- Title: Profile of Dalai Lama, ahead of his 85th birthday
- Date: 9th June 2020
- Summary: On March 2011, using his annual address to mark the 1959 Tibetan national uprising, the Dalai Lama announced his intention to step down as Tibet's political leader -- a move seen as transforming the government-in-exile into a more assertive and democratic body in the face of Chinese pressure. The Dalai Lama officially relinquished political power but remained Tibet's spiritual leader continuing to advocate "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet. NEW DELHI, INDIA (FILE - MARCH 10, 2011) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) TIBETAN DEMONSTRATORS MARKING 52ND ANNIVERSARY OF 1959 TIBETAN NATIONAL UPRISING GATHERED OUTSIDE THE UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING SHIMLA, INDIA (FILE - MARCH 10, 2011) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) CHANTING TIBETAN DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING WITH PLACARDS DHARAMSALA, INDIA (FILE - MARCH 10, 2011) (ANI - NO USE INDIA) DALAI LAMA ARRIVING TO GIVE ANNUAL ADDRESS TO MARK THE 1959 TIBETAN NATIONAL UPRISING (SOUNDBITE) (Tibetan) TIBETAN SPIRITUAL LEADER, DALAI LAMA SAYING: "As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power. Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect."
- Embargoed: 23rd June 2020 08:08
- Keywords: 60th anniversary China Chinese rule Dalai lama India Nobel Peace Prize Tibet religious freedom uprising
- Location: SEE SCRIPT BODY FOR LOCATIONS
- City: SEE SCRIPT BODY FOR LOCATIONS
- Country: China
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00ICL4UQ87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is to turn 85 on July 6.
Born Lhamo Thondup, the Dalai Lama was just two years old when identified by a search party as the new incarnation of Tibet's most important spiritual leader, and was whisked from the family home to live in Lhasa. He was officially enthroned in February 1940.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in early 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, lives in exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala.
The 84-year-old spiritual leader was faced with a health scare in April of 2019 and was admitted to hospital in the Indian capital of New Delhi with a chest infection, but later reassured his followers of a full recovery.
Many of the up to 100,000 Tibetans living in India are worried that their fight for a genuinely autonomous homeland would end with the Dalai Lama.
China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, brands the Nobel peace laureate a dangerous separatist and has said its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy inherited from China's emperors.
But many Tibetans - whose tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death - suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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