Devil's Advocate: Dalai Lama

TIBET'S SPIRIT: The Dalai Lama says the Tibetan movement goes beyond him.

      

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Keywords: China, Tibet

Karan Thapar: You are throwing a challenge to the youth aren’t you?

Dalai Lama: No, this is the truth. I admire them They are spirited, and are absolutely loyal to our nation. But sometimes they are little impatient.

Karan Thapar: One quick question: You have been waiting patiently for 50 years to return home. Do you think in your lifetime you will see Tibet again?

Dalai Lama: I think judging by today’s development and developments in China, I am hopeful.

Karan Thapar: You are an optimist.

Dalai Lama: Yes, I am an optimist.

Karan Thapar: And if you don’t see Tibet again. If God forbid, you were to die without seeing your home again, would you be unhappy?

Dalai Lama: No problem. I am a Buddhist monk, now over 71-years-old. These several years I have trained my mind according to Buddhist teachings. Doesn’t matter.

Karan Thapar: In November, when Hu Jintao visited India, the Indian Government went to extraordinary lengths to stop Tibetan protests. Tenzin Tsundue, one of your more colourful protestors, was even barred from leaving Dharamsala. Do you think that it is proper that the world’s biggest democracy should have behaved in this way?

Dalai Lama: Usually, I publicly express that the Government of India’s attitude or policies regarding China in general and Tibet in particular are overcautious. Sometimes, of course, the Government’s attitude creates more resentment among Tibetans.

Karan Thapar: Has this created resentment among Tibetans?

Dalai Lama: On several occasions in the past—sometimes due to some incident — there has been resentment among the Tibetan community. It is then that I tell them to look at the Government of India from a holistic point to view. In certain fields, the Government of India’s policies disappoints us, but if you take a holistic view, the Government’s policies over the last 50 years have been very helpful.

Karan Thapar: Looking at the Government of India’s overall policies towards Tibet holistically—as you said—do you think that the time has come for the Indian Government to revise its Tibet policy or at least redirect it?

Dalai Lama: I think the Government of India’s policies towards Tibet since early ’50s, and particularly in ’54, are difficult to change. Even if certain mistakes were committed at that time, it is difficult to change them. However, it is very important to review the policies from time to time.

Karan Thapar: So, it is important to review the policies from time to time?

Dalai Lama: Yes.

Karan Thapar: Let me quote to you Brahma Chellaney, one of India’s better known thinkers, who writing in The Times of India during the Hu Jintao visit said, “The only way that India can build counter-leverage against Beijing is to quietly reopen the issue of China’s annexation of Tibet and its subsequent failure to grant autonomy to the Tibetans.”

He added that New Delhi can diplomatically make the point that China’s own security and well being will be enhanced if it reaches out to the Tibetans and concludes the deal which brings the Dalai Lama back. Do you agree with that sentiment?

Dalai Lama: That sounds very nice, whether it’s realistic or not I don’t know.

Karan Thapar: But it sounds nice?

Dalai Lama: It sounds nice.