Editorial: Dragon’s shadow over the Dalai Lama

China’s insistence on having a decisive say in choosing the Dalai Lama’s successor is clearly not about religion but about control; not about respecting the Tibetan traditions but at bending them into submission

China’s insistence on having a decisive say in choosing a successor to the Dalai Lama marks a delicious irony; an atheist-communist State intruding into a spiritual matter. Clearly, it is not about religion but about control; not about respecting the Tibetan traditions but about subduing them into submission. With a bloody history of brutally crushing the 1959 Tibetan uprising, desecrating monasteries during the infamous Cultural Revolution and staging the abduction of the legitimate Panchen Lama in 1995, Beijing now wants to appoint the next Dalai Lama, a sacrilegious act that neither the Tibetans nor the international community is likely to accept. As his 90th birthday approaches, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, the spiritual leader revered by millions of followers of Tibetan Buddhism worldwide, has announced that the Gaden Phodrang Trust — a non-profit institution established by him — will have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation. The move aims to deter China from interfering in the sacred exercise to choose his successor. According to the age-old Tibetan tradition, the search for a successor begins after the death of the incumbent. However, this procedure might be tweaked to thwart China’s plans to impose its own candidate when the position eventually falls vacant. India is a key stakeholder in the developments that shape the future of Tibetans as it has provided shelter to the Dalai Lama ever since he fled Tibet in 1959.

New Delhi has rightly stuck to its stand that China should stay away from the spiritual process of choosing the successor. The cycle of rebirth lies at the core of Tibetan Buddhist belief. The Dalai Lama is believed to choose the place and time of his rebirth, guided by compassion and prayer. Yet, his reincarnation has become a political battleground, with Beijing becoming more assertive to control the destiny of Tibetans. The Dalai Lama had stated in the past that his successor would be born in the “free world” outside China and urged Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhists globally to reject any candidate selected by Beijing. However, China insists that it alone holds the authority to approve the next Dalai Lama — as well as all reincarnations of ‘Living Buddhas,’ or high-ranking lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. At the heart of this showdown is the ambition of an officially atheist state to dominate a centuries-old spiritual tradition and erase the unique identity of Tibetans. The Dalai Lama has been the living embodiment of Tibet’s struggle for greater freedoms under the Chinese Communist Party rule, sustaining the cause of exile. Contrary to China branding him as a dangerous separatist instigating Tibetan unrest, the Dalai Lama has, on many occasions, made it clear that he seeks genuine autonomy for Tibet, not full independence — a nonviolent “middle way” approach that has earned him international support and a Nobel Peace Prize.

---