Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday said that Tibetans living in exile were ready to shed their struggle for an independent homeland if the Chinese government conceded genuine self-rule of Tibet by Tibetans. Addressing students of the community in Chennai, he said, "I am not seeking independence but genuine self-rule for Tibetans. "If the Chinese treat Tibetans as brothers and sisters there would be no reason to demand a separate nation."
Many Chinese intellectuals had endorsed this middle level view, He said and added the issue could not be resolved if the Chinese continued its repression of Tibetans. Claiming that communist ideology was on the decline in China following the country being opened up to the West, he said China would not be able to continue its totalitarian system but would ultimately have to follow the global trend of democracy and freedom.
Charging Beijing with destroying Tibetan tradition and culture, the Dalai Lama told the students to gear themselves up for many more years of struggle. Stating that the Tibetan government in exile had placed education on top of its list of priorities, he said India too had succeeded in attaining independence after a long struggle as it had educated the people leading the movement.
Bureau Report