New Delhi (AsiaNews) – China “can never ever control the heart and the mind of the Tibetan”, despite its policies which “violate religious freedom in Tibet and attempts to turn us into a minority people: they will never ever succeed. The Tibetan Faith is ever more strongly reposed in His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.
Tsering Dorje, coordinator for the Indian Office for Relations with Tibet spoke to Asia News about the arrests of the monks in Lhasa, which took place last week in response to the US Congress awarding its highest honour the gold medal to the Dalai Lama.
This gesture, he explains “only reveals the frustrations of the Chinese government even today after 48 years of occupation of Tibet, the Chinese are unable to control the strong determination and sentiments of the Tibetan people and the spiritual and moral and also political leadership of the Dalai Lama”.
Despite this, “there is no frustration from the Tibetan people over the China’s growing economic success: Our Buddhist religion teaches us to have a natural love for all people , to pray for peace and well being and prosperity and this also includes China”.
This however, does not mean that Tibetans are in favour of the upcoming Beijing elections: “the Dalai Lama is very clear that boycotting the Beijing Olympics will only serve to isolate China from the international community. Where as some of our young people feel the Beijing Olympics is an excellent platform to heighten the consciousness of the international community regarding the true nature of China”.