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Tibetans ignore rains to fete Dalai Lama on birthday
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By Pratap Chakravarty in Dharamsala
Wednesday, 06 July , 2005, 15:04
Tibetan exiles ignored driving rain and turned out in their thousands on Wednesday to celebrate the 70th birthday of the Dalai Lama, as the god-king urged the elected Tibetan leadership to steer the campaign to secure autonomy for their homeland from China.
Saffron-clad monks, Tibetan refugees and children prayed outside his palace as the Dalai Lama was joined by Buddhist spiritual heads at the celebrations in mountainous Dharamsala, 500 km north of New Delhi. Editor's Choice
The Dalai Lama, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent freedom struggle, unveiled a book on Mahatma Gandhi at the start of three days of religious and cultural pageantry.
Author S. Imamdar, who wrote the book entitled "Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama on Non-Violence and Compassion", told some 5,000 exiles that the Tibetan spiritual leader had "taken the baton in the relay race for global peace from Gandhi."
Tibetan bagpipers and drummers struck up western tunes and young Tibetan flautists played the national anthem amid applause and emotional scenes at an ornate temple near the Dalai Lama's palace.
"How long do we wait before we can sing our national anthem in our homeland? How long can our patience hold?" asked a sobbing Buddhist monk, banging his head against a granite pillar outside the birthday party venue.
The Dalai Lama in his birthday address spoke of the need for "inner peace and compassion" and said it was time for him to hand over the struggle for Tibet's autonomy to MPs elected to the 46-member Tibetan parliament in-exile.
The spiritual leader opposes demands by hardline Tibetans for independence from Chinese rule and instead calls for greater autonomy for his homeland. He fled in 1959 after Beijing crushed an anti-Chinese uprising in the landlocked country.
"As a Tibetan I have a special responsibility for our cause and my people have hope and trust in me but since an elected political leadership exists amid us I am trying to remain less and less involved in the political field," he said.
At a later press conference the Dalai Lama said Tibetans must show "more patience and more determination" to achieve reconciliation with China.
"In the past two years my position has been that I am in semi-retirement and that it would be best for the Tibetan people if political activity is transferred to the elected representatives," the Nobel laureate said.
He was confident, he added, of a settlement with Beijing within his lifetime. "I certainly hope so... We have done our best to achieve our mission," he said, in reply to questions on the four rounds of talks held so far between China and his envoys since 2002, when direct contact was established between the two sides after a hiatus of nine years.
International celebrities were absent from the three-day birthday bash but messages of greetings from across the world were read out. The Dalai Lama said he was grateful for the prayers being offered at Tibetan centres worldwide on his birthday and offered greetings to his followers.
"I have thousands of friends, some are scientists, some are AIDS patients and some are people with cancer and I extend my greetings to all," he said.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, meanwhile, announced year-long festivities to commemorate the event to highlight the Dalai Lama's contribution to achieve autonomy in Tibet.
"While in exile, His Holiness guided the Tibetan people to become the seeds of future Tibet. He also transformed the struggle of the Tibetan people into a non-violent one," it said in a statement, hailing him as the true champion of democracy.
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