Reincarnation a unique Tibetan invention, can't be manufactured by China: Govt in Exile

The practice of reincarnation was invented in Tibet and Beijing cannot do anything about it, said Lobsang Sangay, the democratically elected head of the Tibetan Government in Exile.

"The practice of reincarnation is very unique to the Tibetan Buddhist world and China cannot duplicate it or manufacture it," he said while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here on the subject of 'Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism'.

"It all started in 2007 when the Chinese government issued a document called 'Order number five' which said that any reincarnated Lama should be recognised by the Communist Party, then only he or she will be considered as the reincarnate Lama," Sangay said.

"A declared atheist organisation (Communist Party of China) will select all the reincarnated Lamas, with the attributions where one should be a religious person but one should also walk to a social harmony of China and should also be politically correct," he pointed out.

"Since 2007 they have a list of recognised incarnate Lamas - it started with 300 something but by August 2017 it jumped to 1,300. The Chinese government and the Communist Party has recognised 1,000-plus reincarnated Lama in Tibet. The one name missing in the list of valid Lamas was the Dalai Lama himself. But they want to find his reincarnation - you can see the contradiction," he added.

Sangay said that 'Order number five' also says that no Lama should have any affiliations with any foreign organisation or with the Dalai Lama - any association with him is illegal.

In his entire speech, he touched upon the reincarnation practices, what Dalai Lama means for the Tibetan people and the Chinese Government's attempt to dominate the narrative on Tibet.

On March 10, 1959, thousands of Tibetans gathered in Lhasa to protect their leader Dalai Lama from perceived threats of the Chinese Army. The protest was brutally suppressed, causing the death of thousands of people. Following this, the then-23-year-old Dalai Lama, along with thousands of Tibetans, secretly fled into exile in India. The demonstration is today known as the Tibetan Uprising.