Beijing: As China grappled to deal with
recurring suicides of Tibetan Buddhist monks calling for
return of The Dalai Lama, its official media accused the
spiritual leader of trying to build a cult similar to that of
"Falun Gong", which Beijing managed to contain years ago.
It is worth noting that the Dalai group saluted the monks
as "heroes", but they never supported suicides in the same
way", state-run Global Times said on Wednesday in its editorial
titled "Dalai uses suicides for political gains".
"The fact is that the more self-immolations happen in
Tibet, the more comfortable the life of the Dalai group
becomes," it said referring to 15 cases of self-immolations
during the last few months including by two Nuns.
Overseas Tibetan groups say that the monks shout slogans
demanding the return of Dalai Lama from his exile besides
protesting the curbs on monks, whose numbers were stated be
around 46,000.
"Since last year, there have been dozens of such cases.
The victims are mostly young monks. The Dalai group erected
monuments and held ceremonies for those who took their own
lives, claiming them to be "heroes," but such a scene is by no
means in accordance with Buddhist tradition", the editorial
said.
"It is cruel to put political pressure on young Tibetan
monks. They are unable to distinguish good from evil in
international politics and cannot imagine they have been
used", it said.
"The Dalai group should stop sacrificing these young
monks. Those young lives are much more valuable than having
the title of hero."
"The previous round of self-immolation suicides in China
was conducted by followers of Falun Gong, a cult even
acknowledged as such in the West.
"Hopefully the Dalai group will not become another cult.
As time goes by, the believers of Tibetan Buddhism will
finally know the Dalai Lama`s true intentions," it said.
Falun Gong, a banned outfit whose members protested
against Chinese government holding public performances of Tai
Chi, a Chinese ancient art form, a decade ago and contained
them with heavy crackdown.
"The selfishness and ruthlessness of the Dalai group are
carefully packaged by the West.
"The so-called "Tibetan independence" or "high degree of
autonomy" that the Dalai group is pursuing are unreachable.
PTI
