Dharamsala-based exiled Tibetan writer releases book on freedom struggle

Pro-independence Tibetan writer Lhasang Tsering recently launched a book titled 'Random

Dharamsala has been the global headquarters of Tibetan exiles since 1959.

Tsering, who is among the Tibetans who opposed the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama's Strasbourg proposal of 1988, which elaborated on the Middle Way Approach, is also a poet. He has always demanded complete independence for Tibetans through his hard-hitting writings.

Tsering said, "After his holiness announced the Middle Way policy, I decided can no longer work for this government whose purpose is to accept that Tibet will remain within the so-called genocidal People's Republic of China."

"The price for national political freedom is not, cannot be paid with silver and gold. The price for national political freedom must be paid in the currency of life and blood," added Tsering.

Thousands of people, including spiritual leader Dalai Lama, had fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and since then have been living in various refugee colonies, settlements across India.

Representatives of the Dalai Lama held rounds of talks with China until 2010, but formal dialogue has stalled amid leadership changes in Beijing and a crackdown in Tibet.

Over 130 Tibetans have reportedly set themselves on fire in Tibet since 2009 calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans.

The book is Tsering's fourth and has been released by a Tibetan writers' group called Tibet Writes, which has till date published 16 books by Tibetan writers.