Dalai Lama question revives fears for the future of Tibet

As he turns 90 this week, the spiritual leader has announced he will be reincarnated, setting his followers on a collision course with the Chinese, writes Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

- Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

In March 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama left the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in the dead of night to flee from Mao Zedong's communist regime. Over the course of the next seven decades, the Dalai Lama has inspired generations of Tibetans in exile, as first the political, and then the spiritual, leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Born with the name Lhamo Dhondup on 6 July 1935, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has become synonymous with his stateless people’s struggle in exile, and the arrival of his 90th birthday this month has left many of his followers considering what will happen after his death.

The Dalai Lama has himself repeatedly questioned whether the institution he embodies should continue at all after he dies. Yesterday he provided some long-awaited clarity on the matter, giving a video address declaring that he would indeed be reincarnated, and that his trust of advisers would be tasked with identifying his successor.

That still leaves a number of vital questions: who will be the next Dalai Lama, how will they be appointed, and what will happen when - inevitably - the Chinese government names its own rival successor to the position?

The Independent put those questions to Penpa Tsering, the sikyong, or president, of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala, India - a position created in 2011 when the Dalai Lama decided to divest himself of political leadership and focus on spiritual matters.

“Within the Tibetan community, there’s not much anxiety, in the sense that His Holiness keeps reassuring us that he will live for another two decades and more,” said Tsering. “There are a lot of questions being asked about his reincarnation, which is an awkward position for us. On one hand, His Holiness keeps saying, ‘I'll live for two decades and more.’ On the other hand, we keep [being reminded] about his reincarnation as if he’s going to leave the world tomorrow,” he added.