VARIOUS: Tibetan spiritual icon Dalai Lama says Beijing must accord meaningful autonomy to Tibet and end the "cultural genocide" in the region
Record ID:
492615
VARIOUS: Tibetan spiritual icon Dalai Lama says Beijing must accord meaningful autonomy to Tibet and end the "cultural genocide" in the region
- Title: VARIOUS: Tibetan spiritual icon Dalai Lama says Beijing must accord meaningful autonomy to Tibet and end the "cultural genocide" in the region
- Date: 29th March 2008
- Summary: (BN10) KATHMANDU, NEPAL (MARCH 29, 2008) (REUTERS) CHINESE EMBASSY VISA SECTION GATE WITH SECURITY FREE TIBET WRITTEN ON THE GATE OF VISA SECTION CONTINUED TUSSLES BETWEEN THE TIBETAN ACTIVISTS AND POLICE FORCE POLICE ARRESTING THE ACTIVISTS AND HURLING INTO VANS ONE BY ONE SOUNDBITE (Nepali) ONE ARRESTED LADY UTTERING FROM INSIDE A POLICE VEHICLE, SAYING: "China killer, China killer. We want justice UNO. We want justice for Tibet. Please stop the killing." MORE ARRESTS AMIDST TUSSLES INCLUDING MONKS AND NUNS MOSTLY YOUNG LADIES SHOUTING SLOGANS INCLUDING 'STOP KILLING' AND 'FREE TIBET'. MORE ARRESTS HAULED INTO VEHICLE AND ACTIVISTS CONDEMNING CHINESE PRESIDENT VAN MOVING AWAY
- Embargoed: 13th April 2008 13:00
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- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVADYT5GF9LQ5QEK97OIVGKQ54LV
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- Story Text: Tibetan spiritual icon Dalai Lama says Beijing must accord meaningful autonomy to Tibet and end the "cultural genocide" in the region.
Tibetan spiritual icon Dalai Lama on Saturday (March 29) urged Beijing to accord meaningful autonomy to Tibet and an end to China's cultural genocide in the region.
The Nobel Laureate, who won the Peace Prize in 1989 for leading a non-violent struggle for the liberation of his homeland, reiterated his assertion that he was not for a separate Tibet, but, sought meaningful autonomy for Tibet within China.
"The Chinese government you know still do not know that Dalai Lama not seeking independence. One approach in that. not separation but within the People's Republic of China, for full guarantee about our unique cultural heritage including our language and dedicated environment, we need special care. So, unless we have meaningful autonomy, we cannot. there is no guarantee to protect these things," he said.
The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, who led an inter-faith prayer meeting at Rajghat on Saturday in remembrance of Tibetans who lost their lives and injured during their recent protest against China said that ever-increasing numbers of non-Tibetan Chinese were moving into his troubled homeland that threatened to stifle Tibet.
He said that in Lhasa, the region's ancient capital, there are now 100,000 Tibetans but twice as many outsiders. The majority of those are Han Chinese, the country's ethnic majority, he said..
There is evidence the Chinese people in Tibet are increasing month by month and terming it as demographic aggression, he called the population shift, a form of cultural genocide.
"These monastic institutions are very very important for the preservation of the Tibetan culture. Now, a lot of restriction on this is actually some form of cultural genocide. These are intentionally and monks and nuns. You see now political for the education and also now in recent years, they intensified," he said.
The comments by the Dalai Lama, who has been based in India since fleeing his homeland decades ago, came as foreign diplomats prepared to leave the Tibetan capital after an overnight visit. Their visit the latest move by China to show it is in control of the region after deadly anti-government protests more than two weeks ago.
Appreciating the empathy and support from the international community to the Tibetan cause, the Tibetan spiritual leader said that the solution to the problem would have to be worked out between Tibet and China.
"In order to make clear to our Chinese brothers and sisters. I made a special appeal there also I always telling people the real solution, Tibetan problem must find between ..Chinese and Tibetan no one else of course friends including Europeans, Americans, Japanese or others can help," he said.
The protests, which began on March 10, were the most-sustained challenge to China's rule in the Himalayan region since 1989. The ensuing crackdown by Chinese authorities has focused international attention on China's human rights record in the run-up to the Olympics.
China accuses the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama, of orchestrating the rash of monk-led protests and rioting -- the most serious in the Himalayan region for nearly two decades -- in a bid to wreck the August 8-24 Games.
The spiritual leader denies he masterminded the protests - which culminated last Friday in a riot in the capital of Tibet, Lhasa -- from his base in Dharamsala. He says he wants greater autonomy for his homeland, not independence, as China suspects.
In Khatmandu Nepali police broke up a pro-Tibetan rally on Saturday and detained dozens of demonstrators.
Police said they detained 84 people protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet as they tried to demonstrate in front of a Chinese consulate office in the centre of Nepal's capital.
They will probably be released later in the day, police said.
Most, if not all, of the protesters were ethnic Tibetans. More than 20,000 ethnic Tibetans live in Nepal, where many have sought refuge after fleeing their Himalayan homeland following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
Nepal considers Tibet a part of China and does not allow exiled Tibetans to organise anti-China protests. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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