Reincarnation issue solely rests with Dalai: Tibetan head

New Delhi: The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile on Tuesday rejected any Chinese interference with regard to the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, saying the issue of reincarnation solely rests with the spiritual leader and if China has plans to have two Dalai Lamas then he will be treated by Tibetans in the same way they treated Chinese Panchen Lama, who is not acceptable to even Buddhists living in Tibet.

“China has destroyed the Tibetan Buddhist structures, killed its monks and harassed nuns. How can they decide on the Dalai Lama. Their plan is to have two Dalai Lamas, like Panchen Lama. But even if posters of China-picked Panchen Lama is not acceptable to the people of Tibet then how can they accept China chosen Dalai Lama?” said Lobsang San-gay, president of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in India, during an interaction with mediapersons.

He added that China has destroyed 98 per cent of Buddhist symbols which the minuscule Tibetan population in India has rebuilt slowly over the years. “We are thankful to the Government of India. They have done a lot for us. And we believe that India will continue to do more for us,” he said.

In fact, in a major diplomatic shift from its past practice, India had in 2014 invited the president of CTA for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. This was the first time a representative of Tibetan government-in-exile was invited for such an event.

Mr Sangay, who was born and brought up in India, expressed surprise that while India remains the land of Buddha, it is China that is promoting itself aggressively as the destination of Buddhsim and spirituality. He added that India should have tak-en lead at international co-nferences on Buddhism which China has been hosting.

“If Mecca is an important place for Muslims, Vatican for Christians then India has to be for Buddhists. India should use Buddhism as a soft tool for diplomacy. Now, since China is hosting all such conference, people have slowly started treating China as the main destination for Buddhism,” Mr Sangay said.

Mr Sangay added that while China claims to be promoting its own version of Buddhism, in their private space, the Tibetans living in China are practicing the original Buddh-ism. “So when it comes to spirituality, we have alrea-dy won the battle. As far as our demands are concern-ed, we do not contradict with One China Policy, but we want genuine autonomy for Tibet within China,” he said. He clarified that so far there has been no formal talks with China on this issue.