Tibetans hopeful for Dalai Lama’s return and help preserving their culture

TONGREN, CHINA - In China, the Dalai Lama is officially a dangerous separatist and a “criminal,” and his supporters are prohibited from discussing him or even displaying his picture. But here in the ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai province, nominally autonomous while under strict Chinese control, the exiled spiritual leader remains a ubiquitous presence, despite his long physical absence.

The Dalai Lama’s beaming visage gazes down from the temple altars of Buddhist monasteries. His likeness adorns a popular artist’s workshop and a small convenience store selling bottled soft drinks, beer and snacks.

And everywhere, it seems, the fervent wish is that the Dalai Lama might return soon, to help save the Tibetan language and culture that many believe could soon be overwhelmed by the presence of China’s ethnic Han majority. Even the Tibetans’ centuries-old tradition of herding yak, cattle and sheep across the Tibetan plateau’s grasslands appears threatened as Chinese officials move increasing numbers of semi-nomadic herdsmen into “resettlement towns,” where jobs are scarce.

“We long for the Dalai Lama to come back, to solve the issue of religious freedom and to help Tibetan culture come back,” said Gen Ga, a 24-year-old monk at a monastery in nearby Wutong village. “If we look ahead 10 or 20 years, if the Dalai Lama fails to come back, I do think Tibetan culture will die.”  Read Article

By Keith B. Richburg