By Rajkumar Prashar
Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), Nov 17: When he visits India next week, Chinese President Hu Jintao should meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Tibetans living in exile here say.
This is one point that binds most Tibetan men and women in this seat of the Dalai Lama, whose government-in-exile is based here.
“Ordinary Tibetans would feel very happy if the Chinese president invited the Dalai Lama for talks and (he) talks about our freedom,” said a spokesperson for the Tibetan Women Association.
“If he (Hu) goes back without even talking about the issue, it would be inhuman and shameful on his part,” the spokesperson told IANS.
Most of the estimated 15,000 Tibetans here are keenly watching as to what transpires during the visit of the Chinese president, who will be in India for three days until Nov 22 when he flies to Pakistan.
Tibetans working in Tibetan offices and business establishments said they would be happy if Hu meets the Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule.
“He must call the Dalai Lama for talks in New Delhi,” said a businesswoman who gave her name as Dolma.
The Tibetan government-in-exile said it welcomed Hu’s journey to India.
Asked what the exiled government expected from Hu’s visit, Thubten Samphel, secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations, said: “China must show willingness to resolve the Tibet issue within the ambit of Dalai Lama’s ‘middle way approach’.”
“The Dalai Lama has always favoured genuine autonomy for Tibet,” he said.
Samdong Rinpoche, a Tibetan community leader, said the Tibetans hoped the India-China talks during Hu’s visit would also include the future of Tibet.
“Our stand is consistent. We are pursuing the middle path policy and trying to pursue a dialogue with the Chinese to find a solution to the Tibetan problem,” he said.
“We heartily welcome Hu to India because Sino-Indian relationship must improve. That will help the cause of peace and stability.”
Rinpoche also said he respected Tibetan activists’ plans to protest against the president’s visit. But he appealed to them to ensure that the Indian government was not embarrassed by it.
The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), the most militant of several groups, says it wants to hold Hu accountable for the human rights abuses in Tibet.
“We are eagerly waiting for his visit and we have been thinking how we can make him answerable,” said Kelsang Phuntsok, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress.
“Protests and demonstrations obviously will be there. Tibetans everywhere are not happy with what Hu Jintao has been doing in Tibet for so many years,” added Phuntsok.
