The exiled spiritual leader said he had no option but to escape Tibet because of Chinese military action
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama recalled his 1959 flight to India from Tibet ahead of a visit to northeast India’s Arunachal Pradesh state despite objections by China, which considers it a disputed region. The Dalai Lama said he had no option but to escape Tibet in view of Chinese military action. He spoke at a function organised by an Indian newspaper, The Assam Tribune, in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state. The state’s governor and its top elected official were among an audience of nearly 1,500 people. The Dalai Lama last visited Arunachal Pradesh in 2009. China protested that trip, but there was no major impact on relations with India. “Whenever I come to the northeast of India, it feels like a reunion with people here,” the Dalai Lama said. “When I revisit the Tawang area, I am reminded of the freedom that I had experienced for the first time [in 1959]. That was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. “On March 10, 1959, there were huge demonstrations in Lhasa,” the Tibetan region’s capital, he recalled.
