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Emissary denies Dalai Lama called for self-rule in Kashmir

An emissary of the Dalai Lama Monday denied reports that the Tibetan spiritual leader had called for self-rule in Jammu and Kashmir.

Reports that quoted the Dalai Lama as saying that India and Pakistan should consider self-rule for Kashmiris were "inaccurate", Tsering Tashi, secretary of the Dalai Lama's Bureau in New Delhi, told IANS.

"The Dalai Lama holds no views on Jammu and Kashmir's political condition" and considered the situation in the Himalayan state as New Delhi's internal matter, Tashi said.

But Tashi said the Dalai Lama mentioned Kashmir "only in the passing" as representatives from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, had spoken about Kashmir at the conference.

"As far as the Dalai Lama is concerned, he was not specifically mentioning Kashmir," Tashi said. "He was talking about disputes in general and Kashmir was merely a passing mention because the Kashmiri leaders spoke about it."

Tashi also denied that the Dalai Lama had invited two Kashmiri leaders, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone, to visit him at Dharamsala as newspapers had reported.

"It was the other way round. They sought His Holiness' permission to come and meet him at Dharamsala," Tashi said.

According to Tibetan affairs expert Anand Kumar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, the Dalai Lama had regularly spoken of the need to involve the Kashmiri people in any dialogue between India and Pakistan.

"The Dalai Lama has always been asked by the media about his stand on Kashmir and he has always said the same thing: involve the local Kashmiri people in the dialogue to bring about peace and compassion," Kumar told IANS.

Kumar, who is considered close to the Dalai Lama, said the Tibetan leader made a distinction between Kashmir's case and that of Tibet. "The Chinese invaded Tibet. In Kashmir, the local people and their king invited The Indian government to come in and secure the state."

Indo-Asian News Service

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