Dalai Lama opens five-day Tibetan festival in Assam

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has inaugurated a five-day Festival of Tibetan Art and Culture and delivered the First LBS Founders' Commemorative Lecture on 'A Human Approach to Peace and the Individual'here.

He also made a mention of how hardline Chinese Communists were eroding Tibet's rich heritage, arts and culture.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Dalai Lama said: "Indeed, I feel great honour to inaugurate this festival of Tibet and particularly the chief minister who came. So I very much appreciate and then of course, the organiser."

The Dalai Lama said that millions of people from across the globe have expressed their desire to learn the Tibetan language, culture and tradition but have been unable to do so owing to the obstacles put forth by China.

His sentiments were echoed by an organiser at the event who said that people from Assam and other northeastern states will be able to connect with the Tibetan festival as Buddhism has spread to Tibet from India.

"We believe that people from Assam and other northeastern states who visit here, will have a glimpse of a small Tibet and they will also be able to connect with it emotionally and sentimentally because Buddhism spread to Tibet from India," said one of the organisers.

The Dalai Lama, who is based in India since 1959, says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Many Tibetans say Chinese rule has eroded their culture and religion. They are agitating for the Dalai Lama's return from exile in India, and genuine autonomy for their homeland.

The Chinese government denies trampling Tibetan rights and boasts of having brought development and prosperity to the region.

Violence has flared in Tibet since 1950, when Beijing claims it "peacefully liberated" the region. Many Tibetans say Chinese rule has eroded their culture and religion. They are agitating for the Dalai Lama's return from exile in India, and genuine autonomy for their homeland.

The Chinese government, however, denies trampling Tibetan rights and boasts of having brought development and prosperity to the region.

Since 2009, at least 121 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China in protest against Beijing's policies in Tibet and nearby regions with large Tibetan populations. Most were calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.

As shocking as the first suicides were, the people who chose to burn themselves did so, Tibetan scholars say, in reaction to specific instances of abuse at particular monasteries.

Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are often under surveillance and subject to raids by Chinese security forces.