DHARAMSHALA, India — The Dalai Lama is to be discharged from a Mumbai hospital on Monday, four days after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was admitted with “abdominal discomfort”, his spokesman said.
“His Holiness is feeling much better. As a result, he will be discharged tomorrow,” the spokesman, Tenzin Takhla, told AFP on Sunday from the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.
The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner was expected to stay for a few more days in Mumbai before making further plans.
Last week, Takhla said the 73-year-old Dalai Lama had cancelled all his engagements for at least three weeks in order to rest.
In recent weeks, the Buddhist monk had pursued a gruelling itinerary as he campaigned for improved human rights in Tibet while China hosted the Olympic Games in Beijing.
On Saturday, the Dalai Lama joined Tibetans in a 12-hour fast to draw attention to the human rights situation in their homeland and pray for world peace.
He fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.
The Dalai Lama has been pursuing a “middle path” policy — which espouses “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet, rather than full independence as many younger, more radical activists are demanding.
Still, China has vilified him as the “mastermind” of what it called a drive to sabotage the Olympics and destabilise the country.
Violent protests against Beijing’s rule broke out across Tibet in March, sparking a heavy Chinese crackdown that drew global condemnation.
