'Thousands' of
pilgrims return to China before Dalai Lama event
AFP 12 hrs
ago
Tibetan Spiritual Leader
The Dalai Lama gestures as he attends a special religious prayer
during the Kalachakra event at Bodhgaya on January 4,
2017
Thousands of mostly Tibetan
pilgrims who travelled to India for a rare Buddhist ceremony held
by the Dalai Lama have returned to China under pressure from
Beijing, organisers said Wednesday.
The 81-year-old Tibetan
spiritual leader will this month preside over the Kalachakra
teachings at Bodhgaya in eastern India, where the Buddha is said to
have attained enlightenment more than 2,000 years ago.
Tens of thousands of
pilgrims from all over the world are expected to attend the event,
which is held only once every few years.
But as preparations got
under way on Wednesday, the chairman of the organising committee
Karma Gelek Yuthok said almost 7,000 pilgrims had returned to
China, citing pressure from authorities there.
Tens of thousands of
pilgrims from all over the world are expected to attend the
Kalachakra event, which is held only once every few
years
"It is unfortunate, they
have returned after Chinese pressure. They are nearly 7,000," he
told journalists in Bodhgaya.
"They planned to end their
pilgrimage in Bodhgaya (but) just because of this they have gone
back."
Yuthok, who is a member of
the Tibetan government-in-exile based in the north Indian town of
Dharamsala, said some pilgrims had reported receiving threats to
relatives in China if they did not return.
In 2012 China detained
hundreds of Tibetans after they returned from the Kalachakra in
Bodhgaya.
Last month Radio Free Asia
reported that many Tibetan pilgrims who travelled to Dharamsala
ahead of the Kalachakra had been ordered to return home before the
end of the year, preventing them from heading on to
Bodhgaya.
It said the Dalai Lama had
held a special audience for them in Dharamsala last
month.
The Chinese embassy in
Delhi declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
The Dalai Lama fled to
India after a failed uprising in 1959 but is still deeply revered
by many Tibetans.
Beijing says its troops
"peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 and accuses the Nobel Peace
laureate of seeking Tibetan independence through "spiritual
terrorism".
Tibetan Buddhist monks wait
to collect boiling milk to distribute to devotees participating in
a special religious prayer attended by The Dalai Lama during the
Kalachakra event on January 4, 2017
He says he merely wants
greater autonomy for his homeland, where many accuse the central
government of religious repression and eroding the Tibetan
culture.
The Kalachakra opened in
Bodhgaya on Tuesday, although the main teaching section will only
begin next week.
A spokesman for the Indian
government said it was unaware of the issue.