Dalai Lama in 'very good' health, making China 'restless': Tibetan leader

The health of the Dalai Lama, who turned 90 this July, continues to be "very good", Penpa Tsering, the leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, said on Sunday, adding that the spiritual leader's longevity was making China "restless".

"They (Chinese) are waiting for the present Dalai Lama to die. But the Dalai Lama keeps saying that he would live another 20 years, maybe till 130 years. His health is very good. So I keep saying that let us see if Communism outlives the Dalai Lama or he outlives Communism," Tsering said shortly after his arrival in Lucknow on a two-day visit.

Timed around his 90th birthday celebrations in Dharamsala, a major hub for the Tibetan diaspora and culture in Himachal Pradesh, the 14th Dalai Lama had put speculation to rest by announcing that he will have a successor, though he didn't make it clear if that would be through reincarnation or emanation.

According to popular Tibetan belief, Dalai Lamas are "reincarnated" after death.

Tsering, however, said the concept of emanation – naming a "successor in his lifetime" – is also accepted in the Tibetan belief system, though the Dalai Lama has not cleared the air on how his successor would arrive.

Asked if all this was a ploy to keep the Chinese guessing, Tsering said, “Some of us in India, who watch China closely, believe that one thing that China cannot handle is unpredictability.”

Tsering also said that visits like his were part of a larger plan to create awareness about the Tibetan issue and "challenge China's distortion of facts" even as he accused the neighbouring country of committing “cultural genocide”.

“At times I think we are dying a slow death, as the Chinese are striking at the 'core' of our identity,” he said, explaining his outreach efforts for awareness.

“The Tibetan ideology is based on ancient Indian wisdom, including 'karuna' (compassion) and 'ahimsa' (non-violence), and that's why we chose a non-violent way of approaching a solution to the Tibetan issue. But despite our efforts, the Chinese government hasn't responded in a manner we would have liked,” Tsering said.

“The Chinese didn't just colonise Tibet, they enslaved us, physically and mentally. So, what is happening in Tibet today is cultural genocide. That is why sometimes I feel we are dying a slow death, like a python slowly squeezing its victim. That's because the Chinese government is now striking at the very core of our identity,” he said.

Tsering's Lucknow schedule includes visits to universities and meeting top leaders – all part of the efforts to step up awareness about the Tibetan cause, which, he believes, is "pretty low".

"This is one of the reasons why we are here. An Indian doctor I met yesterday asked me if the Tibetan language was connected to Chinese. People don't know these basics, even in India,” he said.

The Tibetan script came from the Devnagari script during the Gupta period in the 7th century, while Tibetan Buddhism also came from India, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) leader said, explaining how Tibetans were more close and connected to Indians than the Chinese – culturally, linguistically and religiously.

“China has opened colonial-style boarding schools, where children from 4 years of age have to be sent to be mostly taught Mandarin, and loyalty to the Communist Party,” Tsering said, adding that Tibetan is just taught for a few classes per week.

“You can't have Tibetan literature even in the libraries. Our religion is based on language, so if language goes, religion also gets impacted. “Our religion defines a way of life, which comes from India. Now China is claiming that Buddhism came to Tibet from China – they are distorting history," he added.