Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of
Tibet is believed to be the Living Buddha by his followers and devotees.
He is not elected but discovered on the manifestation of certain
characteristics as a child. There was a gap of leadership when the 13th
Dalai Lama died in 1933 without an immediate successor. It was only in
1937 that Lhamo Thondup was identified as the 14th Dalai Lama. He was
born in Takster, a small Tibetan village, to a peasant family on 6th
July 1935. The two-year old child was said to be the reincarnation of
the 13th Dalai Lama. He was renamed as Tenzin Gyatso and was enthroned
on February 22, 1940 at Lhasa. When he was just 15, Tenzin had to bear
full responsibility as the Head of the state and raise voice against the
Chinese invasion of Tibet.
On March 10, 1959, Dalai Lama was invited by the Chinese military to a
theatrical performance in their compound, without bodyguards. Afraid of
some conspiracy behind the invitation, huge crowds of Tibetans gathered
outside the 'Norbulingka' (Dalai Lama's Summer Palace) to protect him.
The event led to the great Lhasa Uprising of Tibet against the Chinese
and led to the mass murder of about 87,000 Tibetans. On 17th March,
Dalai Lama and his immediate family had to flee from Lhasa in disguise
and reached India on 30th March. 80,000 Tibetans followed their Dalai
Lama across the Himalayas. Indian Government eventually granted
protection to the great leader and offered him a home in Dharamsala, a
small town in Himachal Pradesh. It was here that Tibetan
Government-in-Exile drafted a constitution for an autonomous and
democratic Tibet and holds elections for the Tibetan Parliament.
Dalai Lama started visiting other countries since 1967 and started from
Japan and Thailand. Along with preaching Buddhist philosophy and
participating in spiritual and ethical discussions, he approached United
Nations and urged the world leaders to help him in attaining
independence for Tibet. However, in 1988, he made a major compromise in
the form of 'Strasbourg Proposal', where he agreed upon genuine autonomy
for Tibet, if not independence. Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1989 for his patient peaceful struggle for Tibet.
