In a hard-hitting statement, the spiritual leader of Tibet, whom China has labelled as the “mastermind” behind the recent violent outbreaks in Lhasa and elsewhere, said he had knowledge that hundreds of Chinese soldiers had received the robes of monks.

“The picture in which a monk is seen holding a sword is not a traditional Tibetan sword. It is a Chinese sword. We know that a few hundred Chinese soldiers have disguised themselves as monks,” Dalai Lama told reporters here. Denying his or his followers’ involvement in the fortnight-long violence, which unconfirmed reports say has claimed more than 100 lives, the Dalai Lama said Tibetans by nature were a non-violent race.

On a day when about two dozen foreign diplomats, including those from the US, Britain and Japan, were in Tibet on a day-long Beijing-arranged trip, the Dalai Lama also called on the international community to persuade China to initiate a dialogue with the Tibetan people.

As the delegation of foreign diplomats was taken around in Lhasa, a group of monks staged a peaceful march from the Ramoche monastery to Bharkhor in the Tibetan capital to protest against the Chinese crackdown. “We ourselves have no power to ask China to come to the dialogue table. We only have truth and sincerity. And we are open for talks. But Beijing does not seem interested. That is why I appeal to the international community to help the Tibetans,” he said.

Stressing that he was not for independence of Tibet from China, the Dalai Lama said he did not understand why Beijing kept accusing him of having separatist ideas. “We are not seeking independence. The whole world knows that. Only China does not seem to be aware of it,” he said. He said he was still willing to work with the Chinese Government to ensure that peace and stability was restored in the region.

The soft-spoken Tibetan leader blamed China for promoting a “demographic aggression” of Tibet by encouraging ethnic Chinese people to settle in Tibet.

“The number of Chinese people in Tibet is increasing month by month,” he said, adding that the number of Chinese people in Tibet was likely to increase by one million following the Olympic Games in August.

He assured the Chinese Government that it need not worry about the safety of the Olympic torch in India.