Gyalo Thondup, the older brother of Dalai Lama and political operator in Tibet and the large region, died on Sunday. He was 97 years old.
The Dalai Lama office confirmed his death in a statement. The Tibetan media said that he died in Western Bengal, India.
“He was a good man who did his best for the Tibetan cause,” said Dalai Lama in the press release. Referring to the Buddhist belief in the Renaissance cycle, he added: “I pray for him to again take a good rebirth as a Tibetan and that he is again able to serve the Tibetan administration which is a combination of spirituality and politics. “”
An eminent figure of Tibetan society and politics, Mr. Thondup was called The most influential second person in this small Himalayan territory more and more isolated, overshadowed by his brother, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama and head of Tibetan Buddhism who has lived in exile since 1959.
Together, The brothers have defined a political era In Tibet, which has long fought against Chinese influence and control. While the Dalai Lama has often been more current, courting attention and global distinctions, Mr. Thondup was considered A reserved geopolitical agent which was more comfortable far from the spotlight.
For decades, Mr. Thondup asked for paths to allow his brother to return to the territory of exile. He kept the company of international leaders, in the hope of taking advantage of various stakeholders in the service of Tibetan independence.
One of the 16 children born of farmers in the Chinese city of Takster, seven of whom survived, Mr. Thondup was a life adviser and defender of his younger brother. Sent abroad to study, he was the only one of his brothers and sisters not intended for religious life.
Released from spiritual obligations, Mr. Thondup spent his life working for Tibetan autonomy, sometimes more aggressively than the others.
He settled in India in 1952 and was an early mediator when the Dalai Lama fled after the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese domination. Mr. Thondup would later call the safe passage of his brother in India one of his greatest achievements.
He was going to cultivate some of the first official Tibetan contacts with the Indian and American authorities in the 1950s and 60s, asking for their support. In the 1950s, he helped the CIA in an unhappy attempt to arm Tibetan separatists against the Communist Chinese government.
Mr. Thondup periodically encountered Chinese leaders in efforts to facilitate Chinese influence on Tibet. Even if the talks have broken down in recent years, he has urged Tibetans to remain engaged.
“It is essential for Tibetans not to lose hope by pleading for our rights to the Chinese government,” Thondup said at a press conference in 2008. Activism and the Tibetan fights against Chinese domination.
The Dalai Lama led a prayer service on Sunday For his brother, said his office.
After the service, as the recitation ended, the Dalai Lama got up from his seat, praised a photo of his late brother and returned to his living space.
Mujib Mashal Contributed reports.