Footage of the Dalai Lama's enthronement Video from the British Film Institute
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Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, was born on 6 July 1935. He was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama when he was two years old, undertook monastic education from the age of two until he was 23 when he assumed full political responsibility. He has lived in exile in North India since 1959 when the occupying Chinese regime in Tibet brutally suppressed the Tibetan National Uprising and the Tibetan people begged him to leave to preserve his safety.
Today in Tibet people may face grave consequences if they publicly show support for the Dalai Lama. Many Tibetans are too frightened to own a picture of him or to celebrate the Dalai Lama's birthday as public displays of loyalty to His Holiness can result in punishments as severe as detention and torture.
This nun could be arrested and tortured in Tibet for carrying a photo of the Dalai Lama
The Chinese government views the Dalai Lama as a 'splittist' who is a threat to the unity of China. They claim that he has colluded with anti-Chinese forces internationally in order to cause trouble in Tibet. This despite the fact that His Holiness is internationally recognised as a man of peace and has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has advocated a non-violent resolution to the Tibet problem consistently since he went into exile.
Monks, nuns, lay-people and even children are forced to denounce the Dalai Lama in Chinese government-run programmes known as patriotic re-education. Other elements of re-education include swearing allegiance to China and placing China before the Buddhist religion. The penalties for refusing to participate in the re-education programme include fines, beatings, expulsion from a monastery or nunnery.
The Dalai Lama has said 'They [the Chinese administration] are putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions, depriving them the opportunity to study and practice in peace... to deliberately annihilate Buddhism.'
