By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 31: The Tibetan Government-in-Exile today repeated its call for an independent investigation while strongly refuting Chinese Government’s allegations that the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government were responsible for inciting recent unrests in Tibet.
Reacting strongly to an article published Sunday in the state-controlled mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, apparently to prove the Dalai Lama and his government were behind the Tibetan freedom demonstrations in Tibet, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile today issued a statement saying there is “no inkling of a truth in it.”
Xinhua News Agency on Sunday ran a story on the “involvement of the Tibetan Government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama in the recent demonstrations in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet.” The article, purportedly written by Yedor (Ch: Yi duo), accused His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Department of Security of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) for stirring up violence and disturbance in Tibet.
“These charges are concocted and premeditated with no inkling of a truth in it,” the statement issued by the Dharamsala based Tibet’s Government said.
“China has since the beginning of the incident in Lhasa on March 10 started to blame it on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the CTA (Central Tibetan Administration), without any conclusive proof, and this article is the same,” the statement said.
In today’s statement, the Tibetan Government has once again repeated its “request for an independent inquiry to ascertain the truth”.
Since demonstrations broke out in Lhasa, the Chinese government swiftly reacted with violent crackdown. Latest update by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile puts the death toll from the Chinese crackdown at 140, with thousands injured and many more detained.
Chinese authorities also quickly sealed off Tibet from foreign media and tourists, making evaluation of information extremely difficult.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama and TGiE have repeatedly called for an immediate and independent inquiry into the Tibetan demonstrations that broke out in Lhasa and in other parts of Tibet from an international organization and called on China to exercise restraint in dealing with Tibetan demonstrators.
Ignoring calls to set up independent investigation or “fact-finding” body, the Beijing leadership has routinely accused the Dalai Lama and the Tibet’s exiled Government for stirring the unrests in Tibet.
“This is not the first time that China has blamed His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the Tibetan exiles for the troubles in Tibet that stems from China’s own flawed policies and repressive political rule,” the statement said.
China has repeatedly stated that it had “ample” evidence to prove that groups close to the Dalai Lama were responsible for the unrest, but so far failed to deliver any concrete evidence despite repeated insistence from Tibetan exiles. Xinhua’s Sunday article, relying mainly on an anonymous confession, carried no substantial and complete evidence to establish its charges against the Tibetan leadership in exile.
The Dalai Lama has publicly stated that his government’s files are open for thorough investigation and has also called for an independent international body to probe into the worsening situation inside Tibet.
Visit by foreign media and diplomats to Lhasa last week, first time since the unrest in Tibet intensified on March 14, was strictly managed and controlled by Chinese authorities, giving very little room to understand the real situation in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet.
