<< The Dalai Lama gives a talk on the art of happiness, organized by Penguin India, in New Delhi on Dec. 3, 2011
Tsering Topgyal / AP
But the event marked his third public appearance in India in a week
at a time when India and China - a vociferous critic of the Dalai Lama's
ever since he fled to India from China-occupied Tibet in 1959 - are at
increasing odds over border disputes and oil-and-gas exploration in the
South China Sea. And while the lecture itself steered clear of political
issues, the deeper significance of the Dalai Lama's sudden increased
public appearances has been the subject of much speculation.
The Chinese government has reacted strongly to the Dalai Lama's latest
speaking engagements in India, canceling high-level talks after one
appearance and sending missives to Indian officials not to attend
another, despite assurances from New Delhi and from the Tibetan
government-in-exile that they were not meant as an affront.
"The Dalai Lama has been in Delhi for quite a few events. All the
events he has attended are nonpolitical, and it is mere coincidence that
they happened one after the other," says Lobsang Sangay, the newly
elected Kalon Tripa or Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile
who accompanied the Dalai Lama on Saturday. "China is overreacting and
politicizing his appearances. The Dalai Lama has always been about human
values and harmony; it is just the Chinese government who is
pressurizing India and other countries to restrict him." (See photos of
the Dalai Lama visiting the White House.)
At the end of his appearance Saturday, the Dalai Lama took part in a
Q&A with the audience although he avoided any questions "of a
political nature." Instead, he touched upon the much-debated issue of
corruption in India - a topic that has captured the imagination of many
Indians in recent weeks. "India is a very religious nation. Religious
faith and corruption cannot go together," the Dalai Lama said. "Each
Indian has more responsibility to build a healthy India for it to make a
significant impact." At another public function last week he
articulated his support for Anna Hazare, the 74-year-old anticorruption
crusader whose hunger fasts brought India to a near standstill earlier
this year.
With his trademark sense of humor and twinkling smile, the Nobel
laureate held sway over the gathering from the start. His eyes sheltered
against the stage lights by a visor cap that matched the maroon of his
robe, the 76-year-old monk easily answered questions, pausing in between
just once only to swallow his daily dose of tablets. While he refrained
from any references to China, he did not hesitate to draw on examples
of the acts of "hard-line Chinese officials" who were against his stay
in India, including that in 2008, when he caused a stir by asserting
that an area China claims as "South Tibet" was actually part of the
Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
With a cheeky smile, the Dalai Lama noted that China considers him a
troublemaker - and vice versa. Since March at least 12 Tibetan monks,
nuns and former monks have set themselves on fire in protest over the
Chinese occupation of Tibet, and Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama and
his followers of inciting the immolations.
"At age 24, I became a refugee," he said at one point. "I lost my
home in Tibet but found a bigger home in India." For six decades, the
Dalai Lama presided over Tibet's government-in-exile from the north
Indian town of Dharamsala, until in May this year when he gave up his
political powers to Sangay, an elected representative. The Dalai Lama's
presence in India continues to have a chilling effect on Sino-Indian
relations, however. China has always objected to his public appearances
in India, while India maintains that His Holiness is an honored guest
and, as a spiritual leader, has the right to address nonpolitical
gatherings.
The Indian government has bowed to Chinese pressure in the past: in
2009, it refused foreign journalists entry in Arunachal Pradesh to cover
the Dalai Lama's visit. But recent incidents seem to indicate India is
standing up to its neighbor a bit more, at least where the Dalai Lama is
concerned. On Dec. 1, China sent a missive to the state secretary of
the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, asking officials to not attend a
function celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birth, in
which the Dalai Lama was going to speak.
The message went ignored as did Chinese complaints over his address
at a four-day Buddhist conference in New Delhi on Nov. 30 - after which
China postponed a round of upcoming border talks in protest. "The Dalai
Lama is not a purely religious figure but one who has been engaged in
separatist activities for a long time, under the pretext of religion,"
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei had commented a few days
earlier, reasserting that China opposes "any country that provided a
platform to the Dalai Lama." (Read "In Tibet, a Burning Desire for
Freedom.")
In the end, the Dalai Lama is just one of many issues in an ongoing
struggle over regional power. The Dalai Lama "is one part of Sino-Indian
relations. He is important because he is a person who has a view and
persuasion, but India is not going to use him directly," says Bhaskar
Roy, a former senior government official and an India-China expert
associated with the South Asia Analysis Group. "The strategic, regional
and global aspects of Sino-Indian relations are far bigger and beyond
the Dalai Lama." That doesn't stop the spiritual leader from being an
occasional paranoia trigger. "The Chinese government thinks I am a
demon, " the Dalai Lama said at an event in Kolkata on Friday, laughing.
"I may be a demon but not a bad one."