by Nirmala Carvalho

The leader of Tibetan Buddhism yesterday announced that he is retiring from political life. He is also launching a process of democratisation for the Tibetan Diaspora living in exile in India. For China, it is all a “trick”. The prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile explains that the Dalai Lama made the decision for all Tibetans. It is in an example “for China and the world.”

Dharamsala (AsiaNews) – “I saw the Dalai Lama yesterday and found him relaxed and pleased. For a long time, he had been thinking about this announcement, about withdrawing from public life, and now he has been able to do it and he is happy,” said Samdhong Rinpoche, Kalon Tripa (prime minister) of the Tibetan government-in-exile. He spoke to AsiaNews about the decision taken yesterday by the leader of Tibetan Buddhism to withdraw completely from public life and to start a process of democratisation within the Tibetan Diaspora and for the whole of Tibet.

For now, “I do not have any readymade vision,” the prime minister said. “We have to sit down and discuss in order to reach some logical and rational conclusion. There will be absolutely no change in the religious and spiritual leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; that is all self-evident and will not change.”

For the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama “will continue to be the supreme leader of the Tibetan religion and all the heads of the other sections will also not change. Spiritual and religious leadership have nothing to do with the political leadership.”

Of course, there are technical issues that must be resolved. “We have to find some amicable way to implement His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s wishes on democracy, whilst at the same time protect the interests of the Tibetan people. It is a very long and difficult process. We have to think in an innovative manner to solve the issue.”

China’s government also spoke out on the issue, calling the decision to step down a “trick” by the Dalai Lama’s clique. Chinese authorities also accused Tibet’s spiritual leader of wanting to break away the Tibetan region, which Mao Zedong invaded in 1951 and still under Communist rule.

For Rinpoche, China’s accusations are “repetitive. Beijing will always find some charge or shameful accusation to level at the Dalai Lama. Now they are saying that the retirement of the Dalai Lama lacks sincerity. They will continue to accuse the Dalai Lama—they do not understand and do not want to understand. The Dalai Lama wants to retire from political life for a very simple reason. He feels that [Tibet’s] political leadership cannot and must not be confined to one person and individual.”

“Whether the Dalai Lama engages himself in political leadership or renounces it, I do not think there will be any difference,” the prime minister explained. “However, the Dalai Lama was very clear that the entire process of governance should democratise, so that people can take full responsibility for their welfare as well as play a participatory and communitarian role in politics.”

The decision of the Dalai Lama to retire from public life “was made mainly for the progress and development of the Tibetan people in mind, not for himself. Greed is the epitome of all misery, and renunciation is the antidote to greed.” Retiring “is an act of love for all of us and a great signal for China and the world.”

• tibet
• china
• dalai
• lama
• retirement
• democratisation