The indispensable incarnation
Talk of the Dalai Lama’s “retirement” shows how much Tibet still needs him. Yet so does China
ENTHRONED in a maroon and saffron pavilion, the 14th Dalai Lama chuckled often as he preached to the football stadium, though his text was not taken from the jolly slogan behind him: “Play soccer for world peace”. Ringed by snowcapped Himalayan peaks in Gangtok, capital of the Indian state of Sikkim, which borders Tibet, tens of thousands basked in midwinter sunshine—local Sikkimese of Nepali and ethnic-Tibetan descent, visitors and, of course, Tibetan exiles. The Dalai Lama may exaggerate a bit when he says that 99% of Tibetans trust him. But not by much. So his recent talk of “retirement” has unnerved many.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "The indispensable incarnation"
From the January 8th 2011 edition
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