Beijing wants to “to deliberately annihilate Buddhism”, said the Tibetan religious leader, who heads the Gelug-pa Buddhist sect, in his traditional annual address delivered at his residence in Dharamsala, northern India, seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. From here, he urged Tibetan officials serving in Chinese-controlled Tibetan regions to visit “communities living in the free world” if they want to “understand the situation of the Tibetans in exile and their aspirations”.

In an effort to provide further reassurance to China that he is not using his spiritual authority to overthrow the Communist government, the Nobel Peace Prize winner reiterated that “once the issue of Tibet is resolved, I will not take any political position.”

About a thousand Tibetans took to the streets of New Delhi this morning to commemorate the uprising. They carried banners hailing the Dalai Lama and slamming Chinese attacks in Tibet.

During the rally organised by the Tibetan Youth Congress, there were moments of tension when a young man tried to push a barrier set up by Indian police.

Yesterday, police stopped some 30 Tibetan activists as they tried to march on the Chinese Embassy.

Today is also the second anniversary of violent protests that broke out in Lhasa and the Tibetan plateau ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Reiterating his “Middle Way” approach towards China, the Dalai Lama insisted that he would not play any political role, whether in the government-in-exile or in Tibet once the issue of its autonomy is settled.

He also mentioned his meeting with US President Barack Obama and criticised the lack of civil liberties in China, ending by saying that “It is also essential that the 1.3 billion Chinese people have free access to information about their own country and elsewhere.