dalai Lama would later say.

(In pic: Young 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet)

The Dalai Lama formed a government-in-exile, headquatered in Dharamsala, and demanded autonomy for Tibet, a decades-long quest that would earn him worldwide respect as a figure of non-violence. He won the Nobel Prize in 1989.

He remains a thorn in the side to China, which adamantly rejects any suggestion of Tibetan autonomy and blacklisted the Dalai Lama as a dangerous "separatist".

(In pic: The Dalai Lama receiving Nobel Peace Prize in 1989)

Beijing continues to be accused of political and religious repression in the region, but insists Tibetans enjoy extensive freedoms and that it has brought economic growth.

(In pic: Tibetan girl with traditional head gear and Tibet's national flag on chest)