Even as bands of sloganeering protesters, some with blood-red paint smeared on their faces, took over this little Tibet in India, His Holiness the Dalai Lama made it clear that he would have no option but to resign if Tibetans resorted to any form of violence.

Addressing a hurriedly called press conference at noon, an agitated Dalai Lama who, at one point, surprised the media by professing admiration for Marxist economics, declared that violence had no place in his scheme of things. His reaction came close on the heels of the Chinese Government statements accusing him of masterminding the protests in Tibet. Later, however, his secretary, Tenzin Taklha, was quick to clarify that His Holiness had spoken about quitting as the head of the state and not as the Dalai Lama.

Likening the plight of his countrymen to that of a deer in the clutches of a tiger, the Dalai Lama asked: “What do you do if a tiger holds a deer in his hands?”

Dismissing Beijing’s allegations that he was behind the violence in Tibet, the Dalai Lama invited the Chinese government it to send its emissaries to inspect his home and office. “But I can’t show them my heart or my lungs,” he said, before adding tongue firmly in cheek, “They can, however, examine my pulse, my urine, my stool.” Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile Samdhong Rinpoche too rebutted these charges, saying: “Show me the proof.”

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.

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