Beijing/New Delhi - Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday rejected charges by the Chinese leadership that he was behind the violence in Tibet and said he would withdraw as leader of the Tibetans if they took to the path of violence. Tibetan exile groups meanwhile said police and army reinforcements were moving into several Tibetan areas of China, leading to the deaths of at least 39 people.
The Dalai Lama, reacting to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's charges that the violence in Tibet had been "organized, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai clique," had responded: "I ask the prime minister, please show me proof," his secretary Chhime R Choekyapa said via telephone.
Choekyapa said the Dalai Lama made the comments while interacting with a small group of media representatives at the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the leader is based along with the Tibetan government-in exile.
The Dalai Lama demanded an impartial investigation by an independent body, which could include a Chinese representative and which would visit the places in Tibet where the violence has taken place to find out who was responsible, Choekyapa said.
"They are also welcome to visit the Tibetan Central Administration offices here," the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying.
"He also said the Chinese Embassy in Delhi was welcome to send someone to investigate whether we have links with the violence," Choekyapa said.
"The Chinese always blame the violence on us ... If Tibetans were rioting the media would have been invited," the Dalai Lama said in an excerpt from the media interaction aired by the Times Now television channel. He said it was often the "Chinese agents" who incited violence.
"Up to now, I remained silent because it is a people's movement ... Now whether they listen or not it is my moral responsibility to speak to them."
"If the Tibetans ever take up arms, if they launch a violent movement and do not heed his advice, the Dalai Lama said he would withdraw as their leader," Choekyapa said.
The Dalai Lama earlier headed the Tibetan government-in-exile, but now it has a democratically elected leader.
"But for historical reasons, all Tibetans in exile look to him for leadership," Choekyapa added.
The Dalai Lama said he was totally committed to non-violence and so was the government-in-exile.
The Chinese premier on Tuesday spurned international calls for his government to hold talks with the Dalai Lama over recent unrest in Tibetan areas, blaming the Buddhist leader for violent protests and accusing him of insincerity.
Wen said that supporters of the Dalai Lama had encouraged the "appalling incident in Lhasa," the capital of China's Tibet region, and "similar incidents in other parts of China."
"There is plenty of evidence proving that this (Lhasa) incident was organized, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai clique," Wen told reporters at the end of the annual National People's Congress, China's nominal parliament.
Claims by supporters of the Dalai Lama that they wanted peaceful dialogue were "nothing but lies," he said.
"Even under these circumstances, our original position remains unchanged," he said when asked about the possibility of direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
"As long as the Dalai Lama is willing to give up the so-called 'Tibet independence' and accept that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, our door is wide open," Wen said.
The Dalai Lama has previously declined to comment on the status of Taiwan, which China still claims as a breakaway province, on the grounds that the island has no connection with Tibet.
He has publicly renounced independence in favour of maximum autonomy and religious freedom for Tibet within China, but Beijing continues to accuse him of seeking independence and blames him for the lack of dialogue.
"We should not only listen to what he says, but also listen to what he does," Wen said.
US President George W Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who both met the Dalai Lama last year, are among the world leaders who have urged China to hold dialogue with him over the recent unrest.
Wen also accused Tibetan protesters of trying to "undermine" and politicize this year's Beijing Olympics.
The Chinese premier's comments came as Tibetan exile groups said police and army reinforcements were moving into several Tibetan areas of China, leading to the deaths of at least 39 people.
Students for a Free Tibet identified nine people, including some monks, who it said were among 20 Tibetans killed in clashes with Chinese security forces on Sunday in the Aba prefecture of Sichuan province.
Tibet's government-in-exile said that 19 demonstrators were shot dead by police in Machu in Gansu province since Monday. There was no official confirmation.
About 500 Buddhist monks from the Choephel Shing monastery in nearby Zhouni county, Gansu province, joined a protest on Tuesday morning, witnesses told the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
Tibetan students at Beijing's Central Minorities University also held a silent, candle-lit vigil on Monday night for those who died in the violence, reports said.
The government on Monday expelled many journalists from Lhasa and suspended permits for foreigners to travel to the city as a Tibetan exile group reported mass arrests ahead of a deadline for protesters to surrender to police.
Officials on Monday said at least 13 people had died in Friday's rioting, but the Tibetan government-in-exile said it had confirmed at least 80 deaths in the city.
Meanwhile the Free Tibet organization published a series of photos which it said showed bullet wounds suffered by protestors in Sichuan province. The Chinese government has denied that protestors have been fired upon.
Wen on Tuesday repeated the government's assertion that its forces had "exercised extreme restraint" in confronting protesters.
"We are fully capable of maintaining stability and normal public order in Tibet, he said.
China would continue efforts to develop the economy of the region to "improve the livelihood of all ethnic groups in Tibet," he said.
Meanwhile, in India Tibetan refugees continued their protests against "Chinese repression" with demonstrations in the capital New Delhi and in Dharamsala.
"There were more than 200 Tibetan youth marching up and down the streets of the town shouting anti-China slogans and burning Chinese flags," a tourist in Dharamsala said. He said a group of 150 monks also gathered to sing hymns on non-violence.
