Serious divisions within Tibet's exiled community over whether China will grant autonomy are hampering leaders in their efforts to present a unified image in negotiations. Some say the Dalai Lama's push for autonomy is a sell-out. In Dharamsala, and other Tibetan communities in exile in India and Nepal, it is difficult to criticise the spiritual leader. Those who speak out, or who are suspected of being critical of him, risk being attacked.
The Tibetan Youth Congress is often viewed as the exiled Tibetan's 'loyal opposition'. Speaking in a cramped office in Dharamsala, the group's president, Kalsang Phuntsok, said he understood why the Dalai Lama 'must follow the middle path as the leader of six million Tibetans'.
But he said young people 'still have faith in the path of independence'.
Other young Tibetans voiced some frustration. Jamyang Lodoe runs a backpacker movie hall in Dharamsala which shows films such as The Matrix and Seven Years In Tibet, and documentaries like Raid Into Tibet about the Tibetan guerilla war against the Chinese from the 1950s to the 1970s. 'We should push for autonomy now, independence later,' he said.
Thierry Dodin, director of the Tibet Information Network in London, said: 'If the Dalai Lama dies tomorrow, there would be such an emotional effect, with the Tibetans' hopes betrayed, that there could be a very violent reaction. Any uprising would be crushed violently by the Chinese authorities.' Government-in-exile spokesman Thubten Samphel said mass violence by Tibetans would be suicidal. 'This would provide the best possible excuse to the Chinese to obliterate Tibetans from the face of the earth,' he said.