Fearful of Beijing’s increasingly harsh reaction, the State authorities called on the Dalai Lama to focus his meeting with the public on religious matters.
The Tibetan leader left for Dirang and Bomdi La in West Kameng District, but (foreign) journalists could not travel with him because the Inner Line Permit (ILP) the authorities granted them was for Tawang only.
Observers have noted that journalists who accompany the Dalai Lama often ask him questions about China, so that his visits often turn into anti-Beijing campaigns.
The Dalai Lama travels regularly to Arunachal Pradesh, where he spent his youth, but China’s attacks are particularly more virulent this year. Beijing has in fact called this trip a “provocation”.
The Indian government has tried to defend the trip, arguing that it is religious in nature. The problem comes from Arunachal Pradesh itself: originally part of Tibet, the State is claimed by both India and China.
Even today, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry expressed his country’s dissatisfaction with the trip, saying that the Dalai Lama had finally showed his anti-Chinese bias.
Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche told AsiaNews that the Dalai Lama’s visit remains on schedule.
Since 8 November, wherever the Tibetan leader has gone he has drawn huge crowds of tens of thousands of faithful.
“This,” the prime minister said, “is indicative of the ever growing moral and spiritual authority of the Dalai Lama. While the Dalai Lama is lauded in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, Beijing reviles His Holiness.”