China Plays The Tibet Card

The symbolism of the Dalai Lama’s week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh, his seventh to the state, wasn’t lost on local residents.

- Ananth Krishnan and Tongam Rina

On April 6, thousands lined up to receive him in the monastery town of Tawang, where the Tibetan spiritual leader first arrived in India in 1959, aged 23, after a perilous 15-day journey across the Tibetan plateau. “This is a very special visit for us,” said local businessman Jambey Lobsang, 28, “because I don’t think the Dalai Lama may come back, given his age. We mustn’t forget, he is 81.”

Tawang is where the remarkable 58-year journey in exile began for Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. Tawang is also where the final chapter of his leadership of the Tibetan movement may begin. Although a very healthy 81, the question of his succession looms ever larger. Tawang, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, is for many a most likely location where a reincarnation could be chosen.