Dalai Lama accuses Chinese troops of opening fire on Tibet protesters, 'killing 140'

The Dalai Lama has accused Chinese troops of opening fire on a crowd of Tibetan protesters, killing 140.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's accusations came as the world spotlight remained focused on China as host of the Beijing Olympics, which has been marred by scuffles between Free Tibet protesters and Chinese authorities.

The Dalai Lama told the French newspaper Le Monde that the army opened fire during a protest in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham on Monday.

"I gather that 140 Tibetans were killed, although the figure needs to be confirmed," the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying.

"Since the riots in March, reliable witnesses have established that 400 people have been killed in the Lhasa area alone ... If you consider the whole of Tibet, the number of victims is obviously higher," he said.

An aide to the Dalai Lama in India, where the Tibetan Buddhist leader is based, played down his comments.

"We know about disturbances in the Kham region. But we do not have any details or figures about injuries or deaths," said the aide, Chhime Chhoekyapa, in the northern town of Dharamsala.

The Dalai Lama is nearing the end of a two-week visit to France during which he has already accused China of increasing repression in Tibet.

On Monday the Free Tibet Campaign, an activist group, said China had stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Beijing Olympics.

Dalai Lama:

Just after September 11, some reporter asked me why terrorism happens. I told him that my view is that such acts are not possible unless you have very strong hatred and very strong willpower and determination. That tremendous hatred comes from many reasons. The causes of this hatred may be going back centuries. Some people say that the West has a cruel history. These people also may see the achievements of Western countries—in terms of the economy, education, health, and social achievements—as a result of exploitation of poorer countries, including Arab countries. Western nations get rich by using resources such as Arab oil. Meanwhile, the countries supplying them raw materials remain poor. Due to such injustices, jealousies are created. Then, there’s perhaps a religious factor. In some places, there’s the concept of one religion, one truth. In the Muslim world, there’s the notion of Allah. The Western, multireligious modern society is some kind of a challenge to this. These, I feel, are the main causes, and, when combined with lots of anger and frustration, cause a huge amount of hate.

The countermeasures for such things are not easy. We need two levels. One level—the immediate—various governments are taking, including some violent methods, right or wrong. But we have to have a long-term strategy, too. In the Muslim world, certain mischievous individuals will always be there, just like among Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists. We can’t blame the entire Muslim society because of the mischievous acts of a few individuals. Therefore, at the general public level we must cultivate the notion of not just one religion, one truth, but pluralism and many truths. We can change the atmosphere, and we can modify certain ways of thinking.

Then, second, there should be a spirit of dialogue. Whenever we see any disagreements, we must think how to solve them on the basis of recognition of oneness of the entire humanity. This is the modern reality. When a certain community is destroyed, in reality it destroys a part of all of us. So there should be a clear recognition that the entire humanity is just one family. Any conflict within humanity should be considered as a family conflict. We must find a solution within this atmosphere.

It’s not easy. If we tackle these problems the wrong way, then while today there is one bin Laden, after a few years there will be ten bin Ladens. And it is possible that after a few more years, there will be 100 bin Ladens.

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