Dalai Lama today threatened to step down as political leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile if the people of his homeland chose the path of violen

By Bijender Sharma

Dharamsala, March 18 - The Dalai Lama threatened Tuesday to step down as leader of Tibet's government-in-exile if violence committed by Tibetans in his homeland spirals out of control.The rioting prompted Premier Wen Jiabao to denounce the Dalai Lama's supporters as separatists and accuse them of instigating the violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa. It was China's highest-level response to date to the unrest.The Dalai Lama, speaking to reporters, urged his countrymen to show restraint.He said that "if things become out of control" his "only option is to completely resign."Later, one of his top aides clarified the Dalai Lama's comments."If the Tibetans were to choose the path of violence he would have to resign because he is completely committed to nonviolence," Tenzin Taklha said. "He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama."The recent protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, led by monks, began peacefully March 10 on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. But they grew increasingly violent, culminating Friday with widespread street violence. Chinese officials say 16 people were killed, but the Tibetan government-in-exile put the toll at 80.The Dalai Lama also called on Tibetan exiles beginning a six-month march from India to Lhasa to stop their march at the border.
"Will you get independence? What's the use?" he said.On Tuesday, the India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy said thousands of Tibetans converged onto the streets in Seda, a county seat in the southern province of Sichuan, and the situation was "extremely tense."because she feared retribution from officials.As the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama was recognized at age 2 as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and enthroned before he turned 4. He assumed full powers at age 15, in the year that troops from Mao Zedong's newly founded communist republic entered Tibet and crushed its small army.The Dalai Lama fled Tibet following the 1959 uprising, setting up his government-in-exile in Dharmsala.