(TibetanReview.net, Jul03’25) – Rejecting China’s assertion of a false historical right to select the next Dalai Lama, India’s Minority Affairs Minister Mr Kiren Rijiju has said Jul 3 that the exile spiritual leader of Tibet alone could decide his reincarnate-successor.
Noting that the Dalai Lama represents the most significant institution for Buddhists, Rijiju has said, “The Dalai Lama holds a deeply significant position not only for Tibetans but also for millions of his followers around the world. The decision regarding his successor lies solely with the Dalai Lama.”
“And all those who follow the Dalai Lama feel that the incarnation is to be decided by the established convention and as per the wish of the Dalai Lama himself. Nobody else has the right to decide it except him and the conventions in place,” the timesofindia.com Jul 3 quoted Rijiju as saying during a press interaction.
(Photo courtesy: Kiren Rijiju/FB)
His reaction came after China refused to agree with the Nobel Peace laureate’s succession arrangements, saying, among others, that the next Dalai Lama must be “approved by the Chinese government.”
“The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other great Buddhist figures must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government,” the AFP quoted China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning as saying.
Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, a fellow Union minister, are representing the Government of India at the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday event in Dharamshala on Jul 6, reported the ndtv.com Jul 3.
Also, citing China’s utterly false narration on the historic origin and centuries-old continuation of the Dalai Lama linage of reincarnations, the Buddhist Association of China issued a statement on Jul 3, saying, “Starting from the 5th Dalai Lama, all successive Dalai Lamas have been conferred by the central government, which is the source of the religious status and historical legitimacy of Dalai Lama’s title.”
It also asserted a legal right to decide on his reincarnation, saying, “the National Religious Affairs Administration has issued the Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism (in 2007), which strictly govern all reincarnation procedures for Living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama.”