Dalai Lama draws frustration and love from Tibetans

By Jonathan Allen

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - Tibetan protest leaders said on Monday they are disappointed in the Dalai Lama's conciliatory approach to China and that his "middle way" stance is not shared by the majority of Tibetans.

But still they revere him.

Dharamsala, the Indian home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, has been the epicenter of angry protests by exiled Tibetans after Chinese troops and police locked down Lhasa, Tibet's capital, to break up violent protests.

"The middle way has been in existence for 20 years and nothing has come out of it," Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, told reporters in Dharamsala.

By night, hundreds of Tibetans here in Dharamsala have been holding candle-lit rallies in streets and monasteries.

In New Delhi, hundreds of protesters shouted slogans and burned Chinese flags. Police detained at least 50 of them when they tried to enter a United Nations office.

Thousands of Buddhists also marched in Ladakh, a cold desert region in Indian Kashmir, and shut down markets, offices and schools to show solidarity with Tibetan protesters in Lhasa.

The region has some 15,000 Tibetans, most of whom fled Tibet after the failed rising there.

The issue also figured in India's parliament as well when members of the Hindu nationalist opposition party walked out of the house to protest the government's "silence" on the violence in Tibet.

The protesters in Dharamsala call for a far sharper goal than the one the Dalai Lama espouses, even as they reverently display his portrait draped in scarves. He calls for a truly autonomous Tibet within China, his so-called "middle way". They want complete independence.

The protest leaders say the Dalai Lama's stance had achieved nothing and disagreed with his statement on Sunday that China "deserved" the Olympics.

Yet they were careful to balance every criticism with affirmations of admiration for the 72-year-old Buddhist leader.

"His holiness is still our leader," said B. Tsering, the leader of the Tibetan Women's Association, as she sat next to Rigzin. "He remains a source of inspiration."

Other protesters point out few have traveled as widely and drawn as much attention to the Tibetan cause as the Dalai Lama.

But, when asked how the Dalai Lama helped their campaign, Rigzin simply pointed out that the Buddhist leader was now semi-retired, and it was up to each and every Tibetan to define the movement.