[Buddha-l] Tibetan Exiles Meeting Over Strategy

[Dan Lusthaus]

Tibetan Exiles Meet on Strategy

NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/world/asia/18tibet.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


(Excerpt)
Political moderation is the norm in this corner of the Tibetan world. A
steady flow of ethnic Han Chinese tourists has lifted incomes in recent
years. Farmers convert old homes into guesthouses. Monasteries are erecting
new buildings.

Perhaps nowhere is there a better example of the "middle way" attitude
promoted by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist avatar who advocates a
nonviolent movement for Tibetan autonomy within China but not outright
independence.

"Whatever he does, we do," said Tashi, a driver who keeps a portrait of the
Dalai Lama on his dashboard even though such images are banned in China. "We
don't want to make trouble."

But the calm here could soon crumble, depending on the outcome of a six-day
meeting of Tibetan exiles that began Monday in India. The conclave is the
first of its kind since 1991. The Dalai Lama has called for hundreds of
Tibetans to gather in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala, the seat of the
Tibetan government in exile, to help decide on a new strategy for Tibet.
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Dan