Dalai Lama concerned Tibetan monastery

(PTI) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has asked the international community to persuade the Chinese leadership to exercise restraint in handling the situation at a blockaded Tibetan monastery in China."The current situation prevailing at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba in northeastern Tibet is extremely grim because of the stand-off between the Chinese military forces and the local Tibetans," the Dalai Lama said in a statement.

The monastery, housing approximately 2,500 monks, is completely surrounded by Chinese armed forces, he said."I am very concerned that this situation, if allowed to go, on may become explosive with catastrophic consequences for the Tibetans in Ngaba. In view of this I urge both the monks and the lay Tibetans of the area not to do anything that might be used as a pretext by the local authorities to massively crackdown on them," the Tibetan spiritual leader said.