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Situation "very tense" in Tibet: Dalai Lama

AFP

The Dalai Lama© is congratulated by Karlheinz Koegel (L), chief of German Media Research Group and Hesse state Premier Roland Koch®, after he was honoured with the 2008 German media award during a ceremony in Baden Baden, 10 February 2009.File photo/Reuters/Vincent Kessler/Germany

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama warned on Wednesday that the situation in his homeland was “very tense” and that an uprising was possible.

“Today there is too much anger. (The) situation is very tense,” he said during a visit to the western German city of Baden Baden. “At any moment, an outburst could happen.”

“This is my worry because with more uprising, there will be more crackdown,” he continued. “Things are very sad.

“As soon as people are arrested, they use torture, and sometimes they kill them. Since public execution is difficult, they use torture when Tibetans are detained.”

“In many places, schools are closed, especially private funded schools.”

The Dalai Lama was in the spa town of Baden Baden for a ceremony on Tuesday in which he received the 2008 German Media Prize, which is awarded every year by a panel of German editors and journalists.

Previous recipients have included Bill Clinton former US president; Nelson Mandela, the Nobel laureate and former South African president; and Helmut Kohl, Germany’s former chancellor.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in Dharamshala, northern India, since he fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

China considers him a separatist agitating for independence for his Chinese-controlled Himalayan homeland and issues strong protests whenever he meets with leaders overseas or is accorded an official welcome of any kind.

The Dalai Lama denies he is seeking independence, saying he only wants some autonomy for Tibet and an end to Chinese cultural oppression.

Copyright © 2009 AFP

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