New Delhi: A Chinese website has accused Dalai Lama of policies that are Nazi-like. It also accused Lama of deaths of 30 Tibetans who set themselves on fire protesting against the Chinese government.
The commentary on China Tibet Online, also carried on Saturday by the official Xinhua News Agency, is one of the strongest reactions from Beijing to a string of protests in ethnic Tibetan areas of China.
About 30 Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people have set themselves on fire in the past year to protest what they say are repressive government policies toward their religion and culture. Many seek the return of the Dalai Lama.
The commentary follows other attacks by government officials on the Dalai Lama, who has praised the courage of those who engage in self-immolation and has attributed the protests to what he calls China's "cultural genocide" in Tibet. But he also says he does not encourage the protests, noting they could invite an even harsher crackdown.
The website, set up in 2000 to present the government's perspective on Tibet, accused the Dalai Lama of instigating the self-immolations and advocating Nazi racial segregation ideas.
It said the Dalai Lama had encouraged people to self-immolate because he called on Tibetans not to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in February to remember those who have set themselves on fire.
There was no immediate comment from the Dalai Lama's office in Dharmsala, India.
One activist group, London-based Free Tibet, released a video on Friday of one of the most recent self-immolations, showing the death earlier this month of Sonam Thargyal, a 44-year-old farmer who doused himself with kerosene before setting himself on fire.
With additional information from Associated Press
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