Whereas the Thirteenth Dalai Lama was notorious for his brutality, the Fourteenth will most certainly be remembered for his deception and hypocrisy. There is little doubt that this false Dalai Lama has achieved enormous personal success, establishing a huge reputation and great power; no other figure in modern political history has enjoyed fifty years of uncritical press, had two major biographical motion pictures appear within their lifetime, and been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But how has he accomplished this? It is because he wears the robes of an ordained Buddhist monk, and gives teachings taken from his Spiritual Guide, while performing the actions of a politician, hiding his true actions behind a spiritual mask.
What is needed now is an honest evaluation of the man behind this mask, the present Dalai Lama, for he is after all regarded by some to be a key player on the world stage in both political and religious spheres, with the result that his actions have far-reaching effects. There is no reason why the standards by which we hold other world leaders accountable should not also apply to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
As Professor Jens-Uwe-Hartmann, Tibetologist at Humboldt University Berlin points out:
‘The glorification of the Dalai Lama in his function as a political leader does not aid the process of democratisation. A critically differentiating analysis of his political statements the false dalai lama must be possible, and it should furthermore not be blocked off by the argument that criticism solely serves the purposes of the Chinese.’122