"The prize reaffirms our conviction
that with truth, courage and determination as our weapons,
Tibet will be liberated. Our struggle must remain non-violent
and free of hatred."
-- Dalai Lama, Tibetan leader
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AS LEADER of the Tibetan people His Holiness
the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, leads a life of exile
in India. After an uprising against Chinese rule 42 years
ago, the Dalai Lama fled, followed by thousands of Tibetans.
Over the decades the 66-year-old Nobel
Peace Prize winner and advocate of non-violence has
continued to seek "genuine autonomy" for his homeland,
a land that China considers to be an integral part of
its territory.
The Chinese believe communism liberated
the Tibetans from a feudal theocracy led by the Dalai
Lamas and that Tibet has developed considerably under
their rule. Others have claimed human rights abuses,
as well as cultural and ecological destruction.
This "simple Buddhist monk" is considered by some to
be one of the world's enduring figures of struggle and
compassion against oppression.
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