The 14th Dalai Lama, the current spiritual and political leader of Tibet, has announced plans to retire, after serving as Dalai Lama since 1950. His retirement is motivated by two main factors. First, as a supporter of democracy, he feels that Tibetans should freely elect their leader; because he was never elected to the position, he feels he should step down. The second reason is his age, as he claims he has the human right to retire and that at 75 he will sooner or late have to leave. The effect of his retirement on Tibet is huge as he has led the region for over 60 years in an effort to gain autonomy from China. A failed uprising in 1959 led to his exile from China and the establishment of his new headquarters in northern India. Due to the tensions between China and Tibet, the Chinese government spoke out about the news of the Dalai Lama's retirement, calling him a "religious crook". They claim that he is deceiving the international community and that they will not recognize any newly-elected Tibetan leader as legitimate.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/10/india.dalai.lama/index.html
Mark Zajac
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