The support rate for Dalai Lama among Tibetan Buddhists recorded a
drastic drop, according to a sample survey released on March 9.
Responding to a question of "what kind of a person the Dalai is,"
86 percent of the respondents think that he is a separatist and a
politician.
Only 4 percent of those polled said he is a religious leader and
another 4 percent described him as a living Buddha. About 6 percent
avoided giving a direct answer.
The survey was conducted among 100 Buddhist households by Chengguan
District in Lhasa City, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Those surveyed represent a wide range of social backgrounds and
range in age from 25 to 80.
The respondents have different social backgrounds including:
slaves, manor owners of old Tibet, people born after the peaceful
liberation of Tibet in 1951 and those who have returned after
spending years abroad since they fled to India with Dalai Lama in
the 1950s.
A
male, who fled to India with Dalai before the peaceful liberation
of Tibet in 1951 and returned to Tibet after spending years abroad,
filled in the blank with no hesitation: "Dalai is a
separatist."
"I
know Dalai clearly in the course of my time with him abroad. I
decided to came back and resettle in Tibet because I hated to see
what Dalai did," he said.
"Great changes have taken place in Tibet since I came back in 1985.
The houses of many Tibetan people are better than the previous
manors of slave owners. What they eat is more plentiful than the
slave owners," he said, adding, "There is nothing compatible with
the life ruled by Dalai."
"The poll indicates Dalai had lost the heart of Buddhist believers.
A growing number of believers have extricated themselves from blind
worship to Dalai Lama." said Galsang Yixi, a research fellow with
the China Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.
"They treasure the peaceful and happy life they are leading," said
Galsang Yixi who just came back from a trip to the United States,
Canada and Mexico. A 35-year-woman said, "I have neither seen nor
believe in Dalai Lama. What I care about is whether my kids can be
enrolled in a prestigious school in Beijing or another provinces
and have a bright future."
A
male respondent, 73, said, "I used to take Dalai Lama for a savior
and expect him to bring us a happy life. However, the serf owners
led a luxurious life while the majority of slaves had inadequate
food to eat and clothes to wear."
"Even today, what Dalai Lama did abroad has disappointed us," he
added.
The poll included 24 questionnaires covering the living condition,
income, education, religious belief, political viewpoint and other
aspects of daily life.
On
the question of when was the happiest moment after the peaceful
liberation of Tibet 50 years ago, over 90 percent of the
respondents said the moment that millions of slaves smashed the
fetters of serf system and slaves became master of their own
house.
A
youngster aged 25, said, "Influenced by my parents, I became a
Buddhist. I often go to a lamasery near Lhasa to pray for my family
and me. I think the "independence of Tibet advocated by Dalai could
only sabotage the good life we are leading."
Tibet was liberated in 1951 and launched democratic reform in 1959,
thus ending the slave system and embarked on the road to
modernization.
The region has a population of about 2.4 million, the majority of
whom are Buddhist believers.
(Xinhua 03/10/2001)