By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, April 6: China has embarked on a “discernable policy shift” concerning the Dalai Lama in an attempt to “isolate and undermine” the Tibetan leader by “driving a wedge” between him and other Tibetan Buddhist sects, says Jayadeva Ranade, the president of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
Deputy Party Secretary of Tibetan Autonomous Region Padma Choling’s statement at the 12th National People’s Congress that concluded last month indicated the shift, writes Jayadeva Ranade.
Padma told reporters that Dalai Lama “was no longer a religious leader after he defected his country and betrayed its people. If the Dalai Lama wants to return to China, he must give up ‘Tibet independence,’ and must publicly acknowledge Tibet and Taiwan are inseparable parts of China and that the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government.”
Ranade says the deliberate act of isolating the 80 year old Tibetan leader was apparent when Deputy Party Secretary of TAR, Wu Yingjie, criticized renowned Chinese celebrities for attending the 92nd birth anniversary of the late predecessor of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa in India and singled out the so called “Dalai Clique”.
Wu had said, “We hope the celebrities take the responsibility for their own deeds. We firmly oppose all celebrities, however influential they are, and whatever purpose they have, to make any contact with the 14th Dalai clique, or even help him spread his ideas.” However any criticism of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinlay Dorjee, who escaped to India in January 2000 under mysterious circumstances, was avoided.
