When His Holiness the Dalai Lama officially announced his decision to stand down as the chief executive of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising earlier this year, it understandably sent shock-waves throughout the Tibetan world and triggered pangs of anxiety in the upper echelons of the exile administration. But despite the ensuing general hysteria, His Holiness stuck to his guns. He first turned down separate requests from the Kashag and the Chitues to reconsider his decision, and then recently, to everyone’s dismay, rejected the title of “the ceremonial head of state” proposed at the last month’s Special Meeting of Tibetan representatives. That said, His Holiness went out of his way, in his every other public appearance following his March 10 statement, to put to rest- once and for all- most of the initial frenzy and rumours surrounding the issue of his retirement. What was particularly reassuring was his pledge to step in if and when the exile movement encountered extraordinary difficulties necessitating his direct involvement. (Watch the Dalai Lama explicate reasons for relinquishing all temporal and administrative prerogatives ascribed to him under the 1991 Charter of the Tibetans in Exile below).
