Dalai Lama asks China to review Tibet policy

ibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama Friday asked the Chinese leadership to review 60 years of its Tibet policy, saying "using force is counterproductive and will not bring peace and stability".

"These incidents (self-immolations in Tibet) are very very sad. The leadership in Beijing should look into the ultimate cause of these tragic incidents. These Tibetans have faced tremendous desperate situation, otherwise nobody will commit such drastic acts," he told reporters in Sendai in Japan.

"In 2009, one senior party leader in Guangdong said the Central authority should review the policy on minority nationalities. This approach is right, scientific and realistic. The time has come to review their last 60 years of policy on Tibet," said a post on the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) website quoting the spiritual leader.

The CTA said the Tibetans immolated themselves to protest China’s policies, for their demand of freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama to his homeland.

It said till now 11 Tibetans have set themselves afire.

Asking China to review its repressive polices, the Dalai Lama said: “Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said publicly that China needs political reform and western style of democracy. The Chinese leadership should seriously think about it. The time of using force is gone and outdated. Relying on force is counterproductive and it will never bring unity and stability.”

The CTA, based here, Thursday asked China to stop its repressive policy and allow more freedom of religion and speech.

“Instead of addressing the real problems that drive Tibetans to commit self-immolations, Xinhua (the official news agency of China) blames the Tibetans-in-exile for instigating such desperate and despairing acts. We strongly urge the Chinese government to stop hurling baseless allegations and to start solving the real problems,” a CTA statement said.

India is home to around 100,000 Tibetans and the government-in-exile, which is not recognised by any country.