Washington: Even as US President Barack
Obama refused to meet the Dalai Lama fearing diplomatic
backlash from China, the exiled Tibetan leader was honoured
with a human rights award at the Capitol Hill today.
The spiritual leader received a human rights award
from the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and met with powerful
lawmakers on a visit to Washington overshadowed by Obama's
decision to delay a meeting with him.
Pelosi gave the inaugural Lantos Human Rights Prize to
the Dalai Lama, honouring his commitment to ending global
injustice.
"The Dalai Lama is one of the most highly honored
peacemakers of our time," Pelosi was quoted as saying by the
CNN.
People continue to be inspired by the Dalai Lama's
messages of peace and nonviolence, the California Democrat
said, before presenting the award, which contains the words
"The rights of one are the rights of all."
The award is sponsored by the Massachusetts-based
Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, named after
the late Rep. Tom Lantos, who was the only Holocaust survivor
in Congress. He died of cancer in February 2008.
The Tibetan leader is in Washington for a conference
and to meet with Undersecretary for Global Affairs Maria
Otero, who has just been named as President Obama's special
coordinator on Tibet, said State Department spokesman Ian
Kelly.
The Dalai Lama and Obama will not meet until after
Obama China visit in November. The Obama administration does
not want to anger China, where the US president will be next
month to seek support for his crucial foreign policy, economic
and environmental goals.
China has accused the Tibetan leader of trying to
split Tibet from the rest of China.
"The bonds of friendship between the United States and
His Holiness and the Tibetan people are strong and durable as
ever," Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the lower House, said
at the ceremony.
The Dalai Lama has met with the last three sitting
US presidents during his visits to Washington.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, October 06, 2009, 23:06