Tibetan group seeks talks on Dalai Lama

NEWDELHI: A Tibetan organisation on Saturday sought resumption of talks between China and representatives of the Dalai Lama and said it was even ready for the ‘middle-way approach’.

The Tibetan Women’s Association also wanted to know the whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama, claiming he along with his family was “abducted” when he was a six-year-old child.

“For the last six decades, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have waited patiently with the hope that Chinese leaders will initiate the incomplete dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama through middle way approach proposed by him,” said Dolma Yangchen, president of the Tibetan Women’s Association (Central). She said they welcomed the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India and urged Beijing to begin talks.

Yangchen said the “middle way approach” was not an advantageous proposition for them but they were still ready to hold talks.

The organisation also demanded that China should not “interfere” in the issue pertaining to Dalai Lama’s reincarnation. “The issue of reincarnation is solely of His Holiness and no political leader or country can interfere in it,” it said.

On Friday, the body had submitted a memorandum with these demands to the embassies of China, the US, Australia, Switzerland and France embassy besides the Prime Minister’s Office and the United Nations. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a Chinese crackdown on a popular uprising in 1959. India granted him political asylum and the Tibetan government-in exile has since been based in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

Since 1959, Tibet has been witnessing periodic incidents of violence, unrest and protest against Beijing. The Dalai Lama had proposed the middle-way approach to resolve the issue of Tibet and to bring about stability.