In Exile
The Dalai Lama and the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi where they discussed about the rehabilitation of Tibetans refugees in India in 1959 (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
With his arduous flight to freedom over, the Dalai Lama with his entourage accepted the Government of India’s offer of Mussoorie, a summer resort town in the hills of Northern India as a temporary residence. Newsmen from around the world crowded into Mussoorie to hear what the Dalai Lama had to say: but in the hope that peaceful negotiations might be effected with the Chinese government, the Dalai Lama refrained from making any press statement for a few months. On April 24, 1959, Prime Minister Nehru met with the Dalai Lama at Mussoorie. Then on May 30, 1959 Indian supporters of Tibet’s independence held a convention in Calcutta and passed a resolution to set up an Afro-Asian Committee to help promote sympathy for the situation in Tibet. On June 20, 1959, the Dalai Lama held his first press conference at his new headquarters in Mussoorie. He gave a clear picture of the political status that he desired for his country. He said, “ I and my government are…..fully prepared to
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