Our fight is on, says Dalai Lama

With hope alive that the struggle he initiated fifty years ago would yield result, exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama affirmed that Tibetans would continue to strive for ‘genuine autonomy’ in spite the Chinese efforts to stifle the movement.

He was speaking on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Tibetan uprising against Chinese troops in 1959.

“We need to look to the future and work for our mutual benefit. We Tibetans are looking for a legitimate and meaningful autonomy, an arrangement that would enable Tibetans to live within the framework of the People’s Republic of China’’ said the Dalai Lama in his address to hundreds of exiles and Tibetan supporters who had gathered here.

Dalai Lama asked the Tibetan people to keep their hope alive, “I always say that we should hope for the best, and prepare for the worst”, he said, adding that the situation inside China was gradually changing.

Reaffirming that Middle Way Policy would remain the basis for the future of Tibetan movement the Dalai Lama mentioned that he was not seeking separation from China.

“Our aspiration that all Tibetans are brought under a single autonomous administration is in keeping with the very objective of the principle of national regional autonomy.’ the Dalai Lama said, claiming that many Chinese people supported the Tibetan people’s quest for autonomy.

Dalai Lama expressed his disappointment over the lack of response from the China on the demands put forward by him. “I am disappointed that China has not responded appropriately to our sincere efforts to implement the principle of meaningful national regional autonomy for all Tibetans, as set forth in the constitution of the People’s Republic of China.

“Looking back on 50 years in exile, we have witnessed many ups and downs” said the Dalai Lama while ackowledging the
international support to the movement, “I have no doubt that the justice of Tibet’s cause will prevail, if we continue to tread the path of truth and non-violence.”

Charging China with launching a “brutal crackdown” in Tibet and creating “hell on earth” there, the Dalai Lama asked Beijing to provide “legitimate and meaningful” autonomy for the Himalayan plateau.

In a sharp criticism of the policies of Chinese communist regime towards Tibet, Dalai Lama said that past 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet. He castigated the Chinese communist regime for pursuing a propoganda against Tibet and Tibetans “There are ultra-leftist Chinese leaders who have, since last March, been undertaking a huge propaganda with the intention of setting the Tibetan and Chinese people apart and creating animosity between them” he said.