(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-21 13:42

Sunday's solemn vow of non-violence by the Dalai Lama was again proved to be nothing but lip service by the latest account of the Lhasa riot, which was backed by the self-proclaimed pacifist.

Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, updated the death toll from the unrest to 13 at a press conference on Monday, up from the previous official figure of 10.

"The victims are all innocent civilians. Some were hacked and burned to death and some others suffocated in fires," he said.

But the most shocking moment during his account came when the Tibetan official cited two cases of the rioters' extreme brutalities -- a civilian was doused in gasoline by rioters and burned to death and vandals beat a patrol policeman unconscious, and then cut a fist-sized piece of flesh from his buttocks.

People are honored for practicing what they say, but such is not true of Dalai. He trumpets peace only in his slick-tongued language, and not in his doings.

Repeated episodes of violence, from the 1959 failed rebellion to secede Tibet from the motherland, to the latest spate of viciousness in Lhasa all displayed the hypocrisy of Dalai.

How can the Nobel Peace Laureate, who told the world that "everyone knows my principle, and knows (it is) completely non-violence" just one day ago in India, justify himself with such barbarian crimes his followers committed?

On what ground shall Dalai say anything to the Chinese government, which exercised maximum restraint, while he readily dismissed any chance to condemn the riots that left Tibetan people in fears and tears?

Liu Jianchao, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said the Lhasa riot has again exposed the secessionist nature of the Dalai clique and the hypocrisy and fraudulence of the "peace" and "non-violence" it has preached.

Tibetan religious leaders and specialists have also turned back to his hypocritical non-violence call many times, and this time is no exception.

Cering Doje, deputy director of the religional research institute of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, said that he questioned the Dalai Lama's humanity and mercy.

"Religion advocates care and mercy, but the reckless rioters attacked hospitals and child-entertainment centers," he said, "They seemed to have lost basic humanity, and there was no mercy at all."

Basang Wangdu, another Tibetologist and a council member of the International Society of Tibetology, said people could see from Friday's riots that the Dalai Lama had not ceased his secessionist activity and his attempts will not succeed.

However, some overseas media seem to have neglected the fact. They labeled the severe violence as 'peaceful demonstration', and slandered the efforts of the law enforcers in keeping people safe and social order as "crackdown protestors".

"I would like to know whether there is any government preaching democracy and advocating rule of law could sufficiently tolerate such violence," said Qiangba Puncog

History shows that all attempts at ethnic conflicts and separation will end in armed hostilities and great misfortune for the people.