China Blames Unrest in Lhasa on the Dalai Lama

May 10, 2006

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4757125.stm

On May 10, 2006 BBC News reported, "China has blamed the Dalai Lama for an outbreak of violence at a Buddhist monastery in Tibet, accusing the exiled spiritual leader of stirring up unrest. The official Xinhua news agency said 17 Tibetans on 14 March destroyed a pair of statues at Lhasa's Ganden Monastery depicting the deity Dorje Shugden. Lhasa's mayor blamed the destruction on followers of the Dalai Lama, who sees Dorje Shugden as a divisive force. Analysts accused China of exploiting any dispute for political ends. The Dalai Lama has urged his followers not to worship Dorje Shugden, regarded as a powerful but dangerous protector, analysts say. Instead of praying to Shugden, the Dalai Lama has urged all Tibetans to pray together and avoid internal conflicts. But the mayor of Lhasa, Norbu Dunzhub, said the apparent violence at Ganden monastery was 'by no means an accidental event'. 'On a fundamental level, [the violence] was provoked by the Dalai clique, whose purpose is to arouse conflict between different sects of Tibetan Buddhism, thus sabotaging the unity of Tibet,' Xinhua reported the mayor as saying."