Tibet's Young Exiles Sick of Passive Approach

Last week's violent protests in Tibet have emphasized the growing divide within the exiled community of how to win the propaganda war against China.

The spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, abjures all violence and considers even hunger strikes and economic sanctions illegitimate means of political protest.

Many of the younger generation, versed in modern forms of political campaigning, appear now to be rejecting the passivity required by the Tibetan leadership. They have been emboldened by video footage and pictures showing Tibetans revolting against Chinese "occupiers".

Some have even criticized the Dalai Lama. Speaking to the Guardian, Tsewang Rigzin, the president of the pro-independence Tibetan Youth Congress publicly rebuked the Dalai Lama for refusing to call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games. He said the protests in Tibet "should continue".

"The Chinese have taken the Olympic torch through Tibet, they want to use the games to show Tibet is part of China. It is unacceptable. The Olympics should be boycotted. I don't know why the Dalai Lama says we should accept the games. You should ask him," said Mr Rigzin, a 37-year-old educated in the United States. "We want a free Tibet as a neighbor of China."

Within the Dalai Lama's own circle there is an acknowledgment that the younger generation are frustrated with the Tibetan leaders' "Middle Way" policy â€" a non-violent campaign for autonomy within China â€" which has seen six rounds of talks but little concession from the Chinese.

Experts point out that there has been a subtle shift in the methods employed by exile Tibetan groups. Protest has been reinforced by high-profile endorsements.

They point out last year when Hu Jintao visited India he was taken aback when the leader of opposition, L K Advani, asked China's supreme leader to let the Dalai Lama return to his home.

"We saw it again when Bjork shouted "Free Tibet" in her concert in Shanghai a few weeks ago. These things are choreographed. You need someone to suggest it and someone to accept it needs to be done," said Phunchok Stobdan, a Tibetan expert at New Delhi's Institute for defense Studies and Analysis.

Mr Stobdan said that he had an inkling that the protests in Tibet may not have been engineered but there were "organized elements ready for them".

"I was in a meeting in Taipei orgainzed by the Taiwanese authorities five months ago and I saw Tibetans talking in groups about what would happen if there was a 'happening' and how to respond. It seemed clear to me they were ready for it," he said.

Others however said there was little evidence to suggest that the protests in Tibet could have been "organized". Claude Arpi, an Indian-based writer who has written extensively on Tibet, said that it was an "act of desperation".

Mr Arpi pointed out that the Dalai Lama is growing old and reincarnations of his spiritual are historically tumultuous events. "There is also the Han Chinese influx into Tibet. Four million come every year thanks to the new railway. Even if five or 10% stay, the Tibetans will be swamped in a few years. No this is their last chance."