"Anticipation Mounts as Dalai Lama Hints at Successor on His 90th Birthday"

The 90th birthday of the revered spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is upon us, and hundreds of his followers have gathered in northern India for the occasion. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, who set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala after fleeing China in 1959, is expected to give some indication about his successor in a video message and statement due on his birthday, July 6.

The three-day 15th Tibetan Religious Conference will kick off on Wednesday, preceding the milestone birthday. Celebrations began on Monday, the Dalai Lama's birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar. More than 7,000 guests, including Indian ministers, will attend the festivities. On Monday, photos showed the Dalai Lama blessing Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a long-time follower.

The Dalai Lama, who had earlier mentioned that he would release details about his succession around his 90th birthday, told a gathering on Monday that "there will be some kind of a framework within which we can talk about the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lamas". He did not elaborate further.

Throughout his life, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual leader has been faced with the question of whether to continue the 600-year-old institution or not. In the past, he has suggested that his successor might be a girl, or that there might be no successor at all. However, in recent years, he has also stated that if there is widespread support among Tibetans-in-exile for the post, which there is, then it would continue, and his office would choose a successor.

The Dalai Lama has consistently maintained that his successor would be born outside China, a stance that has angered Beijing. Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a separatist and regards him as an alternative source of power for those who resent its tight control over Tibet.

Youdon Aukatsang, an MP in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, expressed that he does not expect a clear-cut procedure to be laid down this week. "I think everyone is kind of anticipating some kind of revelation from His Holiness about his reincarnation. But I do not expect a very specific kind of revelation," he told the BBC.

Aukatsang further stated, "The Dalai Lama is a binding and unifying force for the Tibetan movement. Some Tibetans feel somebody should be recognized soon as his successor because they worry that there may be an impact on the community and the movement going forward."

Experts suggest that if the Dalai Lama does announce a successor, China is also expected to name its own Dalai Lama, leading to a potential conflict. "China will argue that only the Communist Party of China based in Beijing has the authority to find the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama," Dibyesh Anand, professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster, told the BBC.

Aukatsang adds, "Despite all these years of trying to control the hearts and minds of Tibetan people inside Tibet, Beijing has completely failed. A Dalai Lama chosen by China will not be recognized, not only by the Tibetans but the world will not recognize it because China doesn't have the legitimacy to find the future Dalai Lama."

Tibetan Buddhists believe that their senior monks are reincarnated, and a Dalai Lama is chosen by Buddhist officials if they are convinced that the one they are choosing harbors the soul of his predecessor. The present Dalai Lama was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13 previous Dalai Lamas when he was just two years old.