(TibetanReview.net, Apr02, 2015) – China’s determination to control the reincarnation of the present Dalai Lama amounts to admission that they have failed to solve the issue of Tibet or to win over the Tibetan people after 50 years of rule, according to Mr Jayadev Ranade, President of Centre for China Analysis & Strategy, New Delhi, speaking in New Delhi on Mar 31.
“They know that to solve the Tibet issue peacefully the institution of Dalai Lama is a must or else Tibet issue will never settle down inside Tibet,” he said, speaking at a discussion on ‘Why Does China Want the Dalai Lama to Reincarnate: Issues & Challenges’ held at the India International Centre.
He sees China’s very odd discoursing on the issue of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as an admission of the failure of their policies and as a confession that Tibet issue is still not resolved.
China had again reiterated during the annual session of the National People’s Congress, the Chinese parliament, in Mar 2015, that it will install a reincarnation of the present Dalai Lama after he passes away. It accused the current Dalai Lama of profaning religion by saying he may not reincarnate, adding only the Communist Party of China could decide on that issue.
“Decision-making power over the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, and over the end or survival of this lineage, resides in the central government of China,” said Zhu Weiqun, China’s top official responsible for minority issues and known for his anti-minority and anti-religion views.
“There is no doctrine of reincarnation in Communism” countered Geshe Dorji Damdul, the Director of Tibet House, speaking at the discussion. “The reincarnation of high learned lamas is a Tibetan Buddhist concept and high lamas reincarnate to accomplished the task of the predecessor, therefore logically speaking the next Dalai Lama will reincarnate outside of China if the Tibetan issue is not resolved.”
Mr Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama’s New Delhi Representative, pointed out that China had failed miserably when it installed its own 11th Panchen Lama; that the Tibetan people still don’t revere him as the real reincarnation of 10th Panchen Lama. He believed that China will fail similarly with the 15th Dalai Lama and that the issue still calls for a solution.
Prof Anand Kumar of JNU who chaired the discussion said it was very important for everyone to think about Tibet and talk about it while questioning China’s determination to control every aspect of the Dalai Lama reincarnation process.
More than 80 people from the Indian civil services, retired military officers, political officers from foreign missions in New Delhi, representatives from various think-tanks, as well as scholars from JNU and Delhi University took part in the discussion which included a question-answer session.
The discussion was organized by the New Delhi-based India-Tibet Coordination Office with the Tibetan Review publication.