China has no right to pick next Dalai Lama: Tawang monastery abbot

Gyangbung Rinpoche, the Abbot of the nearly 350-year-old monastery near India’s border with China, also said that it is important to counter Beijing’s “policy of expansionism” and New Delhi must maintain a strict vigil over the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with that country, in an oblique reference to the eastern Ladakh standoff.

Referring to China’s aggressive posturing along the LAC, Rinpoche said though India believes in peace and prosperity, its approach in dealing with such belligerence has to be based on the ground reality. “It is important to counter China’s growing assertiveness. It is necessary for India to keep a strict vigil over the border (with China),” he told PTI in an interview.

The head of the second largest monastery in the world after the Potala Palace in Tibet’s Lhasa said only the current Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have the right to decide about the successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader and China has no role to play in the matter.

“The succession plan is a matter of religion and faith; it is not a political issue,” Rinpoche said. “China does not have any right to even get involved in the process of choosing the next Dalai Lama. Only the current Dalai Lama and his followers have the right to decide on the issue,” he said.

The comments by the Abbot of the monastery that is located in a region claimed by China came amid strain in ties between the two countries following the eastern Ladakh border standoff. India maintains that its state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of the country. Rinpoche said the Tibetan people will never accept any decision on the issue by China and that Beijing’s attempt to get involved is part of efforts to “capture” the Tibetan heritage and “hold control” over the Tibetan people.

“It will be difficult for China to win the hearts of the people of Tibet. China is tightly controlling Tibet. The authorities do not even allow people from outside to meet Tibetans. There are so many restrictions. It is important that countries like India support the Tibetans,” he said.