00:00As the 14th Dalai Lama turns 90, the world pauses to honor a life of resilience, spirituality, and non-violent resistance.
00:11From a child born in remote Thaksar to the spiritual leader of Tibet,
00:16His Holiness has been at the heart of one of the world's most enduring cultural and political struggles,
00:23a journey of compassion and exile.
00:26Recognized at age 4 as the reincarnation of Avalokiteshwara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
00:35he was barely a teenager when China invaded Tibet.
00:39By 1959, after a mass uprising in Lhasa,
00:44he fled to India, where he has since led the Tibetan movement in exile.
00:49In 2011, he passed on political authority to a democratically elected Sikyong,
00:56a visionary step to separate religion from politics.
01:02Now, on his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama has made a historic announcement.
01:07The institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,
01:11and his next reincarnation will be found outside Chinese control.
01:15This has rattled Beijing, which hoped to manipulate the succession
01:20and install a puppet Dalai Lama, as they did with the Panchen Lama.
01:26China's interference and global irony
01:28Despite its atheist ideology,
01:31China insists it has the final say on reincarnation,
01:35a deeply religious matter.
01:37Beijing called for recognition through central approval,
01:41drawing global criticism.
01:42In sharp contrast, India has stood by the Tibetan tradition,
01:47affirming that spiritual succession is not Beijing's business.
01:53The risk of rival Dalai Lamas now looms large,
01:57one chosen freely in exile,
01:59another appointed by the Communist Party.
02:02As the world watches,
02:03the Dalai Lama's legacy remains
02:05one of peace, dignity,
02:07and the unyielding fight
02:09to keep Tibet's spiritual heart
02:11free from political chains.
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