Dalai Lama: Tibetan life under China 'hell on earth'

Sharp speech, rallies mark 1959 revolt

Tibetans marched in Dharmsala, India, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, which sent the spiritual leader Dalai Lama into exile. (altaf qadri/associated press)

DHARMSALA, India - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, told his followers yesterday that the Tibetan culture, religion, and identity face extinction and that residents of Tibet were living in "hell on earth."

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning pacifist made the unusually pointed comments in a speech on the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising. He spoke to thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns, young mothers with babies on their backs, and Tibetan schoolchildren who gathered in this Himalayan town, which is the base of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Followers also held somber candle-light vigils to mark widespread protests last year that became the most violent revolt by Tibetans since the 1980s.

"Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear, and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them," the 73-year-old Dalai Lama said. "Their religion, culture, language, identity are near extinction."

MIT is creating a center to promote ethical behavior inspired by the Dalai Lama, who will speak at center next month. B2.

While his words were strong, he was also careful to say that he continues to be hopeful about the Tibetan cause. He said he still believes in nonviolence and wants only "meaningful autonomy" under Chinese sovereignty, known as the "Middle Way."

The Tibetan government-in-exile says 220 Tibetans died in last year's March protests and nearly 7,000 were detained in demonstrations in Tibet and in Tibetan communities in three surrounding provinces. The Chinese government says 22 people died in Lhasa, most of them Chinese civilians.

The level of violence shook the Dalai Lama's peaceful movement, exposing the impatience of many young Tibetans. Although he has received international acclaim, turning Tibet into a celebrity cause and writing best-selling books, his movement seems stuck, some analysts say.

Immediately after the Dalai Lama's speech, the town's narrow alleyways and steep mountain streets were jammed with champions of the Tibetan cause: maroon-robed monks and nuns, young Tibetan activists with spiky, streaked hair, wrinkled market women hoisting Tibetan flags, and Buddhist enthusiasts from Takoma Park, Md., and Berkeley, Calif.

Although it was difficult to know what was happening inside Tibet, because there is little access for journalists, Chinese state media reported that paramilitary police and soldiers fanned out across cities and villages in Tibet and in restive western China, on the alert for possible unrest. Internet and mobile phone text-messaging services were cut.

In Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California and longtime supporter of Tibet, introduced a resolution to Congress that would urge China to end its repression of the Tibetan plateau.

"The situation in Tibet challenges the conscience of the world," Pelosi said.

Protests against Chinese rule over Tibet were held across the globe yesterday, from Paris and Warsaw to Canberra, Australia. In New York City, more than a thousand Tibetans and their supporters marched through eight blocks, chanting "we want free Tibet" and saying they wanted to speak up for a silenced people. The march ended with a rally near the United Nations and the Chinese Consulate, the Associated Press reported.