US wants UN to take up Dalai Lama succession: Envoy
Washington, Nov 9: The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama's succession in an intensifying bid to stop China from trying to handpick his successor, an envoy said after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said he spoke at length about the succession issue with the 84-year-old Dalai Lama last week in the monk's home-in-exile of Dharamsala, India.
Brownback said he told the Dalai Lama that the United States would seek to build global support for the principle that the choice of the next spiritual chief "belongs to the Tibetan Buddhists and not the Chinese government."
"I would hope that the UN would take the issue up," Brownback told AFP after returning to Washington.
He acknowledged that China, with its veto power on the Security Council, would work strenuously to block any action, but he hoped countries could at least raise their voices at the United Nations.
"I think it's really important to have an early global conversation because this is a global figure with a global impact," he said.
"That's the big thing that we're really after now, to stir this before we're right in the middle of it -- if something happens to the Dalai Lama, that there has been this robust discussion globally about it ahead of time," he said.
"My estimation undoubtedly is that the (Chinese) communist party has thought a lot about this. So they've got a plan and I think we have to be equally aggressive with a plan."
The Dalai Lama once traveled incessantly, drawing huge Western audiences with his good-humored lectures on compassion and happiness.
But the Nobel Peace Prize winner has slowed down and earlier this year suffered a chest infection, although he is not known to have serious health issues.
Brownback said he found the Dalai Lama "quite jovial" and that the monk had told him, "'Look, I'm going to live another 15, 20 years; I'm going to outlast the Chinese government.'"
But Beijing has indicated it is waiting out the Dalai Lama, believing his campaign for greater Tibetan autonomy will end with him.
China, which argues that it has brought modernisation and development to the Himalayan region, has increasingly hinted that it could name the next Dalai Lama, who would presumably be groomed to support Chinese rule.
In 1995, the officially atheist government selected its own Panchen Lama and detained a six-year-old identified for the influential Buddhist position -- whom rights groups called the world's youngest political prisoner.
Mindful of Beijing's plans, the 14th Dalai Lama has mused about breaking with the centuries-old tradition in which wandering monks look for signs that a young boy is the reincarnation.
He has said that he could pick his own successor, possibly a girl, or even declare himself the final Dalai Lama.
The US Congress has also stepped up efforts, including by mandating visa denials by the end of the year for Chinese officials unless Beijing eases restrictions on US diplomats, journalists and ordinary people seeking to visit Tibet.
Brownback said he would like access to Tibet, "but I want it unfettered." He said he similarly hoped to visit the western region of Xinjiang, which has drawn intense US scrutiny over the incarceration of some one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims.
"It is part of the same war on faith," Brownback said of Tibet and Xinjiang.
Brownback also visited Nepal, historically the gateway for Tibetans fleeing to India but which has increasingly clamped down under pressure from its giant northern neighbour.
Brownback said he raised fears for Tibetans with Nepal's foreign minister, Pradeep Gyawali.
But he acknowledged Nepal's difficult situation and said: "I would hate to be very harsh on the Nepalese because they've been so good over so many years to help the Tibetans."
Brownback said that the burden was ultimately with China to allow freedom of movement -- and not to interfere in Tibetan Buddhism.
"A government doesn't own a religion," he said. "A religion runs itself." "We hope we'll get a number of other communities around the world to express similar positions and concerns."
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Satyagraha sparks political storm in Kerala as CM accuses Centre of financial squeeze
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala saw a heated political showdown on Monday as state ministers led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to the streets with a Satyagraha, accusing the BJP-led Centre of squeezing the state financially.
What followed was a war of words, with the BJP hitting back hard and the Congress keeping its distance, turning the issue into a three-cornered political battle.
Standing before party leaders, ministers and supporters at the Martyrs' Column in Palayam here, Vijayan said Kerala had been pushed into an "extraordinary struggle" to protect its rights.
He told the gathering that the Centre was trying to "snatch away" what the Constitution had guaranteed to the states.
According to him, this was not just about money, but about dignity, federalism and democracy.
"This is a struggle for the survival of this land and its people. Believing that all authority rests in their hands, the rulers at the Centre are arbitrarily usurping our rights," Vijayan said, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the funds given to the state during the NDA period were more than three times higher than what it received during the Congress-led UPA period.
"The present situation has compelled us to take to struggle in order to protect those rights. This is an extraordinary and grave circumstance," the veteran CPI(M) leader said.
He said the Union government was treating Kerala with bias and political vengeance.
The cuts in grants and borrowing limits, he claimed, were meant to choke the state financially.
Vijayan pointed out that Kerala was supposed to get Rs 12,000 crore between January and March, but was denied Rs 5,900 crore without any clear reason. This, he said, had made it difficult for the government to pay bills and run welfare schemes smoothly.
The CM also accused the Union government of centralising power and using money to reward states ruled by friendly parties while punishing opposition-ruled states like Kerala.
He reminded the people of how Kerala was denied permission to receive foreign aid during the 2018 floods and how support was lacking after the Wayanad landslide. These were, Vijayan said, clear examples of discrimination.
Rejecting claims of financial mismanagement, he said the state had continued to invest in welfare, development and jobs despite financial pressure.
Taking on Amit Shah's claim that Kerala received more funds under the Modi government, Vijayan said tax devolution was not a gift, but a constitutional right. He accused the Centre of interfering with the Finance Commission and quoted NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam.
"Subrahmanyam, who is currently serving as the CEO of NITI Aayog, has stated that soon after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi exerted pressure on the Finance Commission to reduce the tax share of states," he said.
The chief minister said the Finance Commission had recommended 42 per cent for states and that there was an attempt to cut it to 33 per cent. He added that the Prime Minister had not denied this claim.
"When Amit Shah cites figures, he must also clarify these facts. Perhaps realising that none of this can be defended, he has now resorted to dreaming about a distant future," he said.
Calling for wider protests, Vijayan said Kerala would fight legally and politically to protect federalism and ensure its rightful share. He also criticised the Congress-led UDF for not standing with the state at this crucial time.
But the BJP hit back almost immediately. State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Left government was trying to fool the public.
He said a government that had ruled for nearly 10 years had no excuse to shift blame.
"A government that has ruled for 10 years should explain what it has done for the people. That is the basic courtesy in a democracy," Chandrasekhar told a press conference here.
He challenged Vijayan to a public debate on governance and finances. He claimed that Kerala received Rs 72,000 crore during UPA rule, but Rs 3.2 lakh crore under the NDA.
He argued that nearly Rs 7 lakh crore had come through central assistance and borrowings in the last decade, and over Rs 10 lakh crore including revenue receipts.
Chandrasekhar said central schemes worth Rs 16,000 crore were not implemented and pointed to water shortages, unpaid contractors and homelessness.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF chose not to join the protest.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said his party would not be part of what he called political drama by the LDF.
He alleged an "unholy understanding" between the CPI(M) and the BJP and said the Left was pretending to fight the Centre while quietly supporting its policies.
"If we participate in such protests, we too will lose credibility," he said.
Later in a post on X, Vijayan said Kerala's share in tax devolution, grants and scheme funds have been reduced.
"We have suffered a total revenue loss of Rs 57,000 crores due to the Union Government’s financial discrimination against us."
He said the state was merely demanding what is rightfully owed to it, not any handout from the Union Government.
"Kerala stands firm in its resolve and will resist every attempt to subvert states' constitutional rights," Vijayan said.
